One book to rule them all

Two days after Christmas, a story came out in the Associated Press about a scuffle between priests at the Church of the Nativity. As you may know, Roman Catholics, Greek Orthodox and Armenian Apostolic authorities all have sections of the fortress-like church that is believed to be built over the actual birthplace of Jesus.

While performing their yearly spring cleaning to get ready for the Orthodox Christmas, which is celebrated the first week of January, several Orthodox priest stepped into the Armenian section of the church. This caused a fight to break out between the robed priests, causing four injuries, some involving blood running from their faces.

As I read this article, it took me back to my childhood memories of sharing a room with my brother who is two years younger than me. There were times when we would fight about whose side of the room was whose. There were times when we would lay our socks out on the floor to section off the room, and if one of us crossed over onto the other’s side, a fight would surely break out.

The thing is, we knew what we were doing was wrong. We had the knowledge of that. However, we were not mature enough to apply that knowledge until later in life.

Many people have knowledge about things, but they don’t have very much wisdom.

Knowledge and wisdom are vastly different, but they must work hand in hand to be effective. You could say that knowledge is information about something, while wisdom is being able to apply that knowledge to circumstances.

If you are a mechanic, it’s not enough just to know how an engine works — you have to apply that knowledge to actually fix the car. If you’re a teacher, you not only have to know about the subjects you’re teaching, you also have to be able to explain things to your students to be successful.

Even if you’re a Greek Orthodox priest, it’s not enough to be able to quote the first five books of the Old Testament from memory — you also have to live them out in your daily life.

Colossians 3:16a says, “Let the words of Christ, in all their richness, live in your hearts and make you wise. Use his words to teach and counsel each other.”

It’s humorous to think about these robed priests, who have given themselves to the service of the Lord, fighting right on top of Jesus’ birthplace because a few guys with brooms stepped over the ‘line.’ However, we all can be guilty of things just as petty.

My wife and I were heading to church several nights ago, and I picked a fight with her. I was hot, so I turned the heat down in the car, but she was cold, so she turned it back up. Instead of taking off my gigantic down-filled jacket, I decided to pout and sulk, and give her the silent treatment the rest of the way to church.

At church we listened to a message about how Jesus shed his very blood that we might have eternal life. How sobering to think that I was mad at my wife because I didn’t get my “way,” and yet Jesus shed his innocent blood for people that hated him!

On a final note, it’s important to point out that there is only one source of wisdom that will profit us for eternity, and that’s the Holy Bible. Knowledge and wisdom about cars, science, economics, politics, and much more will benefit us here on this earth. However, it’s the knowledge and application of the written Word of God that will benefit us forever. It’s the book of books written by the King of Kings — the one book to rule them all.

Jesse Miller is the Youth Pastor at Family Christian Center in Palmer, and can be reached at silverhonda84@hotmail.com.