Wisdom, Creativity, Excellence, & Integrity
What we think is possible during our lifetime has a radical effect on our approach to life. The believer has an advantage as we have the privilege of living with no impossibilities. If this becomes true in our attitude and thoughts, it helps to shape our worldview.
These preset values are much like the default on a computer. The word processing program on my MacBook Pro already has a font chosen, the size of that font, the page layout, etc. In life, we have similar preset values. They heavily influence our immediate reaction to a problem or an opportunity. When those values are more than concepts, but are the burning convictions based on what God says about life, they enable us to perceive more than would naturally be possible. But if those values are shaped by secular culture, our disappointments, or even certain parts of Church history, they influence our perspective dramatically away from God’s purpose and plan. This is a huge issue, for if my approach to life is different from His, I will develop a culture around me that supports my view. These cultures sustain errors in thought, ambition, and faith. Here’s an example: the mere expectation of evil increasing in the earth, without a conviction of God’s heart for answers, creates a people without hope. In a strange sense, we then become a people who become encouraged over the increase of evil, as it becomes a sign that we are in the last days spoken of in Scripture. We must never find encouragement in the lack of breakthrough of Kingdom realities. It is time to make a decision not to embrace any theology for the last days that doesn’t require faith to see it happen.
Many believers answer my challenge by saying their hope is in the return of Christ. While His return is more glorious than any of us could possibly imagine, our faith must produce impact on the realities we face now. It is a weak Christian culture that allows, and sometimes gives honor to those who have a faith in the return of Jesus, but have little to no faith in the power of the Gospel to effect change right now. Once again, faith then becomes untested and unproven without a measurable impact on the world around us. Our expressions of faith must have an effect on the death, loss, and destruction we are confronted with on a daily basis. These tragic realities are the enemy’s fingerprints. Our faith must be a right now faith that replaces the fingerprints of darkness with the fingerprints of a loving Father, who sent His Son to redeem, restore, rebuild, and renew. This is faith touching the now of life.
The Beauty of Wisdom
Wisdom is often thought of as the more stoic part of life. It is often treated as the ability to solve problems or make difficult decisions. As important as that may be, this good but anemic definition has removed wisdom from its place of significance in much of church culture. According to Scripture, wisdom is the principal thing and is to be sought after as a priority.
Wisdom is better than jewels. All desirable things cannot compare with her (Prov. 8:11).
If wisdom is to have such a primary place in our lives, then a culture of wisdom is to be expected, impacting the world now.Many things around us are good, important, and desirable. Yet all desirable things cannot compare to wisdom. Nothing we could desire is better than or equal to the value of wisdom. Interestingly, pursuing wisdom is prioritized much like “seeking first the kingdom of God” is in the New Testament. Throughout Proverbs, seeking wisdom is what releases the blessing of God in all the other areas of life. Whether health, finances, position and title, or the beauty of meaningful relationships, all are enhanced and enabled through our prioritized pursuit of wisdom. This journey brings us to the wonderful discovery that wisdom is also a person. Jesus is our wisdom. (See 1 Cor. 1:31.)
Since wisdom is a person, living in wisdom is a relationship where we learn to truly see through His eyes, gaining His perspective. And it is that perspective that enables faith. It could be said that wisdom gives faith a context in which to function. In the same way that the banks of a river give direction to the water, so wisdom gives faith a direction, a target.
Wisdom and Prayer
One of the most interesting aspects of wisdom is that it reveals the nature of God in a way similar to prayer. Because of this, wisdom is uniquely connected to our prayer lives. By nature, it reveals God as a covenant making Father, who longs to answer the cries of our hearts. Proverbs 8:34 says, “Blessed is the man who listens to me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at my doorposts.” Now compare this with Jesus’ command in Matt. 7:7 concerning prayer, “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.” Jesus said to ask, and wisdom says blessed is the man who listens to me. Jesus said to seek, and wisdom says to watch daily at His gates. Jesus said to knock, and wisdom says to wait at His doorposts. The divine partnership illustrated in the beauty of the covenant of prayer is actually made possible through the expression of wisdom.
Wisdom’s Expressions
There are many wonderful ways to accurately define and demonstrate wisdom. But my present focus is the three expressions of wisdom that enable us to shape culture. Those three are creativity, excellence, and integrity.
Creativity
Wisdom itself was with God on the day of creation, as it is by nature an influence through creative expression. Proverbs chapter 8 helps us to see wisdom’s role in creation in a way that could otherwise be forgotten. Several facts stand out to me in this chapter:
Wisdom is the architect of creation — vs. 30
Wisdom is the Father’s delight — vs. 30
Wisdom rejoices before the Father — vs. 30
Wisdom rejoices (celebrates with laughter) over the inhabited world. — vs. 31
Wisdom delights in humanity. — vs. 31
Wisdom in us increases our favor with God. — vs. 35
From these passages, we see that wisdom is anything but stoic. Wisdom captures and expresses the emotion and intellect of Heaven itself. The Father celebrates wisdom. It celebrates the wonder of creation with laughter. It expresses great joy. It builds with pleasure and loves people. Wisdom seems to model excitement for life itself, for it always anticipates the heart of God being manifest in any given situation. Wisdom always perceives God’s purpose and design and works to demonstrate it clearly. As a people who are in pursuit of wisdom we must learn to manifest these traits in our approach to life, successfully bearing the fruit of wisdom.
As wisdom is the architect of creation, it must inspire a creative expression in those who seek her. In other words, wisdom enables us to be creative. I grew up in an artist’s home. Our home was filled with music, beautiful paintings, and great design. While we were never wealthy, our home was often more beautiful than those of our wealthy friends. The reason was that wisdom was demonstrated through creative expression through both my mom and dad. Having said this, it would be a mistake to think that creativity is only seen in what is typically called art — painting, singing, acting, etc. Everyone in Christ — the doctor, the accountant, the schoolteacher, the lawyer, the stay-at-home mom, etc.—is able to express wisdom through creativity. This is where wisdom becomes manifest in a way that impacts the world around us the most: by wisdom touching the mundane.
The Queen
The Queen of Sheba came to Solomon with all kinds of questions. He answered each one with such depth, and she was overwhelmed by his wisdom. But none of her questions were listed in Scripture. I would have loved to hear those questions and his answers. This is a very notable moment where God is silent. Sometimes His silence shouts a message we couldn’t otherwise hear. If He had mentioned them, we probably would have missed the most significant part of the story: while his answers impacted her significantly, it was the mundane things, touched by wisdom, through which God chose to display the place of wisdom in day-to-day life. Clothes, plates, stairs, and the like were the things listed that convinced her of Solomon’s wisdom, and ultimately of the God of Israel. (See 1 Kings 10:1-7.)
Nothing could be more mundane than plates, clothes, and stairs, yet those were the things that made God’s list. This tells me that some of the more boring parts of life, the parts that we often take for granted, are crying out to be touched by wisdom. Once touched by God’s wisdom, they are moved from the boring to the significant, from the mundane to the things that reveal the actual nature of God!
Creativity as a Cultural Value
Dreams often become aborted because of the absence of creative expression in a culture. Wherever creative thinking is missing, God-given dreams are thought to be impractical and un-doable. When creativity becomes the norm, people tend not to respond to challenges with, “Oh, that’s not a possibility.” Creativity says we’ll find out how to do it. Wisdom lives from the place of faith that believes “with God all things all possible.”
I intentionally surround myself with people who think creatively. I don’t want to consult with people who don’t look for solutions. Few things are more frustrating than presenting an idea only to have people respond with impossible! When people respond with unbelief, the challenges I face become bigger in my thinking. For that reason, I look to people who are always free to say what they think, but who also can respond with, I don’t know how that is possible, but let’s find a way. Wisdom’s creative expressions fulfill this assignment brilliantly.
Excellence
Perfectionism is religion, while excellence is Kingdom. Perfectionism is always demanding, yet impossible to satisfy. Excellence is doing and becoming our best in any situation or task. With excellence of heart, we give the best of our time, efforts, thoughts, prayers, and talents to be fully invested in any responsibility God has given us. Becoming our best means to learn and make whatever changes are necessary to progressively step into new levels of excellence. Every person has access to function in this realm, but it takes effort, discipline, and humility. This basically means that each of us is to make the commitment needed to the lifestyle of excellence, becoming the best that we can become in any given area of life. This is the brilliance of God that becomes the brilliance of humanity. When it comes to talent and skill, our abilities vary. My best may not be as good as your best in any given area of life. Yet for the believer, the heart of excellence is always focused on doing everything as unto the Lord, and with all of my might. That motivation brings out levels of brilliance in us that can be tapped no other way. An unbeliever could never touch that level of pure motivation. Excellence of heart is truly available for all. And it’s from the heart that all these issues of life flow (see Prov. 4:23).
Excellence is sought after and even required by the kings of the earth. That “king” may be a CEO of a corporation or the president of a nation. They all have an appetite for excellence and determine to have it exist all around them. While I believe it’s a God-given appetite, I’d never suggest that the way the appetite is expressed is always right.Proverbs addresses this reality so beautifully in chapter 22:29-23:2 NKJV.
Do you see a man who excels in his work? He will stand before kings; He will not stand before unknown men. When you sit down to eat with a ruler, consider carefully what is before you; and put a knife to your throat if you are a man given to appetite.
This reveals several things that are important to us as we seek to create and live sanctified brilliance. The first is that excellence is the way to promotion. Second is that kings and leaders have an appetite for excellence. Third, if you want to keep your place of influence, put a knife to your throat (self-imposed restriction in your appetite for more). Recognizing your bent to want what others have is the honest evaluation that could save your life in that environment. What this means is that in their world of abundance, you can really only have one of two things — influence or personal gain. Many get promoted because of their excellence in work, but lose the excellence of heart in the environment of extreme abundance. Their longing for more (wealth, power, position/title, or fame) causes them to lose their influence in exchange for personal gain. It’s not that all gain is wrong. God often brings such abundance into the life of the one who lives faithfully. But there’s a great difference when the abundance is the reward vs. the goal. Those in power can easily recognize when others are serving them for selfish gain. That I’ll-scratch-your-back-if-you-scratch-mine attitude is the nature of the political system. It’s easy to lose influence by losing the pure heart, as good leaders will never continually subject themselves to the influence of one who serves in order to obtain. That approach to serving usually gives way to manipulation as a viable tool. Excellence in work must mirror the excellence of heart. And it’s the excellence in heart that must be protected and sustained in every environment that excellence in work will take us.
Integrity
One of the greatest tragedies in all of history is to have the wisest person to ever live fall into sins of absolute foolishness. By marrying foreign women, Solomon ended up worshipping false gods that these women worshipped in their home countries. He even built temples to these gods in Jerusalem and offered sacrifices to those demonic beings. I’ve been told it took 300 years for Israel to recover from the effects in culture brought on by the sins of Solomon. It’s the responsibility of leaders to realize that their sins will have a negative impact outside of their personal lives. What makes this story even more ironic is that the wisdom that was given to Solomon would have kept him from error had he only lived by what he knew to be true. If ever there was an example of what it is like to know things in the mind that didn’t become a personal experience, this is it. Knowledge of truth that is unapplied eventually deadens us to the full impact of those specific truths. Strangely, we become insulated from the conviction of the Holy Spirit concerning the truths we understand the most if they have not impacted our lifestyle. I think it is in part what Paul was referring to when he said, “knowledge puffs up” (1 Cor. 8:1). He didn’t say carnal knowledge, nor did he say knowledge about idols or other obvious errors. Knowledge, unapplied, works against God’s intended purpose for that knowledge.
Throughout the book of Proverbs are warnings about associating with those given to sin. There’s an entire chapter warning the reader to stay away from the immoral (like chapter 7). But he didn’t practice what he taught others to do. He instructed us to bind the Word of God to our hearts so we wouldn’t fall into sin. He didn’t follow through with that, either. My purpose isn’t to list Solomon’s sins. My intention is to describe how when wisdom is applied to a life, it will manifest in personal integrity.Wisdom’s effects on integrity are seen and measured in our relationships, our thoughts, our ambitions, our use of money, and even where we focus our eyes. All of these things contribute to the integrity of heart, which must be protected at all costs. Once integrity is lost, we have nothing.What is written in Proverbs about wisdom is not lessened in power because of Solomon’s failure. It has quite the opposite effect on my heart, as it becomes extremely sobering to realize we can be given a gift from God, but still not benefit from His intended purpose, when it is not utilized through complete surrender to Jesus.
Construction Here and Now
Wisdom builds with eternity in mind. It has a present tense effect, with an eternal purpose. Wisdom connects the two worlds of eternity and time in a most unexpected way as we become builders of a heavenly culture, with eternal impact here and now. "Arise and build" is the mandate of the hour for us all.