Arrogance
Proverbs 8:5, 10-12 NRSV "O simple ones, learn prudence; acquire intelligence, you who lack it. . . . Take my instruction instead of silver, and knowledge rather than choice gold; for wisdom is better than jewels, and all that you may desire cannot compare with her. I, wisdom, live with prudence, and I attain knowledge and discretion." It's cool these days to be ignorant. You see it everywhere. People talking, writing, acting without knowledge and with no desire to get knowledge. They want to "make" their own culture, their own language, their own sense. I think it's probably a consequence of evolution (as Dr. Henry Morris predicted). If the physical world is evolving (and there is nothing there that is solidified in essence), then it follows that the social world is evolving, leaving us with the quagmire of no right or wrong, nothing that is fixed outside of us. Everything around us is what we want to perceive, what we want to make of it. On the surface, I think that many Christians might reject that . . . at first. But as I talk to people on the Internet, with those who call themselves believers, I find that many believe that it is okay to have behaviors, standards that are different from one another, not because each is in a different place of spiritual maturity, but because we cannot tell each other what is right or wrong. And so I see many people doing things that they obviously shouldn't be doing. Oh, I not talking about whether or not they attend a certain church or are complementarian or egalitarian. I'm talking about Christians who are participating in affairs or who have had multiple marriages without considering the causes (and effects) or who regularly steal (from the US government, from their employers, from their neighbors) without giving it a second thought. Various studies confirm that most Christians don't crack their Bibles open, preferring (if they do anything) to read some one page devotional as a way to get their spiritual food. A report from the Barna Research Group a number of years ago reported that even pastors prayed less than 15 minutes a week (outside of church services). The fact is, many Christians have decided—albeit passively—that being ignorant (without learning) about the Bible is okay. Solomon, on the other hand, disagrees: • • • • • Learn prudence Acquire intelligence Take my instruction Live with prudence Attain knowledge and discretion

The fact is, all of us could use more prudence, more (spiritual) intelligence, more instruction, more knowledge, more discretion. Earlier, Solomon said: "The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom, and whatever else you get, get insight" (Proverbs 4:7 NRSV). The beginning of wisdom is simply realizing that you need it! If we refuse to learn, even decide that it's something we don't need, we aren't even at the starting point! Ignorance is bliss only because we are sticking our heads in the sand, refusing to see the truth of reality. That phrase, "sticking your head in the sand," comes from the ostrich which when threatened, sticks its tiny head in the sand to hide it, leaving exposed . . . its large behind! When we ignore the wisdom of scripture, we leave ourselves open to the attacks of the enemy (and attacks even from our own lusts and desires). We fill our heads with stuff, stuff, and more stuff everyday. Stuff we hear on the radio. Stuff we see on TV. Stuff we read in books. And yet, what we likely need to fill our heads (and hearts) with is more and more of the Word, more and more of godly wisdom.