Why Good Intentions Aren’t Enough in the Christian Life
Why carrying out righteousness is a skill
I became a homeowner a couple of years ago. When I first received my keys, I looked forward to trying a number of home improvement projects I had seen online. For a while, I went on a spree watching videos on how to patch, spackle, and paint, along with a few bigger tasks.
My father, however—who had worked in general contracting early in his career, saw some of the videos I was watching and insisted that it wasn’t as easy as they made it look.
It didn’t take long for me to realize he was right.
Not long after starting a project, even when I followed the videos step by step, I would run into a situation that wasn’t covered and find myself stuck. I could replay the video or search for others to supplement it, but nothing seemed to provide the exact fix I needed.
My father, on the other hand, could think on the fly. He would know exactly what to do. Years of hard work had given him the insight and skill to navigate complex situations.
Wisdom in the Christian life is something like that. The Christian life requires more than good intentions. It requires skill and learning how to live wisely in real situations.
In the opening of the book of Proverbs, verses 2–3 read: “To know wisdom and instruction, to understand words of insight, to receive instruction in wise dealing, in righteousness, justice, and equity.”
The Hebrew word for “wise dealing” has been described as a “well-used skill,” carrying the sense of understanding a situation well. And if we look at the rest of the verse, we see that this skill or understanding is directed toward carrying out “righteousness, justice, and equity.”
This may be surprising to some. When we think about what makes a good Christian, the word skilled probably falls somewhere lower on the list. We have all met sincere and good-hearted believers, but how often do we think of Christians who are not only faithful, but wise?
There’s a line from the movie Black Panther (which I admittedly enjoyed) that has always stayed with me. When T’Challa comes face to face with the vision of his father, King T’Chaka tells him, “You’re a good man with a good heart. And it’s hard for a good man to be king.”
There is a measure of common grace and truth reflected there. The very existence of a book like Proverbs assumes that the Christian life calls us not only to do what is right, but to do what is right well. Being a good man with a good heart is not the end game. There are ways to minimize or to maximize the good we do, even when our hearts are in the right place.
King Solomon himself exercised this in great display when the two women in 1 Kings 3 came to him and asked him to settle the dispute over who was the true mother of the living child. As the story goes, he says “Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one and half to the other”, ultimately prompting and revealing the real mother to say, “Give the other woman the child, by no means put him to death!”
The narrative concludes in v28, saying that all of Israel heard of this because they “perceived that the wisdom of God was in him to do justice.”
This type of wisdom matters plenty in the church. Many a conflict can be avoided with wisdom. Sin and evil can be prevented with understanding a situation well. It takes skill and insight to not only lead a flock, but even to be part of one.
There is wisdom behind who you invite to your birthday party. There is a skill to planning a wedding. There is a way to date well, break up well, and get engaged well. Even in every “good” interaction that happens in the church, there are opportunities to increase or decrease it.
Your heart is important, but so are things like optics and communication. Who you speak to, how you speak, and when you speak all matter. All of these pieces come together to form the wisdom that determines how well you carry out the good intention in your heart, from beginning to end.
The Christian life calls us not only to desire what is right, but to become skilled in doing it. And when it is done wisely, it bears abundant life and peace in Christ.
Nice
Well done. Growth in character requires a lot of work on the inner life and that is rare in our modern educational ideas which focuses 99% on the head rather than the heart. Your example of Solomon’s decision about the baby reveals a very deep process that Jesus followed but has mostly disappeared in Christianity.
Jesus, like Solomon, almost never answered a direct question. Christian leaders are greatly interested in being an ‘Answer Man’ who loves to debate esoteric yeas and no questions.
Much of the Christian life is paradoxical and we try to make it a simple Yes or No to very difficult and often puzzling issues. That may be why your father was able to resolve difficult challenges in home repair. He sees that they may be a paradox that requires a lot of previous practice.