Great Men Part 4

THE WISDOM OF GREAT MEN IS SOMETIMES LACKING -- "Great men are not always wise: neither do the aged understand judgment" (Job 32:9). The fact that a man has attained greatness in some realm does not mean that he is infallible. There are no earthly wise men, even be they emissaries of Christ, capable of always speaking ex cathedra and inerrantly on every subject. Great men in one realm may often make stupid judgments regarding things outside the realm of their particular expertise.

Great men of the world are often exceedingly ignorant and unwise regarding Biblical and spiritual truth. On the other hand, frequently those who are great saints of God make blunders in their assessment of things temporal and practical in this world. But even within the realm of his legitimate field of knowledge, it is possible for a great man to err in judgment. Therefore, one should not take the greatest man among his guides, even his spiritual guides, to be incapable of making bad mistakes in what he thinks, teaches, and advises.

Skeptics can be too incredulous, but many are too gullible also -- too prone to swallow a thing without question simply because it comes from the lips of one whom they know to be a "great man". The Bereans set the example for all who sit under the preaching of great men -- even should they rise to the caliber of St. Paul. While these Bereans "received the Word with all readiness of mind" at the same time they "searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so" (Acts 17:11).

Before concluding on this point, let me present the NIV translation of Job 32:9-10, for it takes a different tack on the meaning here. It is the upstart Elihu speaking and saying to Job: "It is not only the old who are wise, not only the aged who understand what is right. Therefore I say: Listen to me; I too will tell you what I know."

Without any comment regarding the accuracy of this NIV translation of Job 32:9-10 versus the KJV translation of the same, I will just make this observation: While aged and mature, great men in any area of knowledge are not always wise, often more obnoxious is the young punk who is not yet dry behind the ears who is such a "know it all" that he thinks his insights are superior to those of every old "fuddy-duddy" born before 1950! This reminds me of the following story taken from the 2700-Plus Illustrations collection:

"A noted brain surgeon, Dr. Bronson Ray, was taking a stroll when he saw a boy on a scooter smash head-first into a tree. Realizing that the boy was seriously injured, the doctor told a bystander to call an ambulance. As he proceeded to administer first aid, a boy not much older than the injured one nudged through the crowd that had gathered and said to Dr. Ray, 'I'd better take over now, sir. I'm a Boy Scout and I know first aid.' As ridiculous as that sounds, it's no worse than someone in the church trying to do something for which someone else is better qualified."

"Great men are not always wise," but I fear that millions of today's young generation are seldom as wise as they fancy themselves to be!