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On this episode of The Lead On Podcast, Jeff Iorg, president of the SBC Executive Committee, discusses how wisdom is not only a biblical pursuit but also a practical skill that can be learned and recognized in ministry leadership. He unpacks four key benchmarks that signal growing wisdom, as well as three warning signs from Proverbs that reveal a lack of it, offering leaders practical guidance for cultivating discernment and humility in their daily decisions.
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Ready to hone your leadership skills and unlock your full potential? Tune in to the Lead On Podcast, where Jeff Iorg dives deep into Biblical leadership.
Hosted by SBC Executive Committee President Jeff Iorg, this dynamic podcast provides insight for seasoned executives, aspiring leaders, or those in ministry who are simply passionate about personal growth. The Lead On Podcast offers actionable, practical tips to help you navigate the complexities of ministry leadership in today's ever-changing world.
From effective communication and team building to strategic decision-making and fostering innovation, each episode is packed with valuable lessons and inspiring stories to empower you on your leadership journey.
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Welcome to the Lead On Podcast. This is Jeff Iorg, the president of the executive committee, talking with you once again about practical issues related to ministry leadership. Well, today, I wanna talk about what wisdom looks like and what it doesn't. You know, the most oft prayed prayer for most ministry leaders is, Lord, give me wisdom. Now, that's a biblical prayer.
Jeff Iorg:The book of James says, if anyone lacks wisdom, let him ask. The book of Proverbs is a full of instruction about the concept of wisdom. It's a wonderful prayer and it's important to ask for, receive, and demonstrate wisdom. A number of years ago, was on a, work group with some people and they were trying to determine what were the qualities that were essential for seminary students when they graduated to be effective ministry leaders. And one of the, this was before I was a seminary president, I was working with a group of both ministers and business executives.
Jeff Iorg:And one of the executives said, well, one of the things I look for in a young leader is wisdom.
Jeff Iorg:And that's something you either have or you don't have, you really can't teach it. Well, that didn't sit well with me. I thought, wait, woah,
Jeff Iorg:woah, wait a second. Wait a second. The Bible is full of instructions about wisdom. So if the Bible says it's something we're supposed to have and something we're supposed to get and has a significant amount of passages that describe wisdom, shouldn't we be able to learn it? So I did what I do, and that is I went to the Bible and made a pretty detailed study of the concept of wisdom, specifically trying to ask the question, can wisdom be learned?
Jeff Iorg:And the answer is overwhelmingly yes. Now, I don't have time on
Jeff Iorg:the podcast today to make that case because it involves looking at dozens, if not a few 100 verses of scripture. But after looking at all the passages in the Old and
Jeff Iorg:New Testament that mention the word wisdom, the conclusion is clear.
Jeff Iorg:You can learn wisdom. Now, you learn wisdom primarily through engaging the word of God, through reflecting on life experience, through learning from your experiences and the experiences of others, and learning how to, in the context of all of that, make appropriate decisions. That's the process of wisdom. But then the question becomes, what does it look like? Can you recognize wisdom?
Jeff Iorg:When my executive friend said, I see it in a person, they either have it or they don't. Well, what is it that he's seeing that causes him to conclude this person has wisdom? And then conversely, are there some behaviors that are observable that cause us
Jeff Iorg:to say, man, that person lacks wisdom? Well, the answer to both of these is yes. So based on that in in-depth study I did, in the study of how can you gain wisdom, I came up with four what I call benchmarks that emerged that helped me know a person is demonstrating wisdom. So I'm gonna
Jeff Iorg:share the benchmarks with you, and then I wanna do the opposite and talk about some observable behaviors, three of them, that indicate a person truly lacks wisdom. Number one. The first benchmark is this, you are growing in your ability to see life's situations from God's perspective.
Jeff Iorg:It naturally comes to you to think of every situation from God's perspective.
Jeff Iorg:Now that doesn't mean you always have God's perspective, let's not be that arrogant, but it means that you naturally think of every situation and wonder what is God's perspective on this. What scripture applies? If there's no chapter and verse, what principles apply? And how can I see this situation from God's perspective? Now, one of the favorite compliments that I ever received from my oldest son happened one day when he said, dad, I've noticed that no matter what comes up, you seem to
Jeff Iorg:always default to trying
Jeff Iorg:to think of it from God's perspective. How did you learn to do that? Well, that is a great question, but it was a significant compliment as well because my son saw in me that my default on any situation was to ask the question, what is God's perspective here, and to try to address the situation from that perspective. Now, as you grow in wisdom, you will more naturally view situations from God's perspective and try to see them as he sees them. That's your default option.
Jeff Iorg:You will, when you encounter a new situation spontaneously, start, if you wanna say it this way, flipping through the note cards in your mind. For applicable biblical principles that address the problem or the situation in front of you. You'll find yourself thinking things like this. You know, there's a proverb that speaks to this issue. Or I remember how King David or Joshua or
Jeff Iorg:Matthew or Mark. I remember how they addressed this problem. And even moving out of the biblical material, you might even say,
Jeff Iorg:I remember reading a missionary story or a pastoral story
Jeff Iorg:about someone who confronted this same dilemma, or it might even be more personal than that. You might say, you know, I remember one of my mentors, how they addressed this similar issue and how they brought the Bible and God's perspective to bear on the situation. Now, I wanna hasten to say, wisdom does not mean that you always get it right. None of us is so full of ourselves that we can claim to see every situation
Jeff Iorg:just like God sees it. No. That's not what I'm talking about. I'm saying wisdom
Jeff Iorg:is the default to the attempt to see every situation from God's perspective. So that your first response when faced with a moral or ethical dilemma or challenge, your first response, your default is, what does God say about this situation? What passage applies? What principle should be put into play place here? What person that I've read about or encountered has handled this, and why?
Jeff Iorg:And what did I learn from that in God's perspective? So benchmark number one that indicates you are growing in wisdom is you have a increasing ability to default in every situation to God's perspective on that situation. Second. A second benchmark is you're able to relate biblical principles to challenging life situations, and this is done rather than just depending on proof texting or some kind of legalistic application of one verse of the Bible to the situation. Now, let me hasten to say, some situations versus do speak clearly and distinctly about those situations,
Jeff Iorg:and when that happens, that's all you need. But now I'm talking about more challenging, more contemporary, naughty, intertangling problems that maybe aren't specifically mentioned in the Bible?
Jeff Iorg:Well, to demonstrate wisdom, you must know God and his word well enough to recognize how to apply principles rather than Bible passages into thorny situations. Now, the Bible speaks, first of all, very clearly on a number of issues. No need to look beyond what it specifically says. But when the Bible doesn't speak about a specific issue,
Jeff Iorg:then how can you ask yourself the secondary question? If there's no passage that speaks to this issue, are there principles that come out of passages that speak to them? And
Jeff Iorg:if there are multiple principles that come from differing passages, how do we interplay those together to find the best solution possible? Wise leaders are growing in their capacity to use God's word this way. Yes, when it's chapter and verse, just quote the chapter and the verse
Jeff Iorg:and move along. But when there's not a chapter and a verse,
Jeff Iorg:when there's no specific verse that speaks to the situation, then what principles can you bring to bear to know how to respond in the wisest way possible
Jeff Iorg:in the moment. Well, benchmark number three. The third benchmark is a wise person chooses best behavior over license in questionable situations. Best behavior over license. In other words, you stop asking the question, how
Jeff Iorg:much can I get away with? And you ask the better question, what is
Jeff Iorg:wise behavior in this situation? Now, when I
Jeff Iorg:was a younger Christian, because of my disdain for legalism, but also because of my desire to have as much freedom as possible, When I was a younger Christian, my question about certain behaviors was often, how far can I go and still not technically
Jeff Iorg:be disobedient to God? A lot of problems with that question. How far can I go and still not technically be disobedient to God? Man, that's the wrong question. Rather than wondering how far I can press the boundaries morally or sexually or financially or ethically, rather than asking how far can I press the boundaries, the better question is how far can I pull back without becoming legalistic about my positions?
Jeff Iorg:How far can I pull back
Jeff Iorg:and still model God's grace in the midst of my disciplinary exclusion of certain behaviors? Wisdom does not look for loopholes.
Jeff Iorg:It strives for holiness. Now, it
Jeff Iorg:does that without legalistic overtones. Sometimes people create rules for themselves to guide their behaviors based on their understanding of principles of scripture speaking into situations in which they're trying to retreat from the edge, if you will, into the safety of God's grace and separating themselves from questionable behavior. That's all well and good. Legalism is then when you make a mandate out of that and begin to demand it of others in order to prove their spiritual allegiance. That's legalism.
Jeff Iorg:So while I'm against that, I'm certainly not against you personally for yourself setting some standards to back you up from the edge to give you what you believe is the best grace filled response to situations that may be licensed in the sense that you can get away with doing them or being a part of them,
Jeff Iorg:but not but are not the best behavior in the moment. Now for me, one of
Jeff Iorg:the areas where I've had to make this application of choosing best behavior over license in questionable situations is related to entertainment. Now I realize that this is controversial for many because they don't share my convictions, and that's fine because I'm not a legalist about these issues. I do not say, if you don't do what I do, you're not a Christian, or if you don't do what I do, you're not a real Christian. That's
Jeff Iorg:legalism. But wisdom for me has been saying, I know where the boundaries are and I wanna pull back from them, not press up against them. And in
Jeff Iorg:my entertainment choices, I've had to make some along the way. Certain movies, I just don't watch. Why? Because I don't want my mind filled with the images that I might see. There are really two categories of these for me.
Jeff Iorg:One is sexuality. I I just don't want my mind filled with scenes of sexuality that will prove to be problematic for me in my own management of my own sexual impulses and desires. And another area is frankly horror movies or violence. I just simply don't want to fill my mind with things that are going to promote evil or promote insensitivity or to promote violent activity or excuse me, violent activity in my mind or in my
Jeff Iorg:life. Now you may be sitting there thinking,
Jeff Iorg:well, these things are not that big of a problem for me. Well, good for you,
Jeff Iorg:but they're of a concern to me.
Jeff Iorg:And so because I know that I'm prone to sexual temptation and I can be prone to angry or even violent outbursts, because I know that these things are within me and that they're certainly within my capacity for them to spill out of me, I wanna do everything I can to back away from those impulses and not nurture, feed,
Jeff Iorg:or encourage them really in any way. So for me, backing away from the edge
Jeff Iorg:has been important, especially in these areas like entertainment. So the question is not how far can I go, but the question is how far can I retreat from the edge that still demonstrates God's grace, doesn't demand legalistic compliance from others, but does express what I think is wisest for me in those particular situations? I know that when I've worked with teenagers over the years, that that's often the question they ask me. How far can I go? How far can I push the envelope?
Jeff Iorg:How much can I do this behavior before it becomes a sin? And my answer is always, you're you're asking the wrong question. The real question is, how far can I retreat to both protect myself and be an example to others to live in that context of God's grace without it becoming a legalistic legalistic response? That's the better question you should be asking. To boil that down, as I often said to my own children, the question is not how far can I go or what can I get away with?
Jeff Iorg:The question about every behavior is, is this wise? Is this wise? Because the word wise or wisdom really encapsulates what we're talking about here, and that is the capacity to see something from God's perspective. Number two, apply the principles of scripture into that complex perspective. And number three, retreat from the edge of how you might apply your life in that situation to a place of safety and reliance on God's grace without
Jeff Iorg:becoming legalistic about it. And then benchmark number four.
Jeff Iorg:You have wisdom when you have a growing humility about your decisions, your positions, your perspectives, your insights. In other words, you have a growing humility about how you see things. Bluntly, wisdom doesn't blow its
Jeff Iorg:own horn. Wisdom doesn't tell you how wise it is. Wisdom doesn't say, I'm right. In fact, wise leaders have a corresponding humility about the insight or the discernment that they have.
Jeff Iorg:I think of one of my wisest friends. He is very slow to give his opinion. In fact, he often doesn't voice any opinion about a situation. He listens to others and allows them to express different perspectives and opinions.
Jeff Iorg:And then if asked, he will share what he's thinking.
Jeff Iorg:Now he's not doing this because he wants to be asked or to try to set himself up as some kind of oracle. No. He he's not doing any of that. He just legitimately knows that he doesn't have to be the first one to speak, and he doesn't have
Jeff Iorg:to share on every subject. I remember once when I went to
Jeff Iorg:him with a particular problem, I had done something that was questionable, and several people who were questioning me about it. I was being defensive. No. I did the right thing. I don't know why everybody's upset.
Jeff Iorg:I don't see what the problem was,
Jeff Iorg:but I had a nagging doubt. So I went
Jeff Iorg:to this friend and said, I think you know the situation, and he said, yes, I do. I said, I I think you know enough of it to help me with my response, and so I'd like
Jeff Iorg:to ask you, just straight up, do you think I handled this situation wisely? And I'll never forget his answer, he said. Now, Jeff, just to be clear, you're asking. Right?
Jeff Iorg:When he said that, I knew I wasn't going to necessarily like the answer in the short run, but I was about to hear the truth from a very wise perspective. But notice he didn't call me up the first minute he saw me making the mistake or didn't come after me and criticize me. No. He waited.
Jeff Iorg:He waited. But when I asked him, do you
Jeff Iorg:think I handled this situation wisely?
Jeff Iorg:His response, now, Jeff, you're asking. Right? I said, yes.
Jeff Iorg:I I am. He said, well,
Jeff Iorg:very frankly, no. I don't
Jeff Iorg:think you handled this situation wisely or well at all.
Jeff Iorg:I said, well, what did I do wrong? He said, I think you know that. Reflect on it with me. What did you do that you wish you could go back and undo? And once again,
Jeff Iorg:he turned the conversation back to me, and I shared with him some different ideas. And he said, that sounds pretty good to me. I think if you go back and apologize for those things, I think you can make this right. You see, was one of those situations where there really wasn't a chapter and verse. I was actually involving myself in supervising an employee when this happened.
Jeff Iorg:I I was trying to make leadership decisions and trying to do something in the moment that needed to be done, and I just handled it all wrong.
Jeff Iorg:And this person had the grace to call me out on it, but he also demonstrated amazing humility and that wisdom in his life meant that he had insight, but he didn't necessarily have to say it. But when asked about it, he was more than willing to offer some input. You know, wise leaders are often like that. They know what they know. They're willing to share, but they're also willing to wait until asked or perhaps wait until the right moment.
Jeff Iorg:They don't parade their wisdom. They're not trying to impress anybody with how wise they are. They're patient with people who disagree with them. They they recognize that deep down, if they're right, that wisdom will ultimately prevail, and if they're wrong, they didn't need to
Jeff Iorg:be so insistent after all. Wise leaders have a growing humility about their decisions and their positions. They're patient about sharing that. They're willing to wait, if necessary, for the right moment to give the input that's needed.
Jeff Iorg:You know, I'm quick to speak, slow to hear. That's the reverse of what
Jeff Iorg:the Bible says we're supposed
Jeff Iorg:to be. Are you like me in that? You're too quick to speak, too slow to hear. One of the ways that I know I've been growing in wisdom over the years is I have gotten a little slower to speak and hearing a little better.
Jeff Iorg:Now I have a long ways to go on this one. People who know me well know that I'm quick to speak, but wise people are slow to speak, reflective and careful, and then give the right input at the right time. So I've given you four benchmarks. How can you know someone has wisdom? Well, you know you have wisdom if you're growing in your ability to see life situations from God's perspective.
Jeff Iorg:You're able to relate biblical principles to challenging life situations. You choose best behavior over questionable behavior in challenging situations, and you have a growing humility about your decisions and your perspectives, your insights.
Jeff Iorg:You're willing to wait patiently, not always having to be the first one to speak. Now, that's
Jeff Iorg:the positive side. But interestingly enough, the Bible also has some very observable behaviors, which indicate you lack wisdom. The first one of these is actually in Proverbs chapter 20 verse one. Listen to the verse. Wine
Jeff Iorg:is a mocker. Beer is a brawler.
Jeff Iorg:Whoever goes astray because of them is not wise. Now, I'm not here today to make the case that, the Bible says that you can't ever taste alcohol. I think I can make that case. I believe pretty strongly in abstinence as a biblically justifiable position, but there's no question. There's no question that Christians disagree about this, and some Christians do believe it's permissible to drink alcohol.
Jeff Iorg:But no matter what you think about that, you cannot deny this reality. Drunkenness is condemned throughout scripture. Alcoholic beverages were available in the biblical world, no doubt about it, used by biblical characters, no doubt about it. While the prevalence of their use and the potency of their of the beverages can be debated, The abuse of alcohol was enough of a problem. The abuse of alcohol was enough of
Jeff Iorg:a problem, it was repeatedly condemned in both the old and the new testaments. And Proverbs 20 verse one says, the abuse of alcohol is always called unwise and is evidence of a lack of wisdom in a person's life. Now, think, thinking wisely about this passage, that the application is actually broader than alcoholic beverages.
Jeff Iorg:I think the principle is that potentially addictive behaviors like drug abuse and pornography, for example, while not specifically mentioned in these proverbs, is in the same context as drunkenness. The prohibition on drunkenness has to be understood in
Jeff Iorg:a broader sense. It's a prohibition specifically condemning addictive behavior, which alters your awareness, which alters your actions. When those things are taking place, the bible says, you are not wise. This is observable behavior.
Jeff Iorg:You don't have to wonder about this one. The bible says very clearly,
Jeff Iorg:beer and wine used to produce to the point of drunkenness are in that context, any addictive behaviors, anything that comes to control you demonstrates your lack of wisdom. Now listen leaders, you have strong appetites. You like to eat heartily, drink merrily, and you can become convinced that you are exceptions to the consequences of succumbing to addictive behavior. This arrogance can lead you to tampering with alcohol, drugs, pornography, or any other potentially addictive behavior. You may have tried to convince yourself, oh, I can handle it.
Jeff Iorg:Well, you can't. When you involve yourself in any potentially addictive behavior, you are opening yourself to be controlled by something that will alter your awareness, impact your thinking, and cause your behaviors to be unseemly. And the Bible says when you do that, you lack wisdom. Here's another one. In Proverbs twenty one twenty, the Bible says,
Jeff Iorg:precious treasure and oil are in the dwelling of a wise person,
Jeff Iorg:but a fool consumes them. This is a passage about financial irresponsibility.
Jeff Iorg:Growth in financial stewardship measures wisdom. Your use of money, your total financial responsibility is a barometer of your wisdom. Wise people recognize God as their source, give generously to his work, manage the remainder carefully, live on their income, invest for the future, and put no trust in wealth. Now, this particular proverb says that storing up treasure and oil is an indication of wisdom, but burning through those things
Jeff Iorg:is what fools do. So what
Jeff Iorg:are some red flags in our culture that reveal this kind of financial irresponsibility? Well, one is living above your means. Your credit cards are maxed out. You live in paycheck to paycheck. You obligate yourself for more than you can reasonably pay.
Jeff Iorg:You keep financial secrets from your spouse. You're ignoring financial advice that you even give to others because you believe you're the exception to the financial rules. Friends, all of these things are an indication of financial irresponsibility, and the Bible says when
Jeff Iorg:you are financially irresponsible, you are not wise. Now notice, the Bible doesn't say, if you're wealthy, you're wise. If you're poor, you're unwise. No, it doesn't say that. It says, if you're irresponsible,
Jeff Iorg:you're not wise. No matter how much you may have, if you're not handling it responsibly, you're not wise. Another red flag is when a leader doesn't give generously. You know, we often ask others to give generously and sacrificially, that means we must set the pace in this area. We must model generosity, be disciplined givers.
Jeff Iorg:I believe give more than the tithe and set the pace for others. That's why it's so important when you're evaluating a person's capabilities in ministry leadership that you know about their finances, that you ask them about their giving. You check into their credit rating. You discover if there's anything about them that's irresponsible in their use of resources because irresponsibility related to money is a indicator of a lack of wisdom. Well, then there's a third area,
Jeff Iorg:and that's over in Proverbs chapter 15, verse 12. In Proverbs fifteen twelve, the Bible says, a mocker doesn't love one who corrects him, and he will not consult the wise. A third area that indicates you are not wise is that you resist correction. You think you know it all. You are not open to have anyone point out where you may have gone off track.
Jeff Iorg:Wise leaders on the
Jeff Iorg:other hand invite correction and respond positively to it. They're lifelong learners. They want to know more. They're not braggarts or know it alls. They don't have delusions of adequacy.
Jeff Iorg:They're very interested in other people speaking into their lives and in their leadership
Jeff Iorg:situations. One of
Jeff Iorg:the ways I've applied this over the years is I almost never publish anything that I don't have several people read in advance. And depending on the document, I might have an attorney read it. I might have a trusted layperson read it. I might have men and women read it. I might have publicity or or advertising people read it, depending on the document.
Jeff Iorg:But mostly, I want mature Christians to read it and to reflect back with me and say things that they see that will make it a better document. Because I've convinced, completely convinced, that I never have all the right ideas or the good ideas on any particular subject. I need help. And so I wanna be teachable. And one of the ways I do that is by putting my ideas in front of people and asking them to critique them, add to them, subtract from them, direct them, show me the blind spots and help me to be better, especially when I'm going to put something in print.
Jeff Iorg:Wise leaders give evidence of that by being open to correction and people who are not open to it, don't I don't need a supervisor. I don't need an annual review. I don't need anybody telling me what to do. I don't need anybody looking over my shoulder. Those are evidence of a lack of wisdom.
Jeff Iorg:So today, we've talked about how do you observe wisdom. Is it just some ethereal thing that we pray about and hope it comes down upon us? No. Wisdom shows up in four benchmarks that I've described for you and three warnings that come directly out of the book of Proverbs. Wisdom is observable behavior.
Jeff Iorg:You can look for it in benchmarking. You can have it revealed or at least the lack of it in certain behaviors. So think about this today. When you're praying that prayer, Lord, give me wisdom. What you're praying is, Lord, help these benchmarks be evident in my life and Lord, me eradicate these things that undermine wisdom so that I might truly receive the answer to prayer that I'm praying.
Jeff Iorg:Lord, give me wisdom. I might receive it and be changed and become a person that's looked to with wisdom. Put this into practice. You need wisdom as you lead on.