The Wisdom of God and the Mind of Christ

Wisdom – it’s not a word we use much anymore. In our world, we speak of knowledge. We talk about intelligence – even artificial intelligence (AI). We have built a world based on artificial intelligence. We have developed an unintended dependency on AI.

We pursue and depend on knowledge, believing knowledge is power. If we can answer the question “why?”, we can understand what created the situation and, thereby, address the contributing factors. We can master the situation. We can be in control.   

Whereas our culture focuses on knowledge, the ancient Hebrews spoke of wisdom. Knowledge and wisdom are different. Knowledge focuses on facts – the who, what, when, where, why, how factors of life. Knowledge pursues scientific understanding of what is. Wisdom is deeper than knowledge. Wisdom is about the nature of life and how life is designed to function. For the ancient Hebrews, wisdom was tied to God. It was rooted in who God is. It was expressed in the ways of God.

In his letter to the church at Corinth, the apostle Paul spoke of the wisdom of God, contrasting it with the wisdom of the world. (Corinth was located near Athens, the epicenter of Greek philosophy and learning.)

Paul said the wisdom of God was rooted in “the depths of God,” 1 Corinthians 2:10. It grows out of and is an expression of the character of God. When we speak of the wisdom of God, we are speaking of the deep things of God, the things that lie at the heart of God.

Paul said the wisdom of God is secret and hidden, 1 Corinthians 2:7. It lies in the realm of mystery, outside of human understanding. We struggle to understand the wisdom of God primarily because it stands in contrast to human wisdom.

Although the wisdom of God is secret and hidden, the Spirit of God knows the heart of God and thus the wisdom of God, 1 Corinthians 2:10, 11b. The Spirit teaches us the wisdom of God, revealing to us the nature (character) of God and the ways of God, 1 Corinthians 2:12-13. In teaching us the wisdom of God, the Spirit nurtures within us the mind of Christ, 1 Corinthians 2:16. The mind of Christ is thinking shaped by the character of God and the ways of God. Such thinking is “the renewing of the mind” of which Paul spoke in Romans 12:2. It is the key to a life transformed into the likeness of Christ.

The wisdom of God is reflected in the ways of God. It is expressed in grace and forgiveness, in using power to serve – particularly the powerless and vulnerable who are easily exploited by others, and in embracing every person as a beloved child of God created in the image of God. When our lives are shaped by the wisdom of God and our thinking reflects the mind of Christ, we value people more than material things. We use material things to address the needs of those in need.

The wisdom of God and the ways of God stand in contrast to the so-called wisdom of the world and its ways. While the wisdom of God is expressed in grace, the world functions out of merit-based thinking. While the wisdom of God is expressed in forgiveness, the wisdom of the world speaks in terms of “getting what you deserve.” While the wisdom of God uses power to serve others, the wisdom of the world teaches us to use our power for our own advantage. It leads us to use power violently - over, down against others for personal benefit at the other’s expense. The wisdom of the world trains us to think in terms of us-them in which “we” are always better than “those other people” (better than-less than thinking). The wisdom of the world teaches us to think in terms of scarcity, leading us to acquire, accumulate, and hoard as much as possible for our future wellbeing, even if others have to do without.

Paul said that following the wisdom of the world was what led “the rulers of this age” to crucify Jesus. Following the wisdom of God and living the ways of God, Jesus was a threat to those whose identity, status, standing, power, and wealth were tied to the ways of the world. Following the wisdom of the world, they used their power to eliminate the threat he represented to their world.

We have been trained to think with the wisdom of the world. It is our default way of thinking and living. The Spirit is at work in us, the followers of Jesus, teaching us the wisdom of God and moving us beyond the way the world trained us to think. The Spirit is creating the mind of Christ in us so that we may love as Jesus loves.