Wisdom 46 Attitude Under the Microscope

[HKHaugan]

Wisdom 46 Attitude Under the Microscope

 After compiling that list of attitudinal strongholds in Wisdom 45, a whole other bunch came to me. Snob, calculating, bourgeois, racist, nouveau riche, elitist, but enough. I don’t want to get hung up. I’m sure you got the point. We have developed these strongholds for self-protection because the heart is emotionally fragile. Its walls are attitudinal and its separation from the Lord has made each of us victims of sin’s isolation and our personal aloneness. Aloneness is the exposed evidence of our inherited condition from Adam (Gen.3), sin. As Paul laments this condition in Romans 7 he also concludes there that his way out was the Lord Jesus who saved Him from the path of destruction he had taken.

 Therefore, it is under the microscope of Scripture we find Paul describing strongholds: “The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. And we will be ready to punish every act of disobedience, once your obedience is complete. You are judging by appearances. (2Cor.10:4-7).”

 So, three things are emphasized in this passage, judging by appearances, spiritual weaponry and Godless conclusions.

 The first thing to note about this passage is that people tend to judge by appearances. That is, they see the world only from a horizontal perspective. They are not viewing the world spiritually. Whether it is physical appearance, cultural uniqueness, social and economic standing, languages and dialects, education and professional achievements or ethnic, national and tribal background, these are only horizontal evaluations that add to the stronghold maze. This is why Paul has moved immediately into defining strongholds here as “arguments and pretensions” which are opinions and conclusions devised apart from the knowledge of God who sees in every person only their image of Himself.

 When we talk about “the knowledge of God” we cast everything into the refiner’s fire of a vertical and spiritual dimension, by faith. Paul’s use of the word ‘knowledge’ has two spiritual meanings. First, it is the personal experience of God in the Lord Jesus by faith and secondly, all the experiences proceeding from that relationship that happened through faith. It is the fact of the relationship and all the effects it has had on us. It’s our personal testimony, our vertical relationship with God. And it is the recountable horizontal experiences that dot the map of our life in Christ. But the basic dynamic in both is faith. Faith in Jesus produces an abundant life that begins here and lasts into eternity. Actually, spiritual life invaded the world in Jesus and is always available to anyone who comes to Him in Faith. It’s moving from self control to faith control, putting Jesus first and self next. From that starting point we grow from putting Jesus first, to others second and then me third.

 The second thing about this passage is its revelation that we have a weaponry unlike those in the world.   We have a ‘divine’ weaponry, a spiritual weaponry. Paul elaborates on these in Ephesians 6:10-18, “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore, put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.   And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.”

 Therein lies our personal arsenal. As strongholds emerge we shift into the spiritual mode with Jesus as our focus. With Him at the center He becomes our single stronghold. Our spiritual armor becomes not only a patient stronghold of confidence but an aggressive spiritual personal force that can disarm the spirits behind all the stuff the world throws at us.

 The third thing is the arguments and pretentions we already mentioned as humanly devised strongholds to protect the heart. It is the influence of sin that gets us to withdraw into ourselves and do the best we can to avoid relational heart pain. And done outside of God they are really isolating and defensive conclusions we either invent for ourselves or learn from some outside source. Take any generalization we make about another person because of ethnic, regional or hurtful personal experiences. Those experiences can result in bitterness, resentment and hate. I know first hand from my own city experience where ethnic gangs ruled. It’s really easy to see how one hostile incident can shape an attitude toward a group of people. And it doesn’t even have to be hostile. It can be the way a person walks or talks or attempts to make themselves known. To it can be the cleanliness factor in a neighborhood, the car someone drives, the clothing and hairstyles and mannerisms of groups. The isolating factor of a judgment call like that is to write off groups of people as non-people thus reducing any possible painful contacts. Then you’re on a roll that makes everyone a suspect. That pursuit of strongholds is terminal and only aloneness awaits in eternity.

 Follow Jesus as He walked about His world. No one was excluded from His concern or His touch. His stronghold was His Oneness with His Father in the Holy Spirit. He walked and talked among Pharisee and centurions, men and women, the old and young and everyone in between. He is the evidence that all we need is one stronghold, Him. If Jesus is our stronghold we have a relational stronghold that is eternal, strong, confident and consistent. No shifting with the cultural winds or, as Jonah found, the currents, waves and breakers, rolling over him. In Jesus we are never alone. We may feel anxious when moments of fear overtake us. But even then, the Lord is with us through our fears and brings us out on the other side stronger and readier to face the world.   More on strongholds as we continue the Wisdom series.