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).

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 not a 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:

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