More counterfeits to wisdom (see here for the first two):

3.  Wisdom comes with experience.

The truth: experiencing or practicing something can help us grow in discernment (Hebrews 5:14).  The folly: even the most experienced individual may not have learned the right lessons yet (Proverbs 27:22).

4.  Wisdom comes with age.

The truth: there may be a certain wise perspective that comes with the hindsight of age (Psalm 37:25).  The folly: unfortunately, some older folks can be bitter, unteachable, and more foolish than ever (Ecclesiastes 4:13).

5.  Wisdom comes with leadership.

This counterfeit is particularly insidious because godly leadership is a gift from God, and also because those who are young and simple desperately want trustworthy heroes.  However, Jesus often was most angry with those who used their positions of religious leadership to excuse and ignore their own incessant moral failures.  The truth to hold on to is that our church leaders should be the wisest people in the community: an elder or church leader “must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it” (Titus 1:9, ESV).  We get this backward, however, when we think leadership qualifies a person to be a wise counselor, rather than recognizing that wisdom is what qualifies a person for leadership (Psalm 119:99).  Just because this person is my priest, pastor, bishop, elder, deacon, Sunday School teacher, youth leader, or parent, does not mean that everything he or she says is wise or biblical!  Everyone (except for Jesus) is a sinner who makes mistakes, occasionally demonstrates unclear thinking, or simply might be too subjective to make a good decision right now.  Therefore, we must be careful not to naively equate wisdom with leadership roles.