Manhood is a Mindset. J. Colin Trisler

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СКАЧАТЬ by seeking out the cold, hard facts of reality. Knowledge enables a man to make informed decisions. Knowledge, therefore, is the cornerstone of the wisdom equation. After all, you can’t do the right thing if you don’t first know on an intellectual level what the right thing is.

      The man who has a handle on the facts is a man who’s well on his way to getting a handle on his life. To be clear: an astronomical IQ score doesn’t make a man wise. But knowledge is a foundational aspect of a wise mind. Take Indiana Jones for example. He had knowledge not only of the Grail itself, but also the cup’s Owner. As a result, when the time came to make a decision, he chose wisely. Donovan, by his own admission, lacked the knowledge he needed and paid for his ignorance with his life.

      Son, as these men proved, a working knowledge of the facts kick-starts the thinking process. It leads to both mental and moral clarity, which lay the groundwork for good decision making.

      Morality. And make no mistake: Morality and wisdom go hand-in-hand. Knowledge of the facts is not enough. If you want to make good decisions, then you must also be able to discern good from bad in any given situation. If knowledge is the foundation of the wisdom equation, then morality is the spinal cord—it signals your reflexes, coordinates your movements, and stabilizes your behavior. If you disregard morality in your decision-making process, you’ve paralyzed yourself from the get-go. The man who incorporates a strong sense of morality into his thinking, however, acts on noble motivations. He stands firm in his convictions and walks tall in his integrity. His attention to virtue facilitates self-respect and allows him to take genuine pride in his choices.

      Morality facilitates wisdom by simplifying your choices. Making tough decisions is never easy. But an absolute sense of morality streamlines the process by dividing your options into two mutually exclusive categories: good or evil. With every decision you make, you’re either accomplishing righteousness or perpetrating wickedness. Like Indy and Donovan, you’re either drinking eternal life from the true cup of Christ, or you’re sipping death from a fatal pretender. There is no morally neutral middle ground. There is only morality and immorality—life and death—and everything you choose to think and say and do falls into one of those two categories.

      Son, the world will try to label you a moral zealot if you refuse to operate in subjective shades of gray. But as a wise man, you must cut through the amoral dissonance of this world and see life for what it really is: a series of binary choices. The truth is there is no gray. There is only white or black. Wisdom or wickedness. Truth or lies. Life or death.

      Moral subjectivity is an empty concept that fosters sympathy for the devil. So make sure you use absolute definitions of right and wrong to govern your behavior.

      Rationality. Knowledge informs your choices. Morality empowers you to take genuine pride in your choices. But rational thinking enables you to make good choices in the first place. The man who thinks rationally is the man who can see the world as it truly is. He can distinguish between truth and falsehood. And he is wise not because he perceives the truth, but because he chooses to think and act in accord with the truth. This makes him a rational man.

      The truth is that which corresponds to reality—that which is real. Reality itself is an objective and absolute fact. Existence is what it is, and it exists independent of our opinions or wishes or imaginations. Reality is absolute and firm. The truth, therefore, is absolute and firm. This means the truth is always true. Neither the passage of time nor the cycle of culture can change it. Rationality is the recognition of and the submission to reality. And the rational man is the one who lives in uncompromised harmony with that reality. With the truth. Rational thinking is an essential aspect of the wisdom equation because it grounds your decisions in the truth. A wise man doesn’t have to be brilliant. But he must think reasonably. He must be rational.

For an example of rational thinking in practice, look once again to the example of Indiana Jones in the Grail chamber. Indy knew Jesus was a modest carpenter and not a man of worldly means. Based on this fact, he deduced that the cup of Christ would not be some lavish royal vessel (as Donovan thought it should be). It would instead match the humble personality of a King who came not to be served but to serve (Mark 10:45). Unlike Donovan, Indy didn’t base his choice on what he thought the Grail should look like. He instead chose a cup that was battered and worn and humble in outward appearance, like its true Owner.4 Indy committed himself to a rational thought process which followed the facts rather than his personal preferences. And his success in choosing the one true Grail testifies to my point: The man who thinks rationally is a man destined to make wise decisions.

      Son, God has blessed you with a miraculous, one-of-a-kind mind that is like nothing else on this earth. He has equipped you with the ability to think: to know, analyze, understand, discern, prioritize, and decide. A man of true wisdom is a man who knows not simply what to think, but how to think. He knows how to distinguish good from evil. Right from wrong. Truth from lies. Wisdom from foolishness. A wise man never stops thinking. He uses his mind to discover the truth. And he exercises wisdom when he strives to live a rational life—that is, in harmony with the God-given truth that governs reality.

      Skill. Thinking, however, is time wasted unless it is a precursor to action. Knowledge is worthless, morality is ineffective, and rationality is pointless until they are brought to life by skillful action in real-world situations. A man of true wisdom is serious about his life and the choices he makes. He is wise because he carries out his knowledgeable, moral, and rational decisions with an effective degree of skill. Thus he is productive in achieving his goals. In short, he is both a thinker and a doer—for as Jesus said, true wisdom is vindicated by her deeds (Matt 11:19; see also Jas 1:22–25).

      In the Grail chamber, Indiana Jones didn’t hesitate to act. He saved his father’s life. He overcame the armies of darkness. And he preserved the Grail’s integrity because he was confident enough to bring his decisions to life in real-world situations. Son, as Indy proved, personal values are worthless unless you have the grit to act on them. Even in the face of extreme danger. The man who has the will to act is the man who achieves real-world success with the choices he makes.

      On paper, the wisdom equation is straightforward and simple. But real life doesn’t exist on a wrinkle-free piece of two-dimensional paper. Nor does it unfold within the safe confines of a movie screen. It unfolds in the chaotic four-dimensional space of the here-and-now.

      So how does the wisdom equation play out in real life? With all due respect to fictional heroes like Indiana Jones, the best way to answer that question is to observe the behavior of a living, breathing, real-world wise man.

      And what better case study is there to learn from than that of the wisest man who ever lived?

      Wisdom in Real Life

      Son, that man is not me.

      I am not the wisest man who ever lived. I am not a genius, nor do I claim to know all there is to know about life. I am, however, a thinker. I’m also a doer. That means I make great efforts to understand how the world works and I work just as hard to govern my life by the truth that governs our existence. I may not be a world-renowned action hero like Indiana Jones, but I am a wise man—and I am your father. And those two facts make me more qualified than any other person on this planet to provide you with the instruction you need to grow into a man of wisdom and strength.

      My goal as a father is simple: I want to help you transform from a child into a man. To achieve this goal, I will do what a good father does. I will honor my God-given responsibility and train you up in the truth so you can learn how to think like a man, how to act like a man, and how to build a life worthy of a man. I will instruct you in the wisdom you need to get up off the couch, go to work in the real world, and reap the rewards of a meaningful life. I will come alongside you, not as a drill sergeant or a boss, but as your daddy—and I will teach you how to handle the responsibilities of manhood.

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