Smart Isn’t the Same as Wise

“Knowledge puffeth up, but charity edifieth.” — 1 Corinthians 8:1 (KJV)

Thomas spent his life with books. He copied them, taught from them and wrote them. So it is surprising how much he warns about knowledge.

He isn’t against learning. He says so clearly: “Not that learning is to be considered evil, or knowledge, which is good in itself and so ordained by God.” Study hard. Use your brain. It is a gift. His warning is about what knowledge can do to you when it is not joined to love and humility. He asks:

“What good does it do to speak learnedly about the Trinity if, lacking humility, you displease the Trinity?”

In other words, you can win every argument about God and still not know him. Thomas adds a line that is worth remembering: “I would rather feel contrition than know how to define it.” Contrition means being truly sorry for sin. He would rather actually be sorry than be good at explaining what sorry means.

He also gives a picture that still stings: “a humble rustic who serves God is better than a proud intellectual who neglects his soul to study the course of the stars.” A simple farmer who loves God is better off than a genius who ignores him.

Then comes the line that might change how you think about school, and church, and everything:

“On the day of judgment, surely, we shall not be asked what we have read but what we have done; not how well we have spoken but how well we have lived.”

This applies to the Bible too. Thomas says to read it for truth, not for impressive language, and not to show off. “We ought not to ask who is speaking, but mark what is said.” Don’t only listen to clever or famous people. Truth can come through simple ones as well. And read “with humility, simplicity, and faith, and never seek a reputation for being learned.”

Humility, for Thomas, starts with honesty about your limits: “If you think you know many things and understand them well enough, realize at the same time that there is much you do not know.” That is not putting yourself down. It is just true, for everyone. And the people who know it are the ones who keep learning.

One thing to do this week: when you read the Bible this week, read a short passage slowly and ask just one question: “What does this ask me to do?” Then do it, before you read the next one.