Knowledge vs. Wisdom

I have a friend who would always say, “Knowledge isn’t wisdom until you’ve walked it out.” I may not be quoting her quite right, but it’s something like that. In the season of Chrysalis, we started each morning with Bible study and one day, as we were gathered around the table, we got to talking about that. Her stance was that you would only have head knowledge until you had actually experienced it. That you couldn’t come to full understanding without having walked it out. I tended to disagree (surprise, surprise!) and was making the argument that you could understand and have wisdom on something just from reading it or talking to others about it. That you could be wise even if you hadn’t necessarily experienced it. Our conversation wasn’t too contentious, but I don’t think either one of us was going to be swayed. We sort of, nonverbally, agreed to disagree and the conversation moved on.

After our times of Bible study, we were trying to establish a social enterprise venture that would provide the women with gainful employment while remaining in a safe and nurturing environment . . . thus, the chrysalis concept. I had seen a video of this acrylic pour technique that looked quite easy and made the most amazing butterfly painting. Other than actually mixing the paints, the video showed virtually the entire process—the video was 8 minutes and 12 seconds long. Using squeeze bottles, like those you use for ketchup and mustard, you drew the basic outline of a butterfly in black. Then, using orange and yellow and blue, you made alternating lines of color within the butterfly outline. A piece of cellophane was placed over the entire canvas, it was flipped over and gently pulled off and . . . voila! . . . a beautiful butterfly. Surely, we could be producing profitable works of art in no time.

So, we gathered the supplies, mixed the paints, prepared the canvases, and set about producing our first butterflies. Well, as it turns out, it was not quite as easy as the video made it look. Our work consisted of the quality of preschool to, maybe, third grade artwork! The more attention that was paid to the details of the process and the more times the video was watched directly correlated to the quality of the work. But none of us came close to achieving what the artist in the video was able to create.

With a few self-deprecating comments, some light-hearted mocking, and gentle encouragement being murmured around the table amidst a good share of laughing, we set out to try again. Based on what had worked and not worked, we each made another attempt incorporating what we had learned. Without exception, each of our butterflies turned out better the second time. Yet, still nowhere near as good as the amazing butterfly in the eight-minute video.

With repeated efforts, we continued to improve and even as I was gently pulling the painting from the cellophane—this time being sure to draw it up uniformly—it dawned on me. Knowledge isn’t wisdom until you’ve walked it out!

I had watched the video so many times and paid close attention to every detail in the video, or so I thought. And yet, without actually going through the process I was far from accomplished in the technique. I had been so confident that we could just watch this video clip and be able to do what the artist in the video had done. I couldn’t help but feel a slight admonishment from the Lord. He was convicting me, not about YouTube art but about biblical wisdom . . . life. The proximity of our conversation to this teachable moment was not lost on me. I admitted to my friend, she was probably right.

Farther down the road on this crazy journey, I think of her and of that day often. There are so many things I had studied and read . . . things I was sure I knew . . . things I felt I was wise about, and yet . . . it was merely knowledge. I had lots of doctrines and theology in my head, verses memorized, “wisdom” to impart. And then I started walking. It was preschool to third-grade level, at best. My spiritual maturity was far from where I believed it to be. I had so much walking out to do.

There is a reason God has told us to “go therefore, and make disciples of all nations.” You see, that’s the walking out part. We are supposed to go to church, study scripture, spend time in prayer, for sure. But then, we are to “go therefore.” Because it isn’t enough to know it, we’ve got to walk it out. I used to think that verse was for the benefit of the people we would take the message to. God was teaching me, it was just as much about moving knowledge . . . to wisdom.

“Join together in following my

example, brothers and sisters, and

just as you have us as a model, keep

your eyes on those who live as we do.”

Philippians 3:17 NIV

“Whatever you have learned or

received or heard from me, or seen

in me—put it into practice. And

the God of peace will be with you.”

Philippians 4:9 NIV

“But solid food is for the mature,

who by constant use have trained

themselves to distinguish

good from evil.”

Hebrews 5:14 NIV