How many times have I heard someone say, “That’s just wrong!” when the action being discussed isn’t wrong in a moral sense, but is simply unwise from the perspective of the speaker? This got me thinking about the nexus between morality and wisdom, between an action being right or wrong, on the one hand, and something being wise or less wise, on the other.

Right-wrong is a biblical category. So is wise-foolish. These two categories, however, are not coextensive. They frequently overlap, but sometimes don’t. Understanding this distinction is one mark of Christian maturity.

Christians should seek to live morally righteous lives (yes, by the power of the Spirit). That is, Christians should seek to avoid anything that is morally wrong — anything that God defines as wrong. Christians should also seek to be wise in their actions. Granted, there is no perfect overlap between biblical wisdom and what many thoughtful people of the world consider wise, but there is substantial overlap. (That’s why so many of the biblical proverbs resonate even with non-Christians.)

Roughly speaking, then, actions can fall into four main categories (with some not easily placed). There are actions that are: (1) both morally right and wise (very common), (2) morally right — or, at least morally acceptable — but unwise (less common), (3), morally wrong but wise — in some cases “shrewd” might be a better word (less common), and (4) both morally wrong and unwise (very common).

We could visualize it like this:

Right

Wrong

Wise

1. Right + Wise

3. Wrong + Wise

Unwise

2. Right + Unwise

4. Wrong + Unwise

Of course, because the Bible commands us to seek wisdom, chronic foolishness becomes morally wrong, but unpacking the relationship between intentional ongoing foolishness and moral culpability is more than I want to take up in this short blog post.

Consequently, let’s look at a few examples where the less-common combinations (#2 Right + Unwise and #3 Wrong + Wise) might occur.

Christians are instructed to bear the burdens of weaker brothers and sisters in the Lord (Rom 15:1; Gal 6:2; 1 Thess 5:14). This, though, can be done wisely or less wisely. More than a decade ago, Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert wrote a book called When Helping Hurts: How to Alleviate Poverty Without Hurting the Poor . . . and Yourself, in which they showed that giving money to try to help someone who is poor (right) can be hurtful (unwise). Our goal in giving to someone who is poor should be to alleviate poverty, but simply transferring money to someone who is poor is not always the wisest approach.

Jesus told a parable (Luke 16:1-13) about an unrighteous money manager who did something morally wrong (probably embezzling money in some way), but followed up his wrongdoing by doing a “wise” (that is, a shrewd) action. I’m using this as a biblical example of a moral wrong being combined with a “wise” action. (Actually, the money manager’s original moral wrong was foolish because he lost his job over it, but his follow-up action—depending on how you interpret what he did — was definitely wise/shrewd even though it was morally questionable.

A single action can sometimes be wise in one way and unwise in another. A king of Israel who entered into a marriage relationship with the daughter of a pagan king did something morally wrong, since God had instructed the Israelites never to do such a thing. It was also unwise in one sense since such an alliance risked importing idolatrous worship into Israel — which is why God told his people not to intermarry with foreigners in the first place. But it was also “wise” in the sense that a king of Israel who forged an alliance with a neighboring king might keep that foreign king from launching an attack on Israel (“my daughter might get killed!”) while at the same time improving the economy of Israel by strengthening trade with a neighboring country.

An action also could be wise when done in a certain way but unwise when carried out in another way. Verbally sharing the gospel with those who need to come to know Jesus is a moral good; it is right on the right-wrong scale (Matt 28:19-20; Rom 10:14-15). But the manner in which the message is shared can be either wiser or less wise. For example, someone who shares the good news of Jesus winsomely, intelligently and lovingly is wise; whereas the person who shares the same message flippantly, tersely or uncaringly could turn an otherwise good action into something hurtful (thus, unwise).

Christians need to learn how to distinguish the categories of right-wrong and wise-unwise. Learning the distinction will help us avoid labeling something as wrong when it is simply unwise (from the perspective of the evaluator). Learning the distinction will also assist us in avoiding the trap of throwing something that is morally right or wrong (because the Bible says so!) into the category of wise-unwise, since solely focusing on the wisdom category is one way people sometimes relativize the rightness or wrongness of an action. Finally, understanding the difference between the categories of right-wrong and wise-unwise will help us pursue actions that accord with God’s instructions (right) and that are likely to produce good outcomes (wise). As Christians, we should care about both.

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Notes

Did the unrighteous money manager reduce potential earnings from the master who had sacked him when he reduced the obligations of those owing to the master (morally wrong), or did the manager only take the cut out his inflated commission (morally acceptable) in Luke 16:4-7?