Let me be clear. All true wisdom comes from God. We know the Bible is full of that wisdom. Yet anyone can stumble across wisdom that is perhaps more direct, but still is in line with scripture and is ultimately from God. It takes discernment and a strong knowledge of scripture to separate wisdom from foolishness that sounds like wisdom, but if you are careful, you can find important little nuggets that will help your ministry.
I recently encountered a great example. I am studying for a Master’s in Social Work. A lot of the information is great and extremely helpful. Some of it has questionable value. We recently had to watch a documentary film on the life of a dissident in the twentieth century. She was an interesting person, but a lot of her methods I would have considered counter to Christianity. Yet within the film, she offered some nuggets of what I think could be wisdom for ministry. For example, “Rebellion is out of anger.” “Conversations can become books.” “Ideas matter. What are the possible long term implications of your ideas?” “Have conversations with someone who will force you to find the limitations and weaknesses in your ideas.” “We tend to overestimate the value of activism and underestimate the value of reflection.” “Change should be focused on creating something better.” “Revolutions often end up looking like what they replaced. You have to be intentional about change or the status quo will reappear. (She was talking about toxic behaviors and attitudes, like corruption.)” “Stop looking for someone or something to be the easy cure and do the hard work from the bottom up.” “Learn from everything you try.”
See what I mean? There was a lot she said that frankly was not wise at all, but using knowledge of scripture, I was able to pick out bits of wisdom that could be helpful. It’s a skill your Bible students need to learn, as well. Help them practice regularly. Find affirmations or have them pick out what they think is wisdom from something they have seen or read. Then teach them how to compare it to the principles in scripture. Is it really wise?
Don’t assume that just because a book was written about ministry or by a Christian, it is full of wisdom. There can be errors or even false teachings promoted by people who really think they are trying to do God’s will.
But don’t ignore secular books and articles either. There are great books filled with wisdom regarding education, brain science or other topics helpful to ministry. Just remember to use discernment. Really examine everything by scripture. Study the Bible so the process of discernment is faster and easier. Things that make you pause, require going back to the Bible and reflecting more deeply. Is it really wisdom or just foolishness that appears wise?
With discernment, you may just find a whole new world of great ideas for your ministry.