Information Overload
Never before have so many had access to so much information.
With human knowledge doubling every few years and search engines like Google,
Alta Vista, and Ask Jeeves at our fingertips, the potential for learning seems
endless.
Ironically, much of what we are discovering
helps us to see how little we know. According to Reuters News Service, the
Hubble Space Telescope has seen 10,000 galaxies in a window of the night sky
about the size of a full moon. Who can even begin to imagine what it means to
find 10,000 galaxies in one small area of the heavens? Our own galaxy,
The Milky Way, is made up of about 100 billion stars, and our whole
solar system revolves around only one of them.
The promise of knowledge—The Human Genome Project is another scientific
effort that is harvesting knowledge faster than our minds can process. This
global effort to map and sequence all of the 100,000 genes of the human body
promises hopeful and disturbing implications for the treatment and prevention of
disease. Deciphering the DNA alphabet of the human body brings with it the
possibility of human clones to donate organs and gain complete knowledge of the
human genetic code, so that any human characteristic can be altered with
minimal risk or error. But who can
understand the real benefits and risks of having this kind of knowledge?
The danger of knowledge—As with everything in life,
there is a downside to living on an information highway. Overloaded computers
can crash and our minds can lock up. While looking for useful knowledge, we can
get lost in a blinding blizzard of data. The same browsers we are using to
solve our problems can be used to look for world-class gossip, pornography, or
instructions on how to make a bomb.
Our need for wisdom—Our first parents discovered long
ago that knowledge without wisdom is
dangerous. By eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, they
made the fatal mistake of trying to match wits with their Creator.
From that day until now, infected
knowledge has been to the human mind what corrupted files are to our computers.
Like the My Doom virus that did billions of dollars of damage by clogging
information systems with unwanted e-mails, so the pursuit of knowledge without
wisdom can overload our minds and drown us in data.
The meaning of wisdom—Wisdom is the practical side of
knowledge. It shows us what is important;
gives proportion to
what we
know, and enables us to
use insight skillfully to reach a desired goal.
There is more than one kind of
wisdom. According to the New Testament, the wisdom of the world is different
than the wisdom of God. The first uses
knowledge to get ahead at the expense of others. The second uses understanding for the good of others.
Each is distinguished by its motives.
Seeing that real wisdom is not only a function of the mind but
also a condition of the heart, an apostle of Christ wrote, "Who
is wise and understanding among you? Let him show by good conduct that his
works are done in the meekness of wisdom . . . . For where envy and
self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there. But the wisdom
that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield,
full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy. Now
the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace” (James
By describing what is at
the heart of both kinds of wisdom, James explained why knowledge makes some
people arrogant while enabling others to love. The wisdom he recommended is
“pure” because it is not infected with selfish ambition. It is “peaceable” because it values good relationships with others. It is “gentle” because it knows the value of handling others with care. This wisdom is “willing to yield” and is “full of mercy and good fruits.” It is
also “without partiality and without
hypocrisy” because it puts the
well-being of others above selfish interests.
The source of real wisdom—Once
we see that knowledge without wisdom is like marriage without love, we can see
why Solomon wrote, “Happy is the
[person] who finds wisdom, and the man
[or woman] who gains understanding; for
her proceeds are better than the profits of silver, and her gain than fine
gold. She is more precious than rubies, and all the things you may desire
cannot compare with her” (Proverbs
The priceless treasure Solomon is describing is found by those who
invest their lives in the principles of the Bible. The Old Testament describes
a wisdom that begins with the fear of God and is rounded out by timeless
principles of practical insight (Proverbs 1:1-7;
As Lord of heaven and earth, Jesus could
have overwhelmed us with new information.
He could have lectured on science, theology,
and philosophy in the
most prestigious academies of higher learning. Yet when He walked among us, He
talked about what He knew was most important. He talked about honoring His Father and seeing the value of people who
were regarded as worthless by others.
Showing wisdom with a heart of love, Jesus had a way of putting
other information in perspective. With a wisdom that speaks for itself, He
simply asked questions like, “What profit
is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what
will a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Matthew 16:26).
Father in heaven, we are so
quickly distracted from what is important. In our knowledge we are so inclined
to be proud and self-sufficient. Please renew us once again in the knowledge
and wisdom and love of Your Son. Amen!
Selected From R.B.C. email
“The prayer that
all of us should offer…is this: “So
teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom” (Psalm
90:12). Time actually has little meaning
in heaven. There are no calendars in
eternity. Yet because of the shortness
of our time on earth, this prayer attributed to Moses should become ours also. Why?
Because, first of all, today is the only hold we have on eternity.
No man can truly
say, “I know that I will be living in the flesh tomorrow.” The thread of life is so brittle, and the
future is so uncertain, that none of us can boast that we own one second of the
days ahead. This moment, this one golden
hour, is God’s gift to us; and the only segment of time that we can really call
our own is the one we are now living.”
Selected
“The world may be
in turmoil and despair, but in the darkness the light of Jesus Christ has all
the more chance of shining brightly. Let
us ask Him to use us as His “light,” as each day we come in contact with so
many who need the assurance of His love. J.W.B.