She Cries out Downtown

I've always been deeply impressed by the wisdom found in the Bible and specifically in Proverbs. Solomon portrays wisdom in metaphor as if it were a woman downtown crying out for foolish people to listen to her. He writes,

Lady Wisdom goes out in the street and shouts. At the town center she makes her speech. In the middle of the traffic she takes her stand. At the busiest corner she calls out: "Simpletons! How long will you wallow in ignorance? Cynics! How long will you feed your cynicism? Idiots! How long will you refuse to learn? About face! I can revise your life. Look, I'm ready to pour out my spirit on you; I'm ready to tell you all I know. As it is, I've called, but you've turned a deaf ear; I've reached out to you, but you've ignored me. "Since you laugh at my counsel and make a joke of my advice, How can I take you seriously? I'll turn the tables and joke about your troubles! What if the roof falls in, and your whole life goes to pieces? What if catastrophe strikes and there's nothing to show for your life but rubble and ashes? You'll need me then. You'll call for me, but don't expect an answer. No matter how hard you look, you won't find me. "Because you hated Knowledge and had nothing to do with the Fear-of-GOD, Because you wouldn't take my advice and brushed aside all my offers to train you, Well, you've made your bed--now lie in it; you wanted your own way--now, how do you like it? Don't you see what happens, you simpletons, you idiots? Carelessness kills; complacency is murder. First pay attention to me, and then relax. Now you can take it easy--you're in good hands."
(Proverbs 1:20-33 MSG)

She's at the busy intersection of your city's downtown area. You can just picture her there as the people go past her on Blackberries and Iphones. When she does get their attention, she's treated as if she were some strange street preacher with a tin-foil hat that keeps aliens away from her mind. But there is a consequence for refusing wisdom- catastrophe will strike like a tornado. And in the midst of the rubble when one cries out for help...she will not be found.

Knowledge is simply not enough. I've seen the phrase "the truth will set you free" chiseled into some government buildings. That is sheer nonsense. It is nonsense because it leaves out the most important part of the quote- the part that Jesus said about our relationship to him: So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, "If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." (John 8:31-32 ESV). So we're back to wisdom's Lady downtown.

Wisdom is the right application of the right amount of knowledge for the right situation at the right time. And what keeps many from wisdom, according to the Lady, is cynicism. Cynicism is hypocritical. A person pretends to maintain an aloof, "objective" posture to be able to see both sides of all questions and an "I doubt" attitude. But really it is cutting yourself of from the pain of a relationship when that relationship gets hurtful (I'm indebted to Paul Miller and his book, A praying life," for these insights). It is a way to be uninvolved. It is pride pretending to care.

Let me encourage you to pick up the book of Proverbs today and listen to the Lady downtown.