Peace Hacks

The endgame of wisdom is the understanding of all things, and the courage to act upon it.

Three books in the Bible are dedicated to this pursuit, but, in the case of the book of Ecclesiastes, this journey begins with painful, honest questions about life.

Here’s an example, from the first chapter:

“I applied my mind to study and to explore by wisdom all that is done under the heavens. What a heavy burden God has laid on mankind! I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind. What is crooked cannot be straightened; what is lacking cannot be counted.”

Instead of beginning with things like “everything’s going to be OK,” or pictures of a winged angel snuggling kittens, the author begins his wisdom prospectus with brutal honesty, unafraid to look at the brokenness of this world, free to air the frustrations we all have.

Wisdom begins with honesty, and honesty requires courage. This book has it in spades, and is a must read for anyone desiring to understand more about the world we live in, believer or not.

The following video is from the “The Bible Project,” a group of scholars dedicated to providing an unabashed look at the scriptures, offering a perspective that’s much needed in our culture.

Take a look, you won’t regret it!

If you missed “Wisdom Part I,” here’s a link.

If this is on your mind, I don’t blame you. Church can be difficult. It certainly isn’t a good time for you to feel guilty, or listen to people who might accuse you of being a bad Christian for feeling the way you do.

As a pastor of many years, and someone who’s attended church most of his adult life, I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the growing number of people who simply can’t stand going to church anymore.

Many Christians in America, shortly after coming to faith, join a church. We might bee bop around for a bit until we find something that’s comfortable, but we ultimately settle in, commit on some level, serve, connect, etc.

Most of the time, we enjoy having this ritual at the end of our week.

After a while however, things begin to get boring, monotonous. Us long-timers get a good look “under the hood” of our community and see some of its unsavory parts. The sermons fail to hit home, and/or or the leadership fails to embrace things that we feel are important.

It’s easy to get to a point where it feels like it’s time to go.

Maybe it is.

Either way, if you’re considering leaving Continue reading Two Things to Pray if You’re Thinking about Leaving Your Church

It’s unfair to claim that Western culture doesn’t value wisdom. Our problem is that we’re convinced that we already have it. That would be one reason we try to figure out our problems on our own, avoiding the opinions and insights of friends, peers, family, etc.

We’re not asking questions about how to make our marriages better, or our careers, our finances, relationships -we’ve got it all figured out.

Much of the trouble we face – our divorce rates, our debt, our anger – are a symptom of a deeply-seeded, cultural avoidance of the kind of wisdom that can change lives, cultures – entire planets.

It’s real. It exists. And it seems to be that the people who’ll give anything for it usually find it.

But because I’m trying to slog through my own problems, and can’t claim to have much to say about this kind of wisdom, I’m going to refer to an ancient source, one that seeks to bring change to our lives, and doesn’t seem to care whether or not we get our feelings hurt.

These are three ancient Jewish books, commonly referred to as the “Wisdom Literature” of the Bible. I know that some of my readers get nervous when the “B” word is mentioned, but hang with me on this one, you won’t be disappointed.

These books, as is the case with the rest of the Old Testament, are written in an ancient language, and a literary style that frequently doesn’t translate well into English. They go deep – much deeper than we typically give them credit, and are fascinating when understood in a not-so-Western context.

Below is a video from the Bible Project, a group of uber-savvy scholars who’ve found a creative and highly compelling way to articulate the scriptures. This is part 1 of a three part series on the wisdom books of the Bible.

Again, I promise that you won’t be disappointed.

Enjoy.

Photo Credit: Louis Hansel