Saturday, May 24, 2014

Commencement Speeches Dole Out Wisdom; So Does the Bible

© 2014 The Wired Word
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At colleges and universities across America, graduating students and their families are being addressed these weeks by individuals, usually either famous or high achievers in their field, who have presumably learned some valuable lessons from life and who have been invited to share their wisdom with the graduating class. In so doing, these speakers are continuing a tradition that dates back to at least 1774, when Barnabas Binney addressed the graduating class of Rhode Island College (now Brown University).
During the past week, NPR devoted a couple of program segments to "great" commencement speeches, analyzing not only those of the 2014 graduation season, but also many speeches from previous years. In one segment, Anya Kemenetz reported that the lectures typically contain some or all of the following elements, numbering down to those that occur most often:
12. Be kind.
11. You only live once.
10. Make art.
9. Seek balance between work and the rest of life.
8. Dream.
7. Remember the lessons of history.
6. Embrace failure.
5. Work hard.
4. Don't give up.
3. Listen to your inner voice.
2. General tips, such as "Use money to buy experiences, not things" and "Don't ruminate on bad events."
1. Change the world.
In the other NPR segment, Cory Turner noted that commencement messages in general fall into one of two different kinds. One is the type that tells the graduates, in some form, that they are special. Turner summarized this type as "Follow your heart because life is about you and your specialness."
The other kind, said Turner, is the speech that tells graduates, "You're not special." Turner said, "The goal of the 'You're Not Special' speech is to say to grads: "As hard as you've worked, you also lucked into plenty, including your parents and your country." This kind of speech includes the theme that with luck comes obligation, and thus, graduates should find a way to serve.
Turner said that the two kinds of speeches complement each other, and that taken together, they say, "Congratulations. You are special. Just remember ... so is everybody else."
More on this story can be found at these links:
Some sample speeches from the 2014 commencement season:
About Biblical Wisdom Literature
Since the wisdom strand in the Bible tends to be less well known than the prophetic and salvation strands, you may find it helpful to share the following with your class:
"Wisdom" in ancient Israel was a belief that both the physical and moral realms of the world operated according to orderly principles that people could perceive, and that if one lived in harmony with this order, things would go well for that person. The books of Job, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and the Song of Solomon, as well as some of the Psalms and portions of other biblical books (including James in the New Testament), are usually considered wisdom literature. In general, they do not contain references to the temple, priests or covenant, or to heavenly rewards or divine punishment. Rather, the goal was to achieve fullness of life, characterized by well-being and happiness. People who cooperated with this order of life were wise. Those who did not were fools.
This is akin to the concept of "natural law" in philosophy, which states that human reason (rational and reflective thought) can help one discover moral rules of life. Paul refers to this when he states that "what the law requires is written on [the Gentiles'] hearts" (Romans 2:15).
To understand biblical wisdom, it's helpful to consider what was happening in Israel when most of those biblical books were composed. Earlier in the Old Testament, though the Israelites often displeased God, they understood their relationship with God as based on a covenant requiring their obedience and righteousness. The priests held special authority as mediators of that covenant. After Israel became a monarchy, things changed. King Solomon, especially, turned from God. Israel was now involved in international political and economic relationships and absorbed many different peoples. The nation for the first time struggled with cultural and religious pluralism. This period of Israel's history might be called a kind of "renaissance" where the old traditions and old ways began to seem irrelevant. Israel was fast becoming a secular society.
As Solomon and others turned away from the priests, another breed of teacher began to gain respect, known as "the wise." Neither priests nor prophets, these men simply observed life and drew conclusions about how best to live. Theirs was not a godless belief. In fact, in the very first chapter of Proverbs is this verse: "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge" (1:7). But it was a belief system in which God was addressed not by sacrifice in the temple, but by cooperation with the order God had built into life as the common property of all humanity.
While from a Christian standpoint, the wisdom literature may seem like religion-lite, we have to acknowledge that our culture today is more like the secular world of Solomon than the covenant world of Moses. For some, the wisdom motif -- do good because it pays off -- is a more compelling reason to do the right thing than because God commands it. So in a way, the concept behind wisdom teaching can be a connecting point with nonbelievers because that teaching speaks the language of the world. This is not a compromise with the secular; it is a bold statement that God's revelation is applicable not merely to Christians, but is consistent with Reality with a capital "R."
The Big Questions
1. Where can Christians obtain wise counsel that is in line with God's will?
2. What is the criteria we should use to separate bad advice from good? How do we do that?
3. What is the difference between knowledge and wisdom? What are the dangers of knowledge without wisdom?
4. In what ways might biblical wisdom be an avenue to reach people who are resistant to the gospel?
5. Have you ever heard a commencement speech, either as a graduate or a guest, in which something was said that was so striking that you still remember it? Describe the effect such a speech had on you. Was the speech specifically or implicitly Christian?
Confronting the News With Scripture and Hope
Here are some Bible verses to guide your discussion:
Proverbs 8:22-23
The LORD created me at the beginning of his work, the first of his acts of long ago. Ages ago I was set up, at the first, before the beginning of the earth. (For context, read 8:22-31.)
The speaker in these verses is "Wisdom," personified as a woman. Taken literally, these verses mean that Wisdom was birthed prior to the creation of the world. Bear in mind that Wisdom is not really a separate individual, but a characteristic of God on whom the biblical people put a human face to make it more understandable. Wisdom here says that while God was marking out the foundations of the earth, she was "beside him" (v. 30). In other words, Wisdom was God's companion in the process of creating the world. This is likely a poetic way of saying that God imbued some measure of his divinity in the world he created.
In this section of Proverbs, Wisdom is in effect presenting her credentials. By portraying herself as the first of God's creations and of having been there with God at the birthing of the world, Wisdom is not claiming to be equal to God, but she is telling of her honored place next to God himself. Those credentials are important, for Wisdom wants her audience to heed her instruction, something they will only do if they are convinced that she is right. She wants them to listen, for she knows the value of her teaching. As she states it, "For whoever finds me finds life and obtains favor from the LORD" (v. 35).
Questions: Why would wisdom be necessary before the world itself was brought into being? Do you look on wisdom as something foundational to creation, available to all, or is it something revealed to those who are earnestly seeking for God? Name one phrase, sentence, saying or cliché that embodies wisdom for you.
Proverbs 1:32-33
For waywardness kills the simple, and the complacency of fools destroys them; but those who listen to me [Wisdom] will be secure and will live at ease, without dread of disaster. (For context, read 1:20-33.)
Here Wisdom, personified as a woman who "cries out in the street" (v. 20), calls people to love knowledge, fear God and accept her reproof. She criticizes those who ignore her counsel, and predicts that they will experience panic, calamity, distress and anguish.
Questions: Where do you hear the Wisdom of God calling out today? What are the consequences of ignoring God's counsel? Wisdom is portrayed as shouting so loud it is almost embarrassing. Is this the way that conscience works, in your experience? How easy is it to tune it out and ignore it? Are you more or less likely to receive counsel or wisdom when someone speaks to you discreetly? Do you have to be bonked over the head by events, or shouted at in the marketplace in order to get it?
John 8:7
Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her. (For context, read 8:1-11.)
Here's a good example of wisdom in action. The words above are Jesus' reply to his opponents who had brought to him a woman caught in the act of adultery and demanded to know whether he would support the Mosaic law that called for stoning adulterers. Note that in his reply, Jesus doesn't appeal to religious law but instead calls the men to view themselves in the same category -- sinner -- in which they've placed the woman. And, as we know, when they did that, they all "went away, one by one, beginning with the elders" (v. 9), leaving the woman with Jesus.
Questions: When have you seen wisdom in action? When has a wise answer headed off violence or anger? Part of the wisdom displayed by Jesus is to not engage in a scriptural argument based on the texts chosen by his opponents, but to take the discussion to another track. Have you ever been able to defuse a seemingly unsolvable conflict by changing the terms of the discussion? Have you ever been involved in or witness to a dispute in which you were unable to help and in which people were unable to receive help? What controversies are you or your church dealing with that you would prefer be ratcheted down in tone and emotion? Does this passage mean that crimes are not ever to be punished (because we all sin), or is there some other meaning? Explain.
Matthew 12:42
The queen of the South will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because she came from the ends of the earth to listen to the wisdom of Solomon, and see, something greater than Solomon is here! (For context, read 12:38-42.)
Jesus is here referring to the queen of Sheba coming to visit King Solomon (see 1 Kings 10:1-13). His point is that though Solomon may have had a reputation for being wise (consider, for example, his "split-the-baby" ploy, 1 Kings 3:16-28), in Jesus himself, someone much wiser had come.
Questions: In what specific ways does biblical wisdom go hand-in-hand with the gospel? In what specific ways is the gospel superior to biblical wisdom? What piece of New Testament wisdom, what words of Jesus, do you quote most often to yourself or others that qualifies as wisdom? How effective is it?
1 Corinthians 1:22-24
For Jews demand signs and Greeks desire wisdom, but we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. (For context, read 1:18-31.)
Paul is trying to teach and inspire the Christians in Corinth to carry on the work that he has started. He wants to transition the leadership of the church from its founders (Paul and Apollos) to the Corinthians themselves. Paul reminds the Corinthians that they were not necessarily wise by human standards, but that they now have "life in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God" (v. 30).
Questions: Where is the wisdom of God found in Jesus? How is it different from the wisdom of the world? How can we share this with others, in particular the next generation of church members and leaders?
For Further Discussion
1. Comment on this, from Stan Purdum's account of how a wisdom approach opened the door for a later theological approach: "A coworker of my wife's, knowing I was a minister, asked if I would counsel her daughter and son-in-law, who were having marital problems. They were not churchgoers and neither had much religious background. But the mother felt that a minister might be able to help. They were in my office only a few minutes when a painful tale of marital infidelity on the part of the wife began to unfold. It would have been easy for me to talk about the sinfulness of her behavior, but the fact was, she was not even thinking of it in that context. She felt justified because of some slights on her husband's part. In fact, she was still seeing the other man. In my judgment, simply pointing out that her behavior was wrong would not have achieved any healing of the relationship.
     "Instead, I started from their interest in saving the marriage. I pointed out that the first prudent thing to do if she truly wanted to give the marriage a chance was to stop seeing the other man. She reluctantly agreed, and we set up an appointment to work on the other problems in the marriage. If they had been people who permitted religion to have a role in their lives, I might have offered to pray with them. But this was not part of their lives, so I did not suggest it.
     "In effect, I didn't function much differently from a secular marriage counselor that day, but as I continued meeting with them, I repeatedly raised the 'wisdom' position -- that treating each other with understanding and consideration would have a positive effect on their marriage. And by the third time we met, we were able to begin speaking about some very theological things: the wife's need to repent of her actions and the husband's need to forgive. He also had some things he needed to repent of and she had some things she needed to forgive.
     "But before they could even consider those things -- which they ultimately did, by the way -- they had to be helped to see a higher view of life than they had."
2. In his book Abundant Living, the missionary and evangelist E. Stanley Jones tells of New York City psychologist Dr. Henry Link, who, based on his study of psychology, gave up Christianity as outmoded superstition. As he began treating patients, however, trying to help them untangle their snarled-up lives, he realized that he had to give them something outside of themselves to love. That made sense, but to what should he direct them? As he pondered this problem, he eventually realized that the only permanent thing he could direct them to was God. And after realizing that, he soon found that he had talked himself back into being a Christian. In what ways was Wisdom operating in this case?
3. Discuss this: To be effective, knowledge needs to be aided by wisdom. Rabbi and author Harold Kushner made that point when he addressed the graduating class at Cornell University in 1985. He used the phrase "the best and the brightest," which commentators had earlier coined to describe government officials who had taken the United States into the war in Vietnam and then kept our nation going deeper into the conflict. Because that war had occurred when most of those graduating were children, he had to explain the irony of that phrase. Kushner's point was that as brilliant people graduating from a prestigious school, the grads had a great deal of good information, but that they needed to seek wisdom to go along with it. Without it, he said, "the best and brightest" of their generation would be "smart enough to lead but not wise enough to know where they should be going." Wisdom, Kushner said, is "the instinctive sense of how to apply the information they had." He then added that the essence of wisdom is "a respect for the limits of human intelligence and a sense of reverence for the vast dark reaches of reality where reason cannot penetrate."
4. Have you ever given a commencement speech? Encapsulate what you said. What impact do you think it had? Did anyone ever speak to you afterward about the effect it had on them? How did it reflect your faith?
Responding to the News
Consider how your church might contribute the wisdom of God (as opposed to outright gospel admonitions) to the public discussions of community issues and even national ones.
Closing Prayer
Help us, O Lord, to see how to employ biblical wisdom in the situations of our lives, especially those involving people who may not be open to a more gospel-based approach. In Jesus' name. Amen.
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