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Proverbs 9:9 – A Wise Ignoramus
You can be wise without being smart. And you can be smart without being wise. Of course the preferred combination is, being both wise and smart. No, I am not being a wise-guy nor am I being a smart-aleck, but we have too many foolish intellectuals, and not enough wise ignoramuses.
O.K., now for a few explanations, if you haven’t already figured out where this is going.
He who is smart but not wise, is too smart for his own good; he does not have enough sense to rely upon the sensibility of others. Instead of surrounding himself with those who are smarter and wiser than himself – which would be wise – he surrounds himself with fools. That way he is always the smartest. I’m sure we all have periodically been “too smart” to listen to others. That’s how most mistakes are made.
Someone who is wise, but not smart has enough sense to realize their own inadequacies. That’s why you can give instruction to a wise man, and he will be still wiser (Prov.9:9). A wise ignoramus has hope of becoming both wise and smart. We show the most wisdom when we show we are not too smart to listen and learn.
So, who are we: A Foolish Intellectual? A Wise Ignoramus? A Wise Intellectual? If any of us quickly chose the latter, we might not be as wise or as smart as we think we are!
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