Every Monday morning, we begin the working week in the BCSA office by reading a passage from the bible and then praying together, using the themes of the passage as the basis for our prayers. This week we chose Proverbs 4, a passage that in my bible is titled ‘Get wisdom at any cost’. As we reflected on this passage, we prayed that we and the pastors, leaders and people of our Baptist movement would make wise decisions throughout 2023. We prayed not for worldly wisdom, or wisdom based on the latest fad of popular psychology, but Godly wisdom, biblical wisdom, Christ-like wisdom.
It seems to me that wisdom is an under-appreciated thing. Church decisions are sometimes influenced more than we like to admit by the opinions of a few people, or by culture, or society, or by wanting to do things the way things have always been done. Sometimes churches rush into a new thing because someone is excited about it or refuse to do anything new because we fear the consequences of change. None of these are wise ways to lead.
Wisdom requires us to take a different path. It calls us to deep prayer, careful consideration. To listen to the spirit and to one another, to engage with biblical truth, to consider practical implications. Out of all of this we hope to make a well informed, wise decision (the Framework for Discernment and Conversation on the BCSA website is an excellent resource to assist with this). As we live out our faith in a culture that is often apathetic to the gospel and sometimes hostile to it, we need wisdom more than ever.
So as you start 2023, may you take to heart the words of Proverbs 4:7 “Getting wisdom is the wisest thing you can do! And whatever else you do, develop good judgment”.
