Rules Governing The Gift Of Wisdom

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● 1Cor 12:8 . . For to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit

The koiné Greek word for "wisdom" is sophia (sof-ee'-ah); an ambiguous
word that can indicate worldly smarts and/or heavenly smarts.

Worldly smarts would include fields such as tax consultants, financial
advisors, fashion and style gurus, fitness coaches, lawyers, auto mechanics,
physical therapists, golf pros, health specialists, viz: someone who, because
of their expertise and/or education in a given field, qualifies them to render
expert and/or professional counseling regarding a particular matter.

I really don't think 1Cor 12:8 is talking about professionals, rather, just
ordinary people in church with a head on their shoulders, i.e. sensible,
trustworthy, go-to people that others can turn to for advice about a variety
of life's thorny problems when they're stumped and don't know what they
should do.

Just because someone has been around the block a time or two, and/or
graduated from the school of hard knocks, doesn't make them "gifted" with
the word of wisdom. No, the person we're talking about here gets their word
of wisdom "through the Spirit."

I often hear about a kind of wisdom called common sense; which everybody
is supposed to have but which many seem deprived. It's a humanistic
wisdom produced by the intellect of a three-pound lump of flabby organic
tissue housed within humanity's bony little skulls. Well; the kind of common
sense we're talking about here isn't that, no, we're talking about the Spirit's.
When someone in church has access to that degree of common sense, they
are a seriously valuable resource.

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Jacob's son Joseph had God-given smarts.

● Acts 7:9-10 . . Because the patriarchs were jealous of Joseph, they sold
him as a slave into Egypt. But God was with him and rescued him from all
his troubles. He gave Joseph wisdom and enabled him to gain the goodwill of
Pharaoh king of Egypt; so he made him ruler over Egypt and all his palace.

Joseph's God-given smarts enabled him to do very well in Egypt in spite of
his rather unfortunate circumstances. But the best thing is: Joseph himself
not only benefited from God-given smarts, but so did his family and a
countless number of desperate people in that day; helpless victims of a
lengthy, wide-spread famine.

All spiritual gifts are meant for the benefit of more souls than just one's own.

● 1Cor 12:4-7 . . There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit.
There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different
kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all men. Now to
each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.

Yes; for the "common" good rather than only one's own personal good.

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[BeyondET]

Ecc 9

11I have seen something else under the sun: The race is not to the swift or the battle to the strong, nor does food come to the wise or wealth to the brilliant or favor to the learned; but time and chance happen to them all.
12Moreover, no one knows when their hour will come: As fish are caught in a cruel net, or birds are taken in a snare, so people are trapped by evil times that fall unexpectedly upon them.

13I also saw under the sun this example of wisdom that greatly impressed me:

14There was once a small city with only a few people in it. And a powerful king came against it, surrounded it and built huge siege works against it. 15Now there lived in that city a man poor but wise, and he saved the city by his wisdom. But nobody remembered that poor man. 16So I said, “Wisdom is better than strength.” But the poor man’s wisdom is despised, and his words are no longer heeded.

 

[CaptainGoat]

The only advice I can think of is to use the gift of wisdom wizely!

 

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Solomon had God-given smarts.

● 1Kgs 3:12 . . I will give you a wise and discerning heart, so that there will
never have been anyone like you, nor will there ever be.

● 1Kgs 3:28 . . All Israel held the king in awe, because they saw that he had
wisdom from God to administer justice.

● 1Kgs 4:29-31 . . God gave Solomon wisdom and very great insight, and a
breadth of understanding as measureless as the sand on the seashore.
Solomon's wisdom was greater than the wisdom of all the men of the East,
and greater than all the wisdom of Egypt. He was wiser than any other man.

● 1Kgs 10:24 . .The whole world sought audience with Solomon to hear the
wisdom God had put in his heart.

Solomon was a prolific writer, but only three of his works survive in the
Bible: Proverbs, Song, and Ecclesiastes. Proverbs is valuable as spiritual
counseling, while Ecclesiastes is valuable as philosophical counseling.

There has never been an equal to Solomon's God-given smarts, but there
has been someone's smarts superior to his. (Matt 12:42)

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God-given smarts aren't limited to politics and religion. He also equips
people with practical smarts too; for example:

● Ex 28:2-4 . .You shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother, for
glory and for beauty. And you shall speak to all the skillful persons whom I
have endowed with the spirit of wisdom, that they make Aaron's garments
to consecrate him, that he may minister as priest to Me.

Years ago I attended a very large church in San Diego whose minister of
music decided the choir needed new robes. They were purchased from a
vendor at what I thought was a ridiculous expense when the ladies' sewing
club could have made them at no cost for labor, and with much cheaper
fabric too that would have served just as well as the high-end stuff.

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[oldethennew]

WH,

this is probably 'one' of the most sensible posts that I have ever read of yours -
no offence intended...

 

[WebersHome]

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● 1Cor 6:1-6 . . If any of you has a dispute with another, dare he take it before the ungodly for judgment instead of before the saints? Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if you are to judge the world, are you not competent to judge trivial cases? Do you not know that we will judge angels? How much more the things of this life!

. . .Therefore, if you have disputes about such matters, appoint as judges even men of little account in the church. I say this to shame you. Is it possible that there is nobody among you wise enough to judge a dispute between believers? But instead, one brother goes to law against another-- and this in front of unbelievers.

Someone "wise enough" refers to people in church with the gift of the word of wisdom. Actually the Corinthian church probably had some members with that gift but were not paid any attention due to the fact that they had no status. Here's an example of what I'm talking about.

Not long ago I was discussing the merits of the good shepherd spoken of in the tenth chapter of John's gospel. Well, the person with whom I dialogued finally got to the point where they could no longer dispute my points; so they closed the discussion with this remark:

"That is your opinion. But who are you? No one to be listened to, in my book. You are not one of the leaders which Jesus Christ has placed in the Church and through whom He speaks."

In other words; seeing as how I am neither an ordained minister, nor a church officer; then nothing I say on my own deserves to be taken seriously no matter how air-tight it appears to be.

My opponent's reasoning was logical, yes; but was it wise? No.

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[Locutus]

Are there any Rules governing the Rules??

 

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Are there any Rules governing the Rules?

Actually, yes, there are rules governing the rules.

1• No one is allowed to usurp the Lord's sovereign authority by laying down
unwritten spiritual laws for others to follow in gray areas, e.g. cosmetics,
fashions, diet, holy days, alcohol, guns, tobacco, coffee, dancing, swimwear,
entertainment, etc.

2• No one is allowed to embellish the Lord's rules; thus making them more
demanding and/or more strict than they really are.

3• No one is allowed to edit the Lord's rules thus pulling their teeth, so to
speak, making them less demanding and/or less strict than they really are.

4• No one is allowed to either reduce or expand the scope of the Lord's rules.

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● Acts 6:1-4 . . In those days when the number of disciples was increasing,
the Grecian Jews among them complained against the Hebraic Jews because
their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food.

. . . So the twelve gathered all the disciples together and said: It would not
be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on
tables. Brothers, choose seven men from among you who are known to be
full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them
and will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word.

Some churches have something called a Deacon's Fund set up to accomplish
the very thing described in that passage. Point being, it's probably a good
idea to follow the apostle's lead to appoint people with the gift of smarts to
manage the fund because according to 1Tim 5:3-16, not just any widow
qualifies for church assistance; and soft-hearted, soft-headed, careless
churches are easy marks for fraud, waste, and abuse.

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[oldethennew]

Godly wisdom is a special gift, what we do with it is the crux...

 

[Nehemiah6]

● 1Cor 12:8 . . For to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit...

Wisdom is not the same as intelligence ("smarts") or knowledge ("learning"). Wisdom is the ability to apply the Word of God to any particular situation, and the spiritual gift of wisdom would enable the gifted person to see beyond appearances to the reality of any situation. At the same time, wisdom begins with the fear of God and ends with prudence. A good example of wisdom in the Bible is how the apostles and elders came to the Spirit-guided conclusion that only four of the laws of Moses (the Old Covenant) would apply to Gentiles. See Acts 15. Today we find that many Christians lack wisdom and discernment, and are often naive when they should be wise.