The Good Guys

In the early Western movies, there was a trend for the good guys to wear white hats so that they could be identified as the heroes of the story. In essence, there was no need for sound because it was easy see the outcome – the guy in the white hat was going to win because he was the good guy and the good guys always won.  Ah, wouldn’t it be great to return to those simpler, better times? The truth is that those times never really existed!
It might seem that life would less complicated if it could be lived in “black and white”, but the reality is that it can’t and it wouldn’t.  It is tempting to want to believe that “living by labeling” is the answer to all of life’s difficulties, but it isn’t accurate.  Wouldn’t it be simpler to navigate a world where we could believe that all those who profess Christianity  are pure, all Muslims are radical, all liberals value life over money or all mothers are nurturing?  Life would be so much easier if we could pretend that all criminals looked a particular way, all atheists possessed detestable personalities and all church members had a positive spirit, but the truth is that there are few absolutes.  Are there spirituals absolutes – absolutely (you had to know that was coming) –  but, honestly, even they are few and far between.  So, that leaves us with a world that is often reduced to shades of gray.  Since blanket statements about people are typically inaccurate and blind beliefs about issues are easily challenged we must be willing to rely upon discernment and that is where wisdom comes into play. 
Are we desirous of living insightful lives in a confusing world?  There are a couple of things we must be willing to do:
1).  Dismiss stereotypes.  We all have preconceived ideas, but we must be willing to set them aside in our search for truth. 
2).  Pray for wisdom.  Human wisdom has some value, but the key to successfully discerning truth is found deepening our relationship with God.  Fortunately the Bible instructs us, “But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him.” (James 1:5).
3).  Think.  This may sound odd, but we must be willing to invest the emotional and cognitive effort to actually reason through the issues we confront.  Again, we must accept God’s absolutes, but in all other things, we must be willing to view them in light of spiritual wisdom.

One of the incredible things about Jesus was His wisdom.  He had the ability to see into the hearts of seemingly immoral women and through the hypocrisy of religious leaders.  He was able to find strength in common fishermen and commitment in lives that His kinsmen had written off as traitors.  Jesus, our Master and Mentor, relied upon wisdom rather than clichés to build His church – do we?

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