Ecclesiatically Pleasing

"For in much wisdom is much vexation,
and he who increases knowledge increases sorrow."- Ecclesiastes 1:18

It's only appropriate that the first post in the blog concern wisdom and knowledge.

Is that not why we write blogs? So we can show everyone how much we know?

Presuming wisdom is a great weakness of many believers in the Church. We think we know everything. Well, some of us do.

We forget to realize the infinite nature of God's mystery.

Last year, I came in a real crisis of faith because I was an essentially reformed Christian going to a mostly Armenian church. I considered both doctines, and remained stubborn in my ways. I thought I could find ALL the answers in Biblical scripture and the scriptures projected a distinctly predestined existence.However, I had trouble living this faith out realistically. My heart and my mind were in constant conflict because my heart was choosing and my mind was looking for God's complete control to tell me exactly what I need to do.
I turned out to be quite foolish in all of my thinking. Although I am still essentially reformed, I find more room for human choice. But before this, my faith nearly dived into nothingness.

This was because my quest for knowledge came up futile. I did not have all the answers like I wanted to have. Without answers, I wondered what kind God I was actually following.

Thank God, I am not the first human to fall to this folly!

As the epigraph I use suggests, wisdom leads to sorrow. I have found that the more I have known in my life, the more depressed I become. But this is worldly wisdom. If we re-adjust our eyes, and apply godly wisdom, it leads to godly sorrow which leads to repentance. Worldly wisdom leads to death.

Too many of us in the Church rely on human(worldly) wisdom.

Let us forget about ourselves and strive forward. Paul had all the wisdom which his rank in life allowed him. He had more reason than anyone to have confidence in his human wisdom -- "circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless."

Any one who would look at this outward man could say, " here's is a man who possesses much wisdom-- we must learn from him and not question anything!!"

But, no he brought all of his human wisdom to death with Christ on the cross (the good kind of death):

But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead. (Philippians 3:7-11)

He loses his wisdom, but with that loss (and believe me, it IS a loss), he gains wisdom.

Now, that's ecclesiatically pleasing.