Ecclesiastes 9:13–18 contains a story about a great king and his army that laid siege to a small city. The precise meaning is slightly ambiguous: either a poor but wise man delivered the city by his wisdom, but was soon forgotten after the event, or the city could have been delivered if the man’s opinion had been asked for and heeded. Regardless of the exact meaning, a general observation can be made: the degree to which a man’s words are heeded frequently has more to do with his perceived standing (reputation, fame, etc.) than with the actual content of wisdom in his words.
As a Christian who is an astronomer, I am deeply troubled by how a large segment of the Christian community is so ready to disregard statements that scientists make, and the evidence that supports their statements, without taking time to listen to, and then evaluate, the statements. Christians frequently miss out on the opportunity to more fully appreciate the glory of God’s creation because they close their mind to what the scientists have discovered about His creation.
Robert Davidson (1), commenting on Ecclesiastes 9:13–18, says that we, at times, refuse to listen to what is being said because of how we view the speaker. In the church, we hear “don’t listen to him, he is not sound theologically or he is a dyed-in-the-wool fundamentalist.” So we don’t listen, and it is to our impoverishment. Of course, the converse of this statement is also true. If a speaker is one with whom the listener agrees with theologically, often the listener will uncritically accept what the speaker says simply because he is “one of us” and not necessarily because what he says is sound or correct. This second attitude also works to our impoverishment.
It seems to me that one thing missing when we listen or don’t listen depending on who is talking is discernment. Discernment (according to Wikipedia) is the activity of determining the value and quality of a certain subject or event, particularly the activity of going past the mere perception of something and making detailed judgments about that thing. As a virtue, a discerning individual is considered to possess wisdom and to have good judgment.
The Bible encourages Christians to be discerning in their affairs. Philippians 1:9-10 says “ And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in real knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve the things that are excellent, in order to be sincere and blameless until the day of Christ”. King Solomon, who probably wrote Ecclesiastes, is commended for wanting to be a man of discernment in I Kings, “God said to him, because you have asked this thing and have not asked for yourself long life, nor have asked riches for yourself…, but have asked for yourself discernment to understand justice, behold, I have done according to your words. Now God gave Solomon wisdom and very great discernment and breadth of mind, like the sand that is on the seashore. I Kings 3:11-12, 4:29 NASB (2)
I can’t help but wonder how taking this thought to mind would affect the Christian community’s ideas about the various hot-topic scientific debates of the moment, such as intelligent design versus evolution, global warming, young Earth creationism versus old Earth creationism, and the Christian and the environment. If we listened with open ears and minds to both sides of an issue, would our ideas remain unchanged? Would we be better able to articulate the issues that we continue to disagree with so that those who disagree with us would, in turn, carefully listen (and perhaps) change their ideas?
(1) Davidson, Robert. Ecclesiastes and the Song of Solomon (pg. 66), Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, 1986.
(2) Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1960,1962,1963,1968,1971,1972,1973,1975,1977,1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.
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