Leaders Value Wisdom over Wealth

LEADERSHIP Series: Avoiding the Seductions of Wealth

Proverbs 8:11 (MSG) For Wisdom is better than all the trappings of wealth; nothing you could wish for holds a candle to her.

James 1:5-8 If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does.

Luke 2:53 And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man.


Goethe posited that “The first and last thing of genius is the love of truth.”

1. Discuss: do you think Goethe was correct? Why or why not?


Tolerance has more value than truth. Sincerity (being open to any idea as long as it is passionately, personally, and sincerely believed) is belittled, marginalized or ignored if one’s sincere belief is not part of the prevailing dogma – think abortion, capital punishments, illegal immigration, state’s rights to name just a few issues.

2. How do you experience a lack of tolerance for a Christian World view? What do you currently do about that when it “happens to you?” How does the Luke passage shape your thoughts about this?

We have become society that is more concerned about “trappings” - how we look, how much we are liked, and how saying the “right things” rather than behaving with values that reflects Wisdom that comes from the Truth. In business, politics and entertainment, posturing (saying what people want to hear) has driven communication: actions however, often send a very different message – tell people what they want to hear, but do what I want, is the mantra.

3. How do you combat this behavior at work? What kind of questions should be asked? How does it change how you listen?

Copyright ©2009 by P. Griffith Lindell