Proverbs 9:4-6 — Whoso is simple, let him turn in hither: as for him that wanteth understanding, she saith to him, Come, eat of my bread, and drink of the wine which I have mingled. Forsake the foolish, and live; and go in the way of understanding.

One of the things that saddens me, from time-to-time, is that the human race isn’t getting smarter.
I’m at a conference this week. I get invited to speak at three of four of these a year and I’m always impressed by the dedication to getting smarter, as well as the collective knowledge and wisdom of the folks — both presenters and audiences – that attend.
What bothers me is that I know that among the 800 people at the event this week there’s a good number who are not showing any kind of Biblical wisdom at all. I can see some of them eating and drinking far more than is good for them. There’s a fair amount of casual socialization. It’s a fair bet that some of these folks have broken homes or damaged lifestyles. There’s a disconnect between their business smarts and their life stupids! (Yes, I know that’s not grammatically accurate, but read it in the right tone of voice, and you’ll feel my frustration.)
So you remember my starting place. The human race isn’t getting smarter. I could bludgeon you with all kinds of statistics about health, wealth, happiness, social structure … but I don’t think I need to. You know what I’m talking about.
So what’s going on? How come we’re not getting smarter as a race?
Here’s a quote from pewresearch.org:

There are 2.18 billion Christians around the world, up from about 600 million in 1910, according to a 2011 study by the Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion & Public Life. But the world’s overall population also has risen rapidly, from an estimated 1.8 billion in 1910 to 6.9 billion in 2010. As a result, Christians make up about the same portion of the world’s population today (32%) as they did a century ago (35%).

For those of us who care about missions … one way to look at that is “we’re not winning!”
Of course the enemy is at work. But there’s more to it. It’s about learning and motivation. How do we learn, and what persuades us to do things?
We learn in two ways. We learn through instruction, and we learn through experience. Instruction means going to people who are wise, learning what they have to teach you, and avoiding the pitfalls of life! Experience means trying it for yourself, falling into the pitfalls and (hopefully) getting up and trying again. Almost everybody is receptive to instruction for business and dependent on experience for life. Another way of saying that is that if Biblical instruction isn’t repeated, and repeated, and repeated, and (well, you get the idea), it isn’t going to sink in.
Then there’s motivation. Some people are motivated from the inside. Most people are motivated from the outside — other people’s approval. That can work pretty well (though it’s not ideal) for business. But it works really badly for life — especially in a world where most of the external approval is not for good Christian values! In addition, most people are more motivated by short term satisfaction than by long term outcomes. Bad stuff now looks better than heaven later.
So what’s the answer. What, you think I know? But I have some ideas. One is that we have to make Biblical instruction easier to consume. And then we have to say it, say it and say it again! The other is to keep working at “marketing” good behavior. We (Christians) have allowed media, entertainment, business … almost every arena of life, to be “stolen” from us. We need to take it back.
Please – let’s work at making the human race smarter!