Daniel functioned in wisdom. Paul speaks wisdom, a manner of communication: as Jesus says, “I speak to them in parables,” so Paul says, “I speak to the mature in wisdom.” The wisdom is, of course, from above, heavenly in origin, revelatory in distribution, and received by those with spiritual and functional maturity. Paul preaches the Gospel, announcing the Good News, but he speaks to mature people in wisdom. That is, he communicates the Gospel message, the apostolic didache, the strategic kingdom and Ecclesia mindset and worldview to proceed and processing the way forward to fulfill God’s purposes, to mature people in wisdom.
Jesus spoke in parables and His disciples asked Him why He didn’t just speak plainly about things. Basically, Israel rejected John by and large and was unprepared for Jesus. When He spoke of spiritual things, they were unprepared to hear what He said as people mature in spirit. They had knowledge. They had understanding of their systematics. They lacked wisdom.
For example, the very people of all history and the world of Jesus’ birth missed the manger even though Jesus was born a few miles away from the center of Jewish life, history, and philosophy. They had facts and some understanding of facts so they could argue a position among themselves, but they lacked spiritual wisdom. Some like Anna and Simeon were plugged in spiritually and prophetically enough to get what God was doing, but the very people responsible to prepare the nation for Messiah were the ones who used knowledge and understanding to kill Him.
Could this happen to the Ecclesia today? Undoubtedly, this is happening! Knowledge and understanding increase while wisdom wanes! We have settled for immaturity, demanded immaturity, at a level that precludes wisdom. God isn’t that interested in investing wisdom in people who demand to have their own way! That is, they do not wish to get God what He wants as much as they demand that God give them what they want. This mirrors the generation that killed Jesus in terms of spiritual maturity. This is fundamentally why generation reject and stone prophets and kill apostles.
Wisdom from above isn’t arrived at through scholars and teachers. Wisdom arrives through and to those fathered into maturity. “You have many teachers but few fathers.” So, you must be treated like children, Paul says to the Corinthians, even though wisdom is available to the mature. Hebrews says that the Ecclesia should have been ready to teach but needed to start over because they were immature, a discussion of those aspects of kingdom revelation required for leadership.
Maturity isn’t about chronological age, informational exposure, or systematic principles. Maturity is about spiritual experiences that cause God’s leaders to grow up in spirit. To them Paul speaks wisdom.
