Relevant Leadership

"'Give me wisdom and knowledge, that I may lead this people, for who is able to govern this great people of yours?'" 2 Chronicles 1:10 NIV

King David is dead and now it is time for his son Solomon to take his place as leader over Israel. This was a huge role to take and he wanted to start off right, so he went to the Lord and prayed. The last verse of the prayer is the one above where Solomon asks God to give him knowledge and wisdom to lead the people.
      Wisdom entails knowledge, but is different because it includes application and discernment. These are powerful qualities in spiritual leadership still needed today. It is not enough to know the Bible. We need to be knowledgeable about the times and the specific hardships and trials of people today. Otherwise, we will be irrelevant. At the same time, knowledge alone is not enough. We need wisdom in order to discern what direction God wants us to lead His people to and to figure out how specifically to lead them.
      Reading this verse brings to mind a topic I come across frequently in youth ministry: relationships. It can be so easy to get frustrated because I know what the right thing to do is in hearing many of the youth's stories about their struggles with the opposite sex. I have knowledge of what the Bible says, but until recently, I did not have knowledge about how there has been a change in this issue because of the environment. My knowledge was not relevant.
      Technology plays a huge role in this generation's lives. It's rare to meet someone (at least in Chicago) without a smart phone. Usually these phones are loaded with our social media apps. There is no privacy anymore. Youth (and adults to be fair) post pictures of themselves, their location, their resume....anything you can think of. This technology and easy access to the internet has created special issues in dealing with the subject of relationships for today's youth. It is making relationships move faster.
      When I grew up, we had dial up. It took a long time to even get on the internet and you could forget wanting to take that anywhere outside the house with you. Social media was just becoming popular so I was not as involved in it as I am now. In order to get to know someone, I actually had to talk to and spend time with her or him. Now, however, youth (and adults) get to know each other through social media. They can find out a person's interests, hobbies, values, and passions through Facebook or other social media sites. And this is all before they have really had a conversation. They haven't even spent time with the person yet but they feel connected.
       I have been guilty of advising youth to slow down and get to know the person they want to be with (or, more often, are with) before they move any further in the relationship. Their response is usually, "But I already do!" Honestly, my reaction to that is always an exasperated one. I start to think, But you only found out he/she existed last week! You're moving too fast! I would get annoyed because I would think they were being irresponsible and too easily wooed. But now I can see that that isn't totally the case. They may have done all the research they needed to on the person and really did have a good sense of who that person was. It's just that the process is much quicker for them than it was for me.
       It is so easy to judge the youths' (and other peoples') problems by what was true for us growing up, but we need to be aware that while they may be having the same problem, they have trials and hardships specific to this time. We need to have wisdom in order to understand how to apply what we know to their situation and discernment to do it the right way.
       The Bible claims, "Do not say, 'Why were the old days better than these?' For it is not wise to ask such questions" (Ecclesiastes 7:10). We can't go back to times past, but we can lead people through these times as long as we commit to being obedient to Him and relevant to the people we are ministering to. As leaders, we need to couple knowledge and wisdom with faith and prayer.