Wisdom and Morality are like a married couple. Couples complete each other in a sense, and one is incapable of living up to their full potential apart from the other. Trying to define where one begins and the other stops is a difficult task, but they are only so closely intertwined because of their unique gifts. Couples live to serve the betterment of the other, but must rely on the other to do the same. Wisdom and Morality both implicate our actions day-to-day, but they’re distinct in their approach and need each other to operate correctly. Wisdom is the toolkit by which Morality reaches its end, and Morality is the map by which Wisdom properly navigates the world.
Wisdom by itself is merely the ways in which one achieves success, gains material security, prolongs his/her life, and navigates cultural mores and norms. In our culture we consider the wisest to be the most economically successful, and the evidence for this is everywhere. Consider who’s books we look to for life-advice and leadership. Our government is outstandingly populated by former business men, all of whom are seen as having been successful. Our pastors-in-training frequently hold MBAs instead of MDivs; in fact, our entire education system is not set up for proper education, but rather for proper economic training. This type of wisdom is not bad, as we can find similar ideas about wisdom in the biblical text (it is also not inherently good). Proverbs 1 says of those who ignore the call to be wise:
“I in turn will laugh when disaster strikes you;
I will mock when calamity overtakes you—
when calamity overtakes you like a storm,
when disaster sweeps over you like a whirlwind,
when distress and trouble overwhelm you….…. Since they would not accept my advice
and spurned my rebuke,
they will eat the fruit of their ways
and be filled with the fruit of their schemes.For the waywardness of the simple will kill them,
and the complacency of fools will destroy them;
but whoever listens to me will live in safety
and be at ease, without fear of harm.”
We can see here that wisdom produces security and safety in its students. Wisdom is the study of success and living to minimize hardship.
Thus, wisdom is not the key to a good life. It is merely the way to an easy, effective one.
Too often we place decisions in the morality camp, when they more properly belong to the wisdom camp. Consider many Levitical laws regarding the governing of the Israelites. These laws were clearly meant for the practical purpose of teaching the Israelites how to effectively live in community as desert nomads thousands of years ago. Yet, they became sacralized and taken as moral law by the Jewish community. This moralizing, sacralizing process created the problems of 1st century Palestine that Jesus taught fervently against. The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.
Today we see this same moralization of actions more appropriately considered under the umbrella of wisdom just as much in our society. Hard work, buying a house (looking at us, millennials), and getting an education are all examples of life-decisions that we treat as though it were a matter of one’s moral standing. If one does not participate in any of these aspects of life, they are generally considered worthless. In reality none of these things are inherently good, and are only morally valuable when pointed to the correct goals. Wisdom is amoral, and assigning moral values to matters of wisdom produces cultural stratification and communities built around achievement and status. This community of wisdom-moral equivalence is self-defeating and falls straight into the trap of every cultural system ever: class-warfare.
Wisdom has its uses in morals though. If wise decisions are only made by chance, and we do not properly navigate the world around us, we are unusable for any purpose and cut ourselves off at the ankles in every decision. I’m sure we can all probably think of someone who has made unwise decisions recently and has become their own worst enemy. If we follow the morals of love and respect for all people, we should filter our actions through wisdom as well, or our love does more harm than good. If we do not have a healthy moral system, I strongly suggest that it is better to allow ourselves to crash and burn than accomplish our goals.
We should not idolize wisdom, for:
“I applied myself to the understanding of wisdom, and also of madness and folly, but I learned that this, too, is a chasing after the wind. For with much wisdom comes much sorrow….” – Ecclesiastes 1:17-18
Wisdom properly driven by morality is the most powerful force in accomplishing real good in the world. The moment wisdom climbs out of the back seat and starts telling morality how to drive, we run into problems. Wisdom is not a driver or an engine, it is the rubber on the road that propels the car forward.