The Children of Wisdom

“To what then shall I compare the people of this generation, and what are they like? They are like children who sit in the marketplace and call to one another, and say, ‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a song of mourning, and you did not weep.’ For John the Baptist has come neither eating bread nor drinking wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon!’ The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Behold, a gluttonous man and a heavy drinker, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ And yet wisdom is vindicated by all her children.”

Luke 7:31-35 (NASB 2020)

Are you ever tempted to judge those who don’t ‘do church’ in the ‘right way’? The way that you do it? They may be too charismatic. Or they might be too liturgical. They might incorporate drums and guitars into their worship or sing from a hymnal. They may even minister to ‘undesirables’ and welcome them into their services.

Jesus points out in this passage that there is no one right way to worship and serve God. John the Baptist was an ascetic, living in the wilderness, wearing rough clothes, and living on grasshoppers and honey. Jesus, on the other hand, hung out with all the wrong kinds of people and went to parties. Two very different ways they served God. And both of them were looked down on by the religious establishment of their day.

And Jesus concluded this teaching by saying that wisdom is vindicated by all her children. What did He mean by this cryptic conclusion?

Rather than evaluating others by your own standard, look at the results of what they are doing. Is God glorified? And are lives being changed in a positive way, moving them closer to God? That is what matters. There are many different ways that God is served. The form is not nearly as important as the fruit that is produced.

Wisdom (God’s way of working) is vindicated (proven right) by her children (the people serving God). All of us who serve God in the different ways and places God has put us in demonstrate the multifaceted wisdom of God. There is no single right way to serve or to worship. God is much bigger than that.