What does Tribe teach about wisdom?
Drawn from the messages where it was actually addressed: the words said from the front, the passages taught, and where to hear the whole thing.
At Tribe, the teaching on wisdom starts with posture. In 'Childish Games,' Brian worked through Luke 7:24-35 and landed on the idea that wisdom is not primarily a technique or a body of knowledge but a way of coming to God. He connected it to the fear of the Lord, meaning deep awe and reverence, and described that posture as arriving without preconceived notions, genuinely open to what God says. Brian says, "Lord, you tell me I'm not going to come with my preconceived notions. I just want your truth and wisdom." The opposite of that posture is what Jesus exposes in the Pharisees: a settled resistance to truth dressed up as discernment. Brian pointed out that the Greek word behind 'rejected' in that passage also carries the quieter sense of simply not taking something seriously, setting it aside. A person can resist wisdom without ever making a scene.
In 'Filtering the Future,' Brian came at wisdom from a different angle. Using 1 Chronicles 12:32 and the description of the tribe of Issachar as people who understood the signs of the times and knew the best course to take, he argued that wisdom is not optional for anyone trying to lead a family, a workplace, or anyone else. Part of that wisdom, he said, is knowing whether a situation calls for a problem-to-solve approach or a tension-to-manage approach, and that applying the wrong strategy keeps you stuck no matter how sincere you are. He also proposed three filters that wise Christians should run any significant event through: God's word, the voice of the Holy Spirit, and a sound mind. His point was that all three have to work together. Scripture alone can be twisted to say almost anything, a personal word from the Spirit should not automatically be pressed onto everyone else, and none of it holds together without honest, rational engagement.
Both messages circle back to the same core idea. Wisdom is shown in a whole life, not a curated selection of moments. In 'Childish Games,' Brian noted that Jesus was pointing to his own full record and John's full record as the evidence that wisdom is right. People were clipping moments and building cases from them rather than looking at the whole picture. Wisdom, the teaching at Tribe keeps returning to, comes from staying genuinely open, looking at the full record, and holding God's word, the Spirit, and a sound mind in combination rather than leaning on any one of them alone.
Taught from Luke 7:24-35 · 1 Chronicles 12:32 · Daniel 12:1-4 · 2 Timothy 1:7 · James (chapter not specified)
“It's not the tune you reject. It's the truth that you resist.”
From Childish Games
The passage taught · Luke 7:24-35
24 When John’s messengers had departed, he began to tell the multitudes about John, “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind?
25 But what did you go out to see? A man clothed in soft clothing? Behold, those who are gorgeously dressed, and live delicately, are in kings’ courts.
26 But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and much more than a prophet.
27 This is he of whom it is written, ‘Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way before you.’
World English Bible
Messages that go deeper
- September 29, 2025 Childish Games Jesus calls out religious leaders for moving the goalposts on God's messengers. A Jackson Hole congregation works through Luke 7 together, asking what childishness really costs.
- April 8, 2024 Filtering the Future Pastor Brian Hunter uses the April 2024 solar eclipse to teach how Christians can filter unfolding world events through God's word, the Holy Spirit, and a sound mind.
- April 7, 2024 Filtering the Future Brian Hunter walks Tribe Church through three filters, God's word, the Holy Spirit, and a sound mind, to help Christians respond to current events with wisdom rather than fear or dismissal.