For some reason, I have recently been taken back by the foolishness of the world that we now live in. It seems we are living in a time when “common” sense is not so common. Increasingly mankind is led down paths of destruction, when simple logic would have prevented catastrophes. I’ll give you two examples for consideration:
1. I was watching a recent debate between a prolife minister and an abortion advocate. They were discussing the typical issues surrounding freedom of choice, women’s rights, and at what point life begins. When they got to this latter discussion, the abortion advocate surmised that abortion is perfectly logical because, scientifically speaking, we don’t really know when life begins. The minister said that this type of logic was tantamount to a farmer whose son decides to go play in the barn. The farmer calls for his son repeatedly, but no answer is returned. Finally, the farmer decides that the only way to know for sure that the son is not in the haystack would be to shove a pitchfork into it and see if a scream is heard. – The illustration was lost on the advocate.
2. Then there is the recent issue of the football players requesting unionization at Northwestern University. Whether or not you are for collegiate athletes receiving money to play or whether or not you believe that they should benefit monetarily from the money that is raised on their performances by the schools and the NCAA is unimportant to this discussion. What was interesting to me was the logical argument that the players espoused for unionization. They claimed that the players were not students of the school and the education they received was not a salary or benefit for their football abilities. Instead, they claimed they were employees of the school. Employess, which without, the school would not be able to function properly or continue in their business of education. – Essentially, they were arguing that an $80,000 education to one of the best schools in the nation was not enough of a payment for what they brought to the school through football. Again, we don’t need to get into a discussion about whether players should be offered stipens or whether or not the NCAA needs to revisit their recruiting rules. What struck me was the lack of importance the players were placing on the education they receive. Most student athletes do not continue into the professional arena. If this is true, then the education they receive becomes the lifeblood of their future careers, often determining just how much of an annual salary they can make. It seems to me that the education they receive offers an awful lot to their lives, long after their playing days are over.
My point…wisdom has left the building. Things, which seem to most of us, as simple “common” sense are not very common anymore. But what does it matter? Is it really all that important that we restore wisdom in our society?
Ecclesiastes 9:17-18, “The words of the wise heard in quiet are better than the shouting of a ruler among fools. Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but one sinner destroys much good.”
The answer…yes! If Solomon is right, that wisdom is a powerful tool of good, then it’s absence may be why we see less “good” in the world. Likewise, if foolishness has the ability to destroy “much good”, then that explains where we are. Let’s restore wisdom to an exalted place in our society and see what happens.
Held By Grace,
Pastor Chris