Thought For The Week

Mike began with a simple but sobering observation. A periodical lying on the table in the back had carried an article titled “Is Preaching All That Important?” While reflecting on that question, he recalled an anecdote about a preacher who, after delivering a sermon, was greeted at the door by someone who remarked that it was amusing what preachers find to talk about. Mike acknowledged that every preacher must have a topic, yet he drew a firm line: the pulpit is not the place to spin yarns or share personal stories unless they directly serve a sound, biblical lesson. Preaching must be sound—perfect, complete, whole, and healthy in both content and spirit.

Mike defined the word plainly. To be sound is to be perfect, complete, whole, or healthy. Scripture speaks of sound wisdom, a sound heart, and a heart that is sound in God’s statutes. These three threads ran through the entire sermon.

The book of Proverbs places great emphasis on wisdom in its opening chapters. Wisdom begins with the fear of the Lord. In Proverbs 2:5-7 we read that those who seek understanding will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God, for the Lord gives wisdom from His mouth—knowledge and understanding. Most strikingly, “He stores up sound wisdom for the upright; He is a shield to those who walk uprightly.”

Mike carefully distinguished knowledge from wisdom. Knowledge is the possession of facts and information. Wisdom is the skillful use of that knowledge—the ability to operate rightly on what we know. When Solomon became king, he did not ask God for wealth, honor, or long life. He asked for wisdom to lead the people, to know how to go in and out among them. God granted that request because it aligned with His own heart.

Proverbs 3:19-21 adds another layer. By wisdom the Lord founded the earth; by understanding He established the heavens. By His knowledge the depths were broken up and the clouds dropped dew. The fatherly charge follows: “My son, let them not depart from your eyes; keep sound wisdom and discretion.” Discretion, Mike explained, is learning how to apply and perform the knowledge we have.

The world desperately needs this counsel yet largely rejects it. Instead of sound wisdom and discretion, societies often produce outlandish ideas that lack both. Proverbs 8 personifies wisdom speaking in the first person: “I, wisdom, dwell with prudence and find out knowledge and discretion. The fear of the Lord is to hate evil; pride and arrogance and the evil way and the perverse mouth I hate. Counsel is mine, and sound wisdom; I am understanding, I have strength.”

Mike then turned to the Corinthian correspondence. Paul wrote to a church fractured by “preacher-itis.” Some said they belonged to Paul, others to Apollos, others to Cephas, and still others claimed to be “of Christ.” Paul confronted the division by asking whether Christ is divided or whether Paul was crucified for them.

In 1 Corinthians 1:18-25 Paul contrasts two kinds of wisdom. The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing but the power of God to those being saved. Quoting Isaiah, Paul declares that God will destroy the wisdom of the wise and bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. The world possesses impressive wisdom—rockets that reach space, satellites that orbit the earth, technological marvels of every kind. Yet those who possess such wisdom often forget or deny the God who gave it to them. They become wise in their own eyes and miss the wisdom that comes from above.

Verse 21 is the turning point: “For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe.” God deliberately chose a method the world considers foolish—the preached gospel—to accomplish salvation. This choice exposes the bankruptcy of human wisdom apart from God.

Jews demanded miraculous signs. Greeks pursued philosophical wisdom. The apostles preached Christ crucified. To the Jews this was a stumbling block; to the Gentiles it was foolishness. But to those who are called—both Jews and Greeks—Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God. “Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.”

To illustrate the point vividly, Mike turned to the story of Joshua and the Israelites at Jericho. After crossing the Jordan, they faced a walled city. God gave an unconventional battle plan: march around the city once a day for six days. On the seventh day, march seven times, blow the trumpets, and shout. No battering rams. No scaling ladders. No conventional military strategy.

To human eyes the plan looked absurd—foolish, even. Yet the people obeyed God. On the seventh circuit the walls collapsed, and Israel took the city. Mike asked pointedly, “Who would have thought that that would be a way to bring the walls down of Jericho?” The answer is simple: God thought of it. His foolishness proved wiser than man’s wisdom, and His weakness stronger than man’s strength. The victory came not through human cleverness but through faithful obedience to God’s seemingly foolish command.

The same principle applies to the gospel today. Preaching that Jesus is the Son of God who died, was buried, and rose on the third day may sound foolish to modern ears. The call to repent, confess Christ, and be baptized may appear weak or outdated. But to those who believe and obey, it remains the very power and wisdom of God.

Paul continues in 1 Corinthians 1:26-31 by reminding the Corinthians of their own calling: “For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called.” God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty. He did this so that no flesh should glory in His presence.

Mike emphasized that salvation is entirely of God. Believers are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God—and righteousness and sanctification and redemption. Therefore, “He who glories, let him glory in the Lord.”

If anyone lacks wisdom, Scripture promises that God gives it generously to those who ask in faith. The church today needs sound wisdom—wisdom that comes from above, not from the shifting opinions of culture or academia.

Mike next addressed soundness of heart from Proverbs 14:30: “A sound heart is life to the body, but envy is the rottenness to the bones.”

At first reading one might assume this refers only to the physical heart—the blood pump that must remain healthy. But the parallel clause about envy reveals a deeper meaning. Envy springs from the inner heart. An envious person may scheme, speak spitefully, and work against another while believing they are only harming their target. In reality, envy destroys the envious one. It is rottenness to the bones—corrosive, consuming, and ultimately fatal to spiritual vitality and joy.

The church must guard against every form of envy: jealousy over others’ blessings, positions, recognition, or apparent success. A sound heart is free from such rot and instead produces life and health in the body of Christ.

Finally, Mike turned to Psalm 119:80 in the King James Version: “Let my heart be sound in thy statutes, that I be not ashamed.”

Psalm 119 is the Bible’s longest chapter and a sustained celebration of God’s Word—His statutes, judgments, commandments, and precepts. The psalmist prays for a heart that is sound, steady, and aligned with these divine instructions. The reason is practical: so that he will not be ashamed.

Mike applied the verse directly to daily Christian living. If we are unsound in what we say and do, if our lives contradict the Word we claim to believe, eventually the inconsistency will be exposed and we will be put to shame. Soundness in the statutes protects us from such shame and equips us to stand confidently before God and the watching world.

The overarching call of the sermon was clear: we must be sound in obeying God, not man. Preaching must be sound—truth drawn from the heart of the Word. The message presented must be sound. Our hearts must be sound. Our obedience must be sound.

Mike closed with a warm yet urgent invitation. Do you want to stand on sound ground? Do you desire sound wisdom that can distinguish God’s ways from the world’s ways? Do you long for a sound heart free from envy and full of life? Then respond to the gospel.

If you have not yet obeyed the gospel, believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. Turn from the unsound, empty things of this world in genuine repentance. Confess your faith in Christ before others. Be baptized for the remission of your sins. Then remain faithful until the end.

If you have previously come to Christ but have been led away, let the church know your desire to return and be restored. If any other spiritual need exists, come forward now.

The final exhortation rang out clearly: “Let’s be sound in obeying God, not man.”

Mike’s “Being Sound, Part 1” was a timely and timeless message for the church in every age, including our own. In a culture of information overload, moral confusion, and spiritual compromise, God still calls His people to something far better than cleverness or relevance: soundness.

Sound wisdom that comes from above. A sound heart guarded against envy and full of life. A life sound in the statutes of the living God.

The cross itself appeared foolish to the world, yet it remains the power of God unto salvation. The walls of Jericho fell not by human might but by obedient trust in God’s “foolish” plan. God still chooses the weak and foolish things—and weak and foolish people—to display His glory so that no flesh can boast.

May every congregation that hears this message, including West Side Church of Christ, pursue soundness with all diligence. For in being sound we reflect the character of our wise and holy God, and we stand unashamed before Him and the watching world—now and in the day of judgment.

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