The book of Proverbs, it must be remember, is written by a king, and at least in part Solomon expects his readers to be people of influence. Thus it is that you get passages like this one which, although they are certainly applicable to everyday people, make the most sense when considered in the context of leadership.
Once again, there are several themes, and we’ll have a look at a few of them.
Wisdom vs Evil:
Found in: vs 1-2, 7, 8-9, 19-20, 24-25.
A running theme in proverbs, this duality (as we’ve seen previously) is different to the Good/evil duality we’re used to in our culture, or even the Wisdom/folly duality that is less familiar but still used. Put simply, Solomon doesn’t see much of a difference between folly and evil; evil IS folly, and evil people are fools.
This is important, because it’s fairly common for the Christian to look at the world and realize that the evil seem to do okay. It’s important for our faith that God bolsters our confidence by saying “It’s okay – they aren’t going to get away with it forever.” The evil ARE taking a foolish path ultimately, and you ignore God (and His wisdom) at your peril.
Wisdom in leadership:
Found in: vs 3-4, 5-6, 10, 11-12, 15-16, 17-18
This topic can be a little harder to find, because Solomon often couches his advice in metaphorical terms. For example, he talks about building a house; needless to say, Solomon is not a brickie!
Nevertheless, Solomon’s leadership advice is well worth the read for anyone who is in a position of leadership. Really, when it comes down to it, the advice he gives is covered under Christ’s later famous dictum, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you” – but in this book, we are looking at specific scenarios. Sometimes it is hard to see the outworking of the Golden rule, but here we can see it nice and simple. For example:
- Don’t gloat when you see the fall of your enemy!
- Ensure that you leave good people to live their lives in peace.
- As a leader, be there for those who need you the most.
- Concentrate more on wisdom than on strength.
As we can see, much simple yet logical wisdom to be seen there.
30 July 2011
29 July 2011
Chapter 23
I look back on my blogs on Proverbs. Apart from being too infrequent, they also suffer from two problems:
1) I tend to write them late at night, and sometimes so late at night that I fall asleep at the keyboard. In those cases you will often see a blog that is either a little disjointed, or finishes very abruptly when you’d normally expect me to keep going.
2) Proverbs is such a rich book, and I don’t feel that I can do it justice. Bluntly, some chapters have so much in them that you feel like you’re a foody about to dine at the biggest buffet of haute cuisine that you ever saw.
It’s number 2 that really hits me tonight as I look at Proverbs 23. There’s so much here, and I can really only grab a couple of titbits.
Juicy titbits, to be sure, but only a couple.
As I previously noted, there are those who say that Solomon was not really the author of these proverbs; such people suggest that it’s someone trying to write what Solomon might have thought. Maybe; personally, I don’t see any reason why it shouldn’t be the man himself.
In any case, whoever wrote it has a remarkable understanding of people and how they work.
There are three concepts that are discussed in chapter 23 which I’d like to submit for your perusal tonight.
Firstly: Table manners.
Now, for a moment, you might be wondering why this comes up – collected wisdom of the ages, and he discusses table manners?! What gives?
But there’s more to it than that. Verses 1 – 3 and 6 – 8 are superficially about our behaviour with regard to food and drink – but they demonstrate something we intuitively know. We see eating and drinking with others as an important part of social life, and this is universal to human experience, whether you are from Melbourne, Madagascar, Malawi or even if you’re a member of the Maasai tribe. And because of this, the way we eat or drink – especially when we are with others – tells you something about how we regard others.
For example, when one is eating with an influential person (vs 1 – 3), one shouldn’t focus so much on the fare available to us that we exclude that person. The food isn’t really the point of the event; rather, it’s about developing relationships. If we aren’t aware of this, we miss the point of eating together!
Also, Solomon (or whoever) has sharply observed what it is like to eat the food of a stingy person. This is kind of the reverse – note that if you’re on the receiving end of treatment which sees the food (or its cost!) as the important thing, you too can see someone missing the opportunity to develop relationships.
Secondly: Parenting.
We live in a world where parenting is often practiced poorly. Many parents are so concerned with being friends with their children that they miss the opportunity to be their PARENTS. A child needs parents far more than they need friends, and you are the only parents your child can have – so it’s important that we get this one right.
It’s politically incorrect today to say “Smack your kids”, but Solomon is right alongside the use of physical discipline! Of course, the method of discipline is not so much the issue as the necessity of it being there. One thing is certain: children need to be disciplined consistently if they are to develop strong moral character. This is not to say necessarily treated badly, by the way; punishments are only part of discipline. So is direct teaching, so are rewards and so is modeling a good example of behaviour.
Thirdly: Alcohol.
I am not a big fan of alcohol myself, but many in our society would ask “where’s the harm in a quiet drink?”
I concede that if it is imbibed in moderation, alcohol may at least be non-harmful, and perhaps helpful. But so few people drink in moderation in our society; a very great number of people binge drink frequently, and not a few people suffer from that disease that was so well known even in Solomon’s day, ALCOHOLISM.
Vs 29 – 35 talk at length about alcohol, and demonstrate that alcoholism was at least as much a problem in Solomon’s day as it is today.
For all its good points, alcohol is a poison (literally – it damages body cells), and an addictive poison at that. So it must ALWAYS be handled with the greatest of care.
The three topics I have discussed above are not exhaustive – even in this chapter there is more. But these three are a good sample of the wisdom represented in this book. Solomon knew people; and if we listen to him, we will too.
1) I tend to write them late at night, and sometimes so late at night that I fall asleep at the keyboard. In those cases you will often see a blog that is either a little disjointed, or finishes very abruptly when you’d normally expect me to keep going.
2) Proverbs is such a rich book, and I don’t feel that I can do it justice. Bluntly, some chapters have so much in them that you feel like you’re a foody about to dine at the biggest buffet of haute cuisine that you ever saw.
It’s number 2 that really hits me tonight as I look at Proverbs 23. There’s so much here, and I can really only grab a couple of titbits.
Juicy titbits, to be sure, but only a couple.
As I previously noted, there are those who say that Solomon was not really the author of these proverbs; such people suggest that it’s someone trying to write what Solomon might have thought. Maybe; personally, I don’t see any reason why it shouldn’t be the man himself.
In any case, whoever wrote it has a remarkable understanding of people and how they work.
There are three concepts that are discussed in chapter 23 which I’d like to submit for your perusal tonight.
Firstly: Table manners.
Now, for a moment, you might be wondering why this comes up – collected wisdom of the ages, and he discusses table manners?! What gives?
But there’s more to it than that. Verses 1 – 3 and 6 – 8 are superficially about our behaviour with regard to food and drink – but they demonstrate something we intuitively know. We see eating and drinking with others as an important part of social life, and this is universal to human experience, whether you are from Melbourne, Madagascar, Malawi or even if you’re a member of the Maasai tribe. And because of this, the way we eat or drink – especially when we are with others – tells you something about how we regard others.
For example, when one is eating with an influential person (vs 1 – 3), one shouldn’t focus so much on the fare available to us that we exclude that person. The food isn’t really the point of the event; rather, it’s about developing relationships. If we aren’t aware of this, we miss the point of eating together!
Also, Solomon (or whoever) has sharply observed what it is like to eat the food of a stingy person. This is kind of the reverse – note that if you’re on the receiving end of treatment which sees the food (or its cost!) as the important thing, you too can see someone missing the opportunity to develop relationships.
Secondly: Parenting.
We live in a world where parenting is often practiced poorly. Many parents are so concerned with being friends with their children that they miss the opportunity to be their PARENTS. A child needs parents far more than they need friends, and you are the only parents your child can have – so it’s important that we get this one right.
It’s politically incorrect today to say “Smack your kids”, but Solomon is right alongside the use of physical discipline! Of course, the method of discipline is not so much the issue as the necessity of it being there. One thing is certain: children need to be disciplined consistently if they are to develop strong moral character. This is not to say necessarily treated badly, by the way; punishments are only part of discipline. So is direct teaching, so are rewards and so is modeling a good example of behaviour.
Thirdly: Alcohol.
I am not a big fan of alcohol myself, but many in our society would ask “where’s the harm in a quiet drink?”
I concede that if it is imbibed in moderation, alcohol may at least be non-harmful, and perhaps helpful. But so few people drink in moderation in our society; a very great number of people binge drink frequently, and not a few people suffer from that disease that was so well known even in Solomon’s day, ALCOHOLISM.
Vs 29 – 35 talk at length about alcohol, and demonstrate that alcoholism was at least as much a problem in Solomon’s day as it is today.
For all its good points, alcohol is a poison (literally – it damages body cells), and an addictive poison at that. So it must ALWAYS be handled with the greatest of care.
The three topics I have discussed above are not exhaustive – even in this chapter there is more. But these three are a good sample of the wisdom represented in this book. Solomon knew people; and if we listen to him, we will too.
27 July 2011
Announcement
2 notes tonight:
1) I have at least one blog that I wrote but didn't put on the blog. Sorry!
2) I am quite ill tonight... I will write again tomorrow.
Johno
1) I have at least one blog that I wrote but didn't put on the blog. Sorry!
2) I am quite ill tonight... I will write again tomorrow.
Johno
25 July 2011
Chapter 21
It’s interesting that when you look at the Bible in a different version, sometimes stuff crops up that you never noticed before.
Case in point: Proverbs 21 verse 2. A familiar verse, one which I could quote from memory. “A man’s ways seem right to him, but the Lord weighs the heart.”
Fairly remote and (to me) lacking in application. But check out what the Message says about this:
“We justify our actions by appearances, God examines our motives.”
Yowch. That stings.
I often used to pride myself on not caring about appearances. Yet the fact is that I care greatly about them; I just have an idiosyncratic view of what is actually important in your appearance!
In a sense, you’re reading this because in some respects appearances are important to me. Specifically, I don’t like appearing lazy; and if I miss a day I look lazy. Or at least that’s how I see things.
I might well be able to fool some of you, or even all of you into thinking that this is about being accountable so I can know God better. At some level, that’s what I really want. But my motives in reality are mixed. And the Lord is the only one who can really get into my heart and tease out those motives.
Verse 8 talks more about this issue: “Mixed motives send life into tangles. Pure motives take you straight down the road.”
Case in point: Proverbs 21 verse 2. A familiar verse, one which I could quote from memory. “A man’s ways seem right to him, but the Lord weighs the heart.”
Fairly remote and (to me) lacking in application. But check out what the Message says about this:
“We justify our actions by appearances, God examines our motives.”
Yowch. That stings.
I often used to pride myself on not caring about appearances. Yet the fact is that I care greatly about them; I just have an idiosyncratic view of what is actually important in your appearance!
In a sense, you’re reading this because in some respects appearances are important to me. Specifically, I don’t like appearing lazy; and if I miss a day I look lazy. Or at least that’s how I see things.
I might well be able to fool some of you, or even all of you into thinking that this is about being accountable so I can know God better. At some level, that’s what I really want. But my motives in reality are mixed. And the Lord is the only one who can really get into my heart and tease out those motives.
Verse 8 talks more about this issue: “Mixed motives send life into tangles. Pure motives take you straight down the road.”
22 July 2011
Chapter 22
Proverbs changes in its character a little bit towards the end of this chapter. Instead of the free-flowing wisdom of the previous parts, we now see some more formal segments. You read of the thirty sayings of the sages, and similar.
It is sometimes easy, when you read a book that is thousands of years old, to forget how subversive the ideas in it can be. We comfortable Westerners live in a world in which the rich and poor share legal rights, and whilst there certainly are advantages to being wealthy and privileged, all people from the very richest to the very poorest lead lives of comparative luxury. In our world it would be rude in the extreme, for example, to fail to shake another person’s hand simply because he happened to be poorer than us; and there is absolutely no necessity for the poor person to avoid contact with the rich.
In the ancient world it was a very different matter. Class boundaries were rigid. There was a very clear distinction between the upper and lower classes, and a poor man would not look at the King, much less shake his hand!
Now you are ready to understand the impact of these words from Proverbs: “The rich and the poor shake hands as equals – God made them both!”
More shocking, this was not written by a pauper wishing to challenge the social order; it was the writings of a king wishing to acknowledge the claims of his Lord on the loyalty of all those in his kingdom, including himself.
A man who has everything to gain from the status quo challenges it. Quite an amazing concept, don’t you think?
God makes a difference in peoples’ lives, not the least by demonstrating His enormous love and value for us. And more than that, He wishes to make it clear that even the poorest human holds value in His eyes.
It is sometimes easy, when you read a book that is thousands of years old, to forget how subversive the ideas in it can be. We comfortable Westerners live in a world in which the rich and poor share legal rights, and whilst there certainly are advantages to being wealthy and privileged, all people from the very richest to the very poorest lead lives of comparative luxury. In our world it would be rude in the extreme, for example, to fail to shake another person’s hand simply because he happened to be poorer than us; and there is absolutely no necessity for the poor person to avoid contact with the rich.
In the ancient world it was a very different matter. Class boundaries were rigid. There was a very clear distinction between the upper and lower classes, and a poor man would not look at the King, much less shake his hand!
Now you are ready to understand the impact of these words from Proverbs: “The rich and the poor shake hands as equals – God made them both!”
More shocking, this was not written by a pauper wishing to challenge the social order; it was the writings of a king wishing to acknowledge the claims of his Lord on the loyalty of all those in his kingdom, including himself.
A man who has everything to gain from the status quo challenges it. Quite an amazing concept, don’t you think?
God makes a difference in peoples’ lives, not the least by demonstrating His enormous love and value for us. And more than that, He wishes to make it clear that even the poorest human holds value in His eyes.
Chapter 20
I was going to talk about one verse that jumped out at me, when I realized that this chapter had so much more to offer than that.
It’s first segment (1-11) has a bit to say about leadership. Given that its writer was a king, and not only that, but a king KNOWN for his WISDOM, It’s worth listening to what he says about it!
Lets see . .
• “Quick tempered leaders are like mad dogs – cross them and they bite your head off!”
Well, yes. True. An astute observation. But is it anything we don’t already know?
• “It is a mark of good character to avert quarrels; but fools love to pick fights.”
Yowch! That’s a problem for me! I love picking arguments. . .
• Leaders who know their business and care keep a sharp eye out for the shoddy and cheap, For who among us can be trusted to be always diligent and honest?
Yes, that’s true. . . there’s wisdom in being alert to the tricks of others.
Then we get into the second section, verses 12 – 20, is an eclectic collection of basic wisdom. Some good nuggets there.
Finally, verses 21 – 30 are about our interactions with others, which range from father/son to purchaser/merchant.
What can we do with all this?
I think it is fairly simple and straightforward. We have many areas in which wise living will impact, and therefore it’s no great surprise that Proverbs is such an eclectic book. Wisdom can be found anywhere, and no matter what you do, you can do better with some extra advice. And whether you are a seller in the bazaar or the leader of a country, no-one can say that they’ve arrived.
Everyone needs wisdom, bar none. For everything.
It’s first segment (1-11) has a bit to say about leadership. Given that its writer was a king, and not only that, but a king KNOWN for his WISDOM, It’s worth listening to what he says about it!
Lets see . .
• “Quick tempered leaders are like mad dogs – cross them and they bite your head off!”
Well, yes. True. An astute observation. But is it anything we don’t already know?
• “It is a mark of good character to avert quarrels; but fools love to pick fights.”
Yowch! That’s a problem for me! I love picking arguments. . .
• Leaders who know their business and care keep a sharp eye out for the shoddy and cheap, For who among us can be trusted to be always diligent and honest?
Yes, that’s true. . . there’s wisdom in being alert to the tricks of others.
Then we get into the second section, verses 12 – 20, is an eclectic collection of basic wisdom. Some good nuggets there.
Finally, verses 21 – 30 are about our interactions with others, which range from father/son to purchaser/merchant.
What can we do with all this?
I think it is fairly simple and straightforward. We have many areas in which wise living will impact, and therefore it’s no great surprise that Proverbs is such an eclectic book. Wisdom can be found anywhere, and no matter what you do, you can do better with some extra advice. And whether you are a seller in the bazaar or the leader of a country, no-one can say that they’ve arrived.
Everyone needs wisdom, bar none. For everything.
21 July 2011
Chapter 19
For some reason the Message has titled this chapter “If You Listen,”.
Now, I may disagree with this a little – to me it seems to be more about your money and business dealings than listening.
A brief refresher: When Solomon wrote this book, the word “Fool” was code for someone lacking in wisdom. More than that, though, it also implied that the person you were describing was in some ways wicked and/or lazy.
The word “fool” did a lot of work.
Anyway, this chapter is mostly about money and business ethics. It could also be about how to retain friendships!
The key message of this chapter, like many others before it, is that the values of the world are backwards.
The world values acquisistion; Proverbs says instead to value generosity.
The world values leisure; Proverbs says to be diligent.
The world values money; Proverbs values truth.
Typically, God turns conventional thinking on its head.
Now, I may disagree with this a little – to me it seems to be more about your money and business dealings than listening.
A brief refresher: When Solomon wrote this book, the word “Fool” was code for someone lacking in wisdom. More than that, though, it also implied that the person you were describing was in some ways wicked and/or lazy.
The word “fool” did a lot of work.
Anyway, this chapter is mostly about money and business ethics. It could also be about how to retain friendships!
The key message of this chapter, like many others before it, is that the values of the world are backwards.
The world values acquisistion; Proverbs says instead to value generosity.
The world values leisure; Proverbs says to be diligent.
The world values money; Proverbs values truth.
Typically, God turns conventional thinking on its head.
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