Our Intelligence Alone Is Not Enough
Categories: Church of Christ Bulletin Articles
Why do seemingly intelligent people do not-so-intelligent things? Time after time, this writer hears of sad stories about people with high IQ’s who fall short in the area of moral discernment, leading to tragic results. Obviously, intelligence alone isn’t enough to keep a person from making bad choices.
This contradicts the belief of some that better education can solve society’s ills. Their reasoning goes like this: “If we educate people about the dangers of _________, they won’t do it and thus will be spared from unpleasant, unintended consequences.”
But experience and the Bible tell us something different. In fact, one of the most intelligent men who ever lived could serve as a poster boy for bad choices (1 Kings 11:1-13).
Ancient Israel’s King Solomon, author of much of the book of Proverbs, wrote, “Keep your heart with all diligence” (Proverbs 4:23) and “Wisdom rests in the heart of him who has understanding” (Proverbs 14:33). Despite knowing the connection between the heart and wisdom, the king disobeyed God by marrying foreign women who “turned his heart after other gods” (1 Kings 11:4). As a result, the Lord said, “I will surely tear the kingdom away from you” (1 Kings 11:11).
Daniel Webster is quoted as saying (source):
“I believe that the Bible is to be understood and received in the plain and obvious meaning of its passages; for I cannot persuade myself that a book intended for the instruction and conversion of the whole world should cover its true meaning in any such mystery and doubt that none but critics and philosophers can discover it.”
“Education is useless without the Bible.”
The bottom line is this:
The ability to make good decisions demands not only intelligence (Isaiah 1:18), but a heart totally devoted to God (cf. Numbers 14:24; Deuteronomy 1:36; Joshua 14:14).