Wisdom & Faith
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge;
Fools despise wisdom and instruction.
Proverbs 1:7 NASB
In Matthew 4:1-11, we find Jesus being tempted by Satan. There is a specific part of this event I want to focus on. It is when Satan tempts Jesus to throw himself off of the pinnacle of the temple. Here is the passage in its entirety:
Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And after He had fasted forty days and forty nights, He then became hungry. And the tempter came and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.” But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.’”
Then the devil took Him into the holy city and had Him stand on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down; for it is written,‘He will command His angels concerning You’;and‘On their hands they will bear You up,So that You will not strike Your foot against a stone.’”Jesus said to him, “On the other hand, it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’”Again, the devil took Him to a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory; and he said to Him, “All these things I will give You, if You fall down and worship me.” Then Jesus said to him, “Go, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only.’” Then the devil left Him; and behold, angels came and began to minister to Him.
Scripture should always be read in context, so that is why I wanted to provide the whole pericope here. The focus for this post will be upon the second temptation though, because I believe this to be a problem in the church today.
Christians are gullible. Despite our Lord commanding us to be shrewd, we instead act like buffoons. We are warned that we can potentially be deceived, yet we throw caution to the wind, especially when we hear Scripture used and things that sound godly stated. If someone says they serve in a church, we open our arms without hesitation. Yet how many today are in fact opening their hearts and minds to Satan's deceptions?
Some people have enough discernment that they can quickly point out if a "pastor" is trying to scam them. False teachers say that the people need to give more money then the healing or blessing can be theirs, and many within the discernment world might call this "low-hanging fruit." The reason being that such doctrines are easily refutable. However, the low-hanging fruit still must be plucked because a great deal of the masses still seek their nourishment from this bad fruit.
However, their is a modified version of this same doctrine that dwells within many of the conservative circles, and it is not called out. It is still the same concept--give by faith, not by sight--but who is receiving the money is changed. Often, it is given to missions. Now, I'm not opposed to missions work, but I believe that far too many "mission trips" are nothing more than a waste of good resources. Yet it is to these very things that we are told give. Many mission trips are nothing more than sanctified vacations. We are told by our leaders that if we give to these things, we will be blessed. Or, if you are one of the people going on the trip, you are told to pursue it by faith, even though you do not have the means to do so. Seminary is another one of these money pits.
In the passage above, we find Satan trying to tempt Jesus to throw Himself off of the pinnacle of the temple. Satan even tries to make the attempt sound "holy" by quoting some Scripture to Him. Can't you just hear Satan say, "Go ahead, Jesus, take that step in faith because God will command His angels concerning you, bearing you up to save you from striking the ground"? But Jesus replies, "You shall not put the Lord your God to the test." Yet, don't we hear this same challenge from our pulpits and ministries today? "Give and the Lord will take care of you!" "Take that step of faith, and the Lord will provide!" Where is wisdom in this? Who does not see that these leaders are calling you to do the very thing that the Scriptures say to avoid? You are testing God!
Faith does not oppose wisdom. Yet, it constantly seems like the two are put at odds with one another by modern pastors and teachers. I even heard a pastor say that we should look foolish when living out our faith (this was during a sermon on "Missions Sunday" encouraging his hearers to give). Really? According to Solomon, it is the fool who despises wisdom, and that it is faith which brings us to knowledge. The foolishness of the Gospel does not mean we are to act like fools, but is to lead us into true wisdom and knowledge. Yes, God does own the cattle on a thousand hills, but He also speaks through the apostle Paul saying that we need to provide for ourselves and our families, and to not do so makes us worse than an unbeliever (cf. 1 Thess 4:11-12; 2 Thess 3:6-12; 1 Tim 5:8). Solomon also attests that it is in wisdom that one manages his money and assets wisely. Yet, ministers today call us to give until it hurts. Seriously? Am I to threaten my family's shelter, warmth, food, etc... so that I can send some teenager overseas for a week? I'm sorry, but I don't see this as the mission work of the Lord which the Macedonians gave to. Instead, we need to be taking care of our family, providing for their needs, and giving as able to the far fewer, yet more worthwhile ministries that actually are serving the Lord's purposes.
Some people have enough discernment that they can quickly point out if a "pastor" is trying to scam them. False teachers say that the people need to give more money then the healing or blessing can be theirs, and many within the discernment world might call this "low-hanging fruit." The reason being that such doctrines are easily refutable. However, the low-hanging fruit still must be plucked because a great deal of the masses still seek their nourishment from this bad fruit.
However, their is a modified version of this same doctrine that dwells within many of the conservative circles, and it is not called out. It is still the same concept--give by faith, not by sight--but who is receiving the money is changed. Often, it is given to missions. Now, I'm not opposed to missions work, but I believe that far too many "mission trips" are nothing more than a waste of good resources. Yet it is to these very things that we are told give. Many mission trips are nothing more than sanctified vacations. We are told by our leaders that if we give to these things, we will be blessed. Or, if you are one of the people going on the trip, you are told to pursue it by faith, even though you do not have the means to do so. Seminary is another one of these money pits.
In the passage above, we find Satan trying to tempt Jesus to throw Himself off of the pinnacle of the temple. Satan even tries to make the attempt sound "holy" by quoting some Scripture to Him. Can't you just hear Satan say, "Go ahead, Jesus, take that step in faith because God will command His angels concerning you, bearing you up to save you from striking the ground"? But Jesus replies, "You shall not put the Lord your God to the test." Yet, don't we hear this same challenge from our pulpits and ministries today? "Give and the Lord will take care of you!" "Take that step of faith, and the Lord will provide!" Where is wisdom in this? Who does not see that these leaders are calling you to do the very thing that the Scriptures say to avoid? You are testing God!
Faith does not oppose wisdom. Yet, it constantly seems like the two are put at odds with one another by modern pastors and teachers. I even heard a pastor say that we should look foolish when living out our faith (this was during a sermon on "Missions Sunday" encouraging his hearers to give). Really? According to Solomon, it is the fool who despises wisdom, and that it is faith which brings us to knowledge. The foolishness of the Gospel does not mean we are to act like fools, but is to lead us into true wisdom and knowledge. Yes, God does own the cattle on a thousand hills, but He also speaks through the apostle Paul saying that we need to provide for ourselves and our families, and to not do so makes us worse than an unbeliever (cf. 1 Thess 4:11-12; 2 Thess 3:6-12; 1 Tim 5:8). Solomon also attests that it is in wisdom that one manages his money and assets wisely. Yet, ministers today call us to give until it hurts. Seriously? Am I to threaten my family's shelter, warmth, food, etc... so that I can send some teenager overseas for a week? I'm sorry, but I don't see this as the mission work of the Lord which the Macedonians gave to. Instead, we need to be taking care of our family, providing for their needs, and giving as able to the far fewer, yet more worthwhile ministries that actually are serving the Lord's purposes.
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