MInd Your Head. "Wisdom's First Move"

For the next several weeks we will be discussing select proverbs, as well as the greater theme of how to find and apply wisdom. It will be helpful to bear in mind that these proverbs are not simply penned by the wise Solomon, but collected by him. Whenever he heard wise words in the market place, read them in texts, heard other kings or nobles share them, he would capture them. In other words, what we call sacred scripture both originated with faithful forefathers, and were identified outside the faith by same- and taken. Wisdom is, in part, recognizing truth and substance wherever you may find it. 


The wisest man in the world didn't become a faucet. He became a bucket!


And then, and for the ensuing millennia, these were phrases taught to children and traded as gems with other thinkers. Some brought on chin rubbing. Some brought on bursts of laughter. All of them were cherished as little insights to how people and reality actually worked.


You may consider committing some proverbs to memory as individuals or as a group during this series. Write them on index cards, text them to each other at points during the day and week. Be creative.


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Thaw

• Who do you think of when you think of wisdom?

Leader note: Point out, once everyone has shared, whether people listed real or fictional characters and what that might mean for our perception of wisdom.

• When is a time where you felt wise? What were you measuring against?

"That's all it takes, one drop of fear to curdle love into hate."

-JAMES M. CAIN, Double Indemnity

Read

• Proverbs 9:10
• Thoughts?
• How did the message agree or differ from your thoughts about the phrase "To fear the Lord is the beginning of wisdom"?
• What one thought about properly understanding "fear" most stuck with you?
• Why would wisdom start here and not somewhere else?

Leader note: Another way to ask this is, "why is it good for us that wisdom start here?" This isn't a question about God's ego being satiated first. This, like everything else, is for the good of his people. Explore why wisdom beginning with an appropriate, sober awareness of who God is, is best for us.


Read

• Acts 10:1-2

Leader note: The text may differ from translation to translation, but Cornelius is described literally as φοβούμενος ("phobo-menos" God-fearer). 

• How is Cornelius' God-fearing described?
• What does this tell us about what it really means to fear God?

Leader note: It's helpful to see that Cornelius' fear is detailed in his generous alms-giving to people in need and by his prayer. For a Roman centurion, indoctrinated into the idea that Caesar was god and was the source of true peace, and that poor people were literally less human, these two descriptors of his life tell a big story. He refused to inwardly conform to his culture's pattern of life, but remained mindful about what was actually true about God's universe underneath Caesar's. Terror and intimidation aren't listed. His wakefulness to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were.


Discuss

• What would it mean for you to begin fearing God is in a way consistent with what God wants for you?
• What baggage does this idea immediately come with?
• How can this group help sort through what works against you waking to the Christ and his way?

Meditation

• Each read Proverbs 8 & 9, silently. When finished, each share one thought.

Apply

• This week, regardless of where you think of yourself in relation to God, how can you begin fearing or taking seriously or living in knowledge of the Holy One?
• How can the group help?