Educated Ignoramus

(Proverbs 1:5 KJV)  A wise man will hear, and will increase learning; and a man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsels:

One way to know who has wisdom and is listening is to see someone “increase” (3254) in what they are “learning” (3948).  This is the mark of wisdom:  You learn.  But I think it goes beyond that.  It involves the kind of learning that processes what you retain, puts it together and uses it to evaluate the new material coming in.

We live in a society that compartmentalizes knowledge.  We have a term, “idiot savant,” that seems to describe a person who is a genius in one area and totally useless in others.  If you pull in the extreme edges of the idea you get an “educated ignoramus.”  This describes the greatest number of people in the world.  If your entire focus is on the Bible, and you pay no attention to what is going on politically, God has a hard time making you a useful part of His eternal plan.  If you follow every political blog known to man and can recite all of the bills before congress but have no idea of the fruit of the Spirit, you are just as useless.

None of us are totally informed.  We all have gaps and weaknesses.  That is part of being human.  Get used to it.  But when God created us in His image, one of the characteristics of God is that He is a thinking, aware Being.  What was the tree that Adam and Eve ate from?  The tree of good and evil?  No, it was the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. 

(Genesis 2:9 KJV)  And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

This is adult knowledge.  This is the age of accountability.  This means that whatever our intellectual level we are responsible for using our minds as well as our hands.  We are to seek wisdom.  That means we must “hear” (8085) and “increase” (3254).  That will be different in each person but it must be there.

So?  Listen.  To the sermon, to the Sunday School lesson, to the written word, to the voice of the Holy Spirit in your heart and mind.  And expect to increase.  Adam and Eve cursed you with the knowledge of good and evil.  God wants to bless you with the tree of life.