by Doy Moyer<\/p>\n
Answering the question, “Is an action right or wrong?” may tell us what to think, and there is a place for this. “Is the action wise?” However, it teaches us how to think, and this is something emphasized in Scripture.<\/p>\n
Scripture, then, is not about some checklist of do’s and don’ts. It emphasizes the use of the mind to think things out and think things through.<\/p>\n
Wisdom is the greater part of decision-making because it draws on principles and applies them to specific situations. The Hebrews writer points out that “solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil<\/em>” (Hebrews 5:14). If we are stuck on seeking specific lists of dos and don’ts, we have some more growing to do.<\/p>\n Seeing the importance of wisdom in Scripture exposes the fallacious argument sometimes made by those justifying a practice that is not explicitly addressed. We hear, “But the Bible does not specifically condemn xyz.” Yet this is where wisdom plays a vital role. Does the Bible have to specifically condemn something for us to know whether it is good or evil? Or does Scripture provide us the principles needed to be able to discern and make wise choices?<\/p>\n There is much that Scripture does not specify, good or evil. How, then, are we to know which is which? This must be discerned, and discernment comes through understanding principles. Think, for example, of the “works of the flesh<\/em>” (Galatians 5:19-21). This contains principles that cover a spectrum of specific actions. It is one thing to say that “lasciviousness” is wrong, but this term covers more than one action. Rather than specifying every single action, the principle covers it, and wisdom needs to be applied. Notice, also, that the “list” ends with the phrase, “and things like these<\/em>.” That requires inference on our part, with wisdom, to know what “things like these<\/em>” look like. It’s not a checklist after all; it’s a call to be wise and discerning.<\/p>\n I dare say that most of the decisions we make daily are based more on discerning from principle than simply looking up a checklist. One might say, though, that something may not be wise, but that doesn’t mean it’s a sin. What, then? Shall we justify the unwise decisions because they’re not on a specific list? Or shall we act the way the Lord calls us to act in wisdom? “Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil<\/em>” (Ephesians 5:15-16). “Get wisdom; get insight<\/em>” (Proverbs 4:5).<\/p>\n Might we at times disagree on what is wise? Yes, and this should be carefully discussed and thought out. Yet we are also called to act based on conscience and to ensure that we do not place stumbling blocks in front of others. Freedom is not to be used as a cloak for mistreating others who do not share exact convictions.<\/p>\n Be careful, then, and be wise, for “The fear of the LORD is instruction in wisdom<\/em>” (Proverbs 15:33).<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Doy Moyer Answering the question, “Is an action right or wrong?” may tell us what to think, and there is a place for this. “Is the action wise?” However, it teaches us how to think, and this is something emphasized in Scripture. Scripture, then, is not about some checklist of do’s and don’ts. It…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[38,730],"class_list":["post-91242","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-morality","tag-wisdom"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":69330,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/learning-how-to-think\/","url_meta":{"origin":91242,"position":0},"title":"Learning How to Think","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 16, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by Doy Moyer Scripture shows that God's concerns are not just for what is technically good or bad, right or wrong, allowed or disallowed. We could argue over what is technically sinful or not, but that's essentially a legalistic approach that misses the essential element of wisdom, especially in matters\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":69397,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/acquiring-wisdom\/","url_meta":{"origin":91242,"position":1},"title":"Acquiring Wisdom","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 19, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by Doy Moyer Scripture shows that God's concerns are not just for what is technically good or bad, right or wrong, allowed or disallowed. We could argue over what is technically sinful or not, but that's essentially a legalistic approach that misses the essential element of wisdom, especially in matters\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":61436,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wisdom-in-learning-gods-commands\/","url_meta":{"origin":91242,"position":2},"title":"Wisdom in Learning God’s Commands","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 16, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"by Doy Moyer The ethics of Christians fall under the category of virtue. Virtue ethics is grounded in the attributes and character of God, for all virtue flows from Him. While there is an obligation of following rules (God's commandments), there is a significant and vital component of learning wisdom.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":61746,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/should-do-or-allowed-to-do\/","url_meta":{"origin":91242,"position":3},"title":"Should Do or Allowed to Do?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 8, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"by Doy Moyer \"What should I do or not do?\" is a question of wisdom. \"What am I allowed to do or not do?\" is a question of law. While we have boundaries of what we are allowed or not allowed to do, and these are vital to know, more\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":33401,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/becoming-wise-men\/","url_meta":{"origin":91242,"position":4},"title":"Becoming Wise Men","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 17, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"by Steven Harper When Job had suffered some great losses due to the devil's personal attack on him,\u00a0we are told\u00a0\"when Job's three friends heard of all this evil that had come upon him, they came each from his own place, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7983,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-personal-sins-blind-a-person-to-the-truth\/","url_meta":{"origin":91242,"position":5},"title":"Can personal sins blind a person to the truth?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 12, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: In a discussion on Calvinism, I stated, \"I would advise any reading this thread not to hinge their belief of Calvinism on this verse or discussion alone. ( Ephesians 4:14 ) This is a very deep topic. I would also counsel against taking this sort of scriptural meat on\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91242","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=91242"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91242\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=91242"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=91242"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=91242"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}