Advice without Wisdom

I once was taking with a friend in a casual setting who just happened to be an OB-GYN. We were discussing the sanctity of life when I found myself telling him of experiments with anencephalic babies. Halfway through my diatribe I saw a knowing smile on his face. I was preaching to the preacher, so to speak. I was speaking on an equal par with an intelligent professional in his own field; a field in which I had no experience and little education! I apologized for my being so overbearing and insolent. He accepted my apology, I asked HIM for the truth and made a self-promise not to be so prideful again.

One should never advise unless that person is responsible for the other person. However, a wise person solicits advise from one with more wisdom! Therefore, it is acceptable to advise another when the other seeks advise. There is one stipulation: The consultant must be qualified in offering advise. Advice from the ignorant is worse than no advice at all!

As an example, a bus driver is qualified to teach others about bus-driving safety, driving practices and local geography. The bus driver is not qualified to psychoanalyze people just because the driver interacts with people all day long. A bartender can be relied upon to expound upon his expertise in martini making, but is not qualified to discuss raising children. A mother with young children is not qualified to advise those who have grown children. In fact the young are wise if they seek the advice of experience!

Leviticus 19:32 (ESV) “You shall stand up before the gray head and honor the face of an old man, and you shall fear your God: I am the Lord."

With age comes wisdom. Never shirk the wisdom of one who has experienced life. I always looked on my elders when I was young to model their behavior, seek their advise and to ask for prayer. Now the younger generation already know it all which can be attested to by their authoritative speech, lack of listening and superior-acting behavior.

 Proverbs 12:15 (ESV) "The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but a wise man listens to advice."

Simply put, if your education, knowledge, experience and wisdom is lacking don't give advice; seek it. The person who seeks advice becomes wise!   My son, when he was a Freshman in school said "Why do I have to go to school any longer; I already know as much as the teacher?" That was a foolish statement and showed his naivete and ignorance. As an example, the clerk who adds and subtracts to balance the ledger believes she knows much about mathematics. She compares herself to the engineer because she has no knowledge of higher mathematics. She is foolish to express herself beyond that which her credentials allow.

Many people took the advice of Ann Landers (Eppie Lederer) for years! However, there was never a method to determine if her advice was life-changing in a positive direction  or just bad advice!  Any intelligent person should have asked "What are her credentials?" She had none! She was a housewife, wrote a gossip column for the school paper, had no formal education in psychology and was a Democrat party leader; none of which qualified her to provide professional advice.  However, that never stopped her!  Only fools would seek advice from her!

I give spiritual advice all the time in my blogs. I always admit that I'm not a preacher, am not called to preach and have not been to seminary. However, I have studied the Bible for forty years and am fairly knowledgeable. Furthermore, I majored in Family Counseling for my graduate degree and understand human problems. I'm pragmatic because of my undergraduate degree in Mechanical Engineering. Likewise, I've made every mistake in the book raising my family and in my marriage. I can teach from experience because learning is not always by positive experiences, but learning from error. My hobby has always been history of which I'm widely read. Anyone who takes my advice should recognize my limitations and take only that advice which I'm qualified to make. In fact I ask my readers to test my teaching by the use of scripture because even the seasoned can err. A fool would be the one to blindly accept what's advised without question!

Luke 6:40 (ESV) "A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone when he is fully trained will be like his teacher."

To teach requires training either by education or experience. Some training is modeled. However, the trainee should not presume to be more wise than the teacher. That's foolish as we have seen! When the young has been trained, has experience and has applied what is learned, then the student becomes a budding teacher, but it's not yet time to be a seasoned teacher! With credentials a teacher is a novice. A teacher is seasoned when their knowledge can be applied with wisdom!

Proverbs 4:5 (ESV) 5 Get wisdom; get insight;
    do not forget, and do not turn away from the words of my mouth.
6 Do not forsake her, and she will keep you;
    love her, and she will guard you.
7 The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom,
    and whatever you get, get insight.

The young are unqualified to advise the elder. They have yet the wisdom nor insight. Most know that wisdom is the useful application of knowledge. Insight is having discernment and a grasp of the subject matter. Few of the younger generation, even in ancient years, could grasp life's meaning to such an extent that they were qualified to be sages! An older man or woman would be a fool to go to a younger person for advice UNLESS that younger person has been fully trained in the subject matter and has succeeded in the same area. Never seek the advice of a failure. They can only tell you why they failed. They may not even know what they should have done to avoid their failures. Only age and wisdom supplements failure, but yet never seek the advice of one who has yet to succeed!

When I was overweight I should never ever tell people how to diet and be successful at it. I am not a proper model for that! I'm trying to teach how to succeed when I am a failure. Only after I've succeeded should I ever advise. That's experience, education and modeling!  Smokers should never advise others how to quit smoking. They will teach inadvertently only how to fail!

Where then are we to find good advice?

Acts 17:11 (ESV) "Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so."

Paul and Silas were taught by Jesus, they were divinely inspired and had seen Jesus perform miracles. However, their "students" checked what they were taught by using God's word as the standard! All advise from a Christian must be checked against that standard! That brings up the next "qualification" for a teacher. The source material from which they teach must be reliable. I care not what psychologists say, what motivational speakers say or what the untrained say. Their source material is not reliable. Scripture is inspired by God who is the author of it:

Deuteronomy 10:17 (ESV) "For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who is not partial and takes no bribe."

Scripture has power because it's from the One who is powerful! It must be obeyed because God is to be feared and loved. Furthermore, scripture is reliable because the all powerful Lord isn't biased toward one group nor another and he can't be persuaded to teach untruths. God is Truth and scripture is truthful because it's his word!

Children as young as four years old advise their parents! When cautioned or penalized a young child will fill in a parent with "all the facts". "You promised and you have to keep your promise!" "I won't get hurt doing that." "That's not fair!" These are all childish arguments for self-indulgence!  What is the source young children have for giving false and bad advice to parents? It's from the parents themselves! Young parents still exhibit the childish behavior of their children and children learn from them. Young parents model bad behavior. They see their young parents use these silly arguments and use them also.

The younger generation must look to those with gray for advice. Offering those with more life experience  unqualified advice without any credentials is disrespectful and proud. The young  should wait their time. It will come if they listen more than they speak.

Remember Cliffy on the television sitcom "Cheers"? Cliffy always had the answer! He was a know-it-all. For that reason the clientele ridiculed and mocked Cliffy. He had no credibility for his advice came from a failing postal worker. Anyone who would listen to Cliffy would be more of a fool than was Cliffy. What's more people advoided Cliffy. Anyone who offers unsolicited advice, especially without credential, loses friends! People avoid them. People like Cliffy are disingenuous, irritating, presumptive, proud and non-genuine. They have a false perception of themselves, hence they are shunned by those who see the postal uniform instead of the budding sage inside the uniform!

I still fail, but my goal is not to provide advice unless I'm asked, and if I don't have the credentials for what's asked, I shall endeavor to keep quiet. By doing that I may save marriages and possibly even lives and certainly misery on the part of the hearer! That's my pledge. How about yours?