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.
20 July 2011
Chapter 18
The best theme I think you can find in this chapter would be how your words reflect you. The first thing that really jumps out at you from the chapter is verse 2: “Fools care nothing for thoughtful discourse; all they do is run off at the mouth.”
Ain’t that the truth . . .
At the time of writing there is a big debate going on in Canberra, about whether or not Australia should introduce a Carbon tax.
Now, there are excellent arguments both for (“increasing prices have a strong track record of influencing behaviour,”) and against (“Carbon reductions will be marginal at best”). But what is striking is how few of these you actually hear.
The against crowd tend to be saying things like “We don’t want another big tax on everything.” On the other hand the for crowd often project an image kind of like “This is a kitten. Isn’t it cute? If you don’t support the tax, it’s “So you want poor little fluffy here to die”
Note that neither side actually engages the other. We don’t have thoughtful discourse here. We have a slanging match, but nothing really other than that.
Our words do have power, like it or not –and we need to learn to use it correctly.
Ain’t that the truth . . .
At the time of writing there is a big debate going on in Canberra, about whether or not Australia should introduce a Carbon tax.
Now, there are excellent arguments both for (“increasing prices have a strong track record of influencing behaviour,”) and against (“Carbon reductions will be marginal at best”). But what is striking is how few of these you actually hear.
The against crowd tend to be saying things like “We don’t want another big tax on everything.” On the other hand the for crowd often project an image kind of like “This is a kitten. Isn’t it cute? If you don’t support the tax, it’s “So you want poor little fluffy here to die”
Note that neither side actually engages the other. We don’t have thoughtful discourse here. We have a slanging match, but nothing really other than that.
Our words do have power, like it or not –and we need to learn to use it correctly.
16 July 2011
Sermon 1 Cor 9-10
Evening all!
Tomorrow I am preaching at Sanctuary. As usual, fellow Sanctuarians, no peeking! Everyone else, here's what I'll be saying.
--
1 Cor 9,10 –“You can” doesn’t mean “You should.”
There’s an old saying “Out of the frying pan, into the fire.” I feel a bit that way with preaching on 1 Corinthians. It’s fun, actually, because there’s so much meaty stuff in it to come to grips with – but at the same time you spend a fair amount of time asking yourself what on Earth you should do with all this.
In today’s passage (two chapters! That’s all!), Paul covers six distinct concepts. Now, the concepts can (and should) be linked together, but I leave you to imagine what goes through a preacher’s mind when he sees so much material.
But after a lot of thinking, praying and agonizing, somehow I started looking at these two chapters from a different angle; and I could see a clear pattern of the verses.
We’re following on from chapters 7 and 8, and those two chapters were all about freedom in Christ, and how much freedom we really do have. Now, if you take the two chapters we’re looking at today together, they provide the other side of the coin.
Put simply, they say that whilst you are free in Christ, there are limitations to that freedom. Those limitations are not imposed from God under threat of Hell, nor are they imposed by the Law under threat of ritual uncleanness; rather, they are imposed by we ourselves. I have therefore titled these chapters “‘You can’ doesn’t mean ‘You should.’”
Before we get really into this, a brief reminder – Paul is writing this letter in response to one sent by either the Corinthian church as a whole, or by members in it. We don’t have that letter, so it really is guesswork what was said; however, by looking at what Paul has to say we can work out a lot of the questions they ask (or perhaps, in some cases, the accusations they make!).
Last time I spoke on 1 Corinthians, I tried to reverse-engineer the questions they asked Paul. We decided that one of the questions was about marriage, and the other was something to do with whether Christians were permitted to eat meat that had been sacrificed to idols.
Where Paul is going right now is a little hard to judge. He appears to be continuing on with dealing with the question of our freedom in Christ; maybe he’s just expanding further on his answer to the question about sacrificed meat. But I don’t think that’s it, or at least not ALL of it.
Again I’m going to throw a guess out there as to what someone asked Paul. This guess is based on both the text itself and what a couple of commentators say. Notice that Paul defends himself on two counts: 1) He demonstrates that he is most definitely an apostle, and 2) He discusses why he worked for a living in Corinth rather than accepting payment for his Gospel work.
From this, we can suggest that the Corinthian letter accused Paul of not being a proper apostle; the proof of this being that he never claimed the pay or benefits of being one, instead working for his own living!
There’s a little irony here, really – all too often Christians are a little stingy when it comes to paying their workers! I can understand where this comes from, of course; Christian organizations are never exactly awash with money, and there’s the temptation to cut costs wherever possible. In any case, Christians can often mutter and complain about how much the minister is getting paid.
But poor old Paul here is getting kicked around because he is NOT getting paid!
This is actually a little less ridiculous than it sounds. Remember that Corinth was a Greek city, and operated by a different set of social rules than many other places. In ancient Greek city life, the higher classes of society prided themselves on not having menial work to do so that they could participate fully on matters of greater importance – which, as far as I can tell, seemed to have consisted of debating in the parliament, attending lavish drinking parties and discussing philosophy! Remember in Acts chapter 17:21 Luke describes the Athenians as “Doing nothing except discussing the latest ideas”. So it’s quite possible to expect that some of the higher-born members of the Church might look down on Paul and Barnabas because they were working for their living instead of having their money provided for them. To these people, it indicated that Paul and Barnabas were of lower social status – and therefore that they weren’t really apostles!
Paul first tells them very bluntly that he IS an apostle, thank you very much, and he offers two proofs: firstly, that he actually saw Jesus after His resurrection (though the circumstances of this were unusual), and secondly, that the work he had done in Corinth demonstrated his credentials – “You are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord!”
Paul then goes on to explain that, although he had every right to be looked after as Peter (and his family), the other apostles and the brothers of Jesus had been, AS HIS OWN CHOICE Paul decided not to. His reasoning? He gets all the reward he needs when he can share the infinite riches of the Gospel with people for free! See verse 18: What then is my reward? Just this: that in preaching the gospel I may offer it free of charge, and so not make full use of my rights as a preacher of the gospel.
But Paul isn’t finished here. He ties this whole thing beautifully back into an understanding of how and why we limit our own freedom in Christ – it’s not because of fear or because of rules or restrictions, it’s because we believe in the importance of God’s mission for us!
We all know about the restrictions that Jews have placed upon them. They can’t eat pork, they can’t work on the Sabbath, they have to keep meat and dairy separate, and so-on. Paul is free to ignore all those cultural taboos if he wishes – but that’s not his plan. Paul wants to win the Jews to Christ; so he becomes LIKE a jew. Although he is free to do what he likes, he faces the same restrictions as those he seeks to win. As he lives like them, he becomes a more credible witness to them. Similarly, he chose to become like those under law, like the weak. In fact it was Paul who coined the phrase, still often used today that he became “All things to all men.”
And here we find the first challenge that I wish to lay before everyone today. As I read this passage, I became very acutely aware that I am in almost every respect a good Christian man.
No, that wasn’t a brag. In fact, in context, it wasn’t even a complement. I couldn’t say what Paul says here – I can’t with all honesty say that I’m willing to be like others to win them to Christ. To be perfectly honest, I expect them to come to me.
In fact, if I’m totally honest with myself, at the moment, my primary evangelism strategy is to sit here, in this room, hoping against hope that some unsaved guy walks through that door so I can share the Gospel with him.
Am I becoming like him? No. In fact, I’m expecting him to become like ME. It’s foolish, it’s selfish, and above all else it simply doesn’t work.
I can remember years ago I used to teach people a good old Student Life acronym – Associate, Befriend, Create an interest in Christ, Declare and Defend the Gospel, Encourage a response, Follow up and Group new believers!
Guess what – at the moment I fail at A!
So here I have to repent in front of you all and ask you to pray for me as I help to put this right. Contrast this with Paul, who became all things to all men that he might win some. Contrast it even more with Christ, who came to seek and save the lost!
I know there are others in this room who can honestly say the same thing as me. I also know there are some in here for whom the reverse is true – I have seen Vanessa doing a really good job of being like the people she is around. Surprise surprise, some of those people are occasionally here at church, and you can bet that some, if not most of them, will one day come to Christ.
Similarly, Kylie often talks to me about the people that she spends time with, including her parents, including friends, workmates and all sorts of others. She lives like them and associates with them so that she can lead some to Christ.
Have you got the challenge yet? The challenge is simply this. Who do you associate with? Are you becoming like those you seek to win, or are you hoping they’ll miraculously become like you?
God can do all sorts of things, but I don’t think He’s going to work it that way, simply because it’s not the way things are supposed to work!
So the first reason we may choose to limit our own freedom is to win others to Christ. What are some other reasons?
Paul gives a second reason, and it’s one that several people here can understand. In verses 24-27 of chapter 9 he gives the example of an athlete in training. Paul is probably imagining one of the boxers at the Olympic games, which in his day were every bit the pinnacle of competition that they are today, except you weren’t allowed to compete if you weren’t Greek. And a male.
On the one hand, an athlete COULD eat anything he likes and do whatever he likes. But by his own choice, the athlete limits his diet to what is good for him, and by choice he spends hours each day training, often after a busy day at work. Now, he doesn’t enjoy doing that; but he DOES believe the result is worth while. So he continues to choose to train.
Paul compares living the Christian life to training as an athlete. He points out that the athletes compete “to receive a crown that will not last” (actually a laurel wreath). Whereas we compete to win a prize that will last eternally. So Paul carefully selects what is good for training him in righteousness.
Well, an athlete needs a good diet, and an athlete needs a program of training disciplines. And both of these have analogies in the Christian life.
The “diet” of the Christian is input from God. Most obviously this would be found in studying the Scriptures, and that is very worthwhile; but God can have input into our lives in other ways too. For example, Geoff last week was talking about how we can individually meet with others – that’s a form of spiritual input. So is meeting together in this context. So are Bible studies and fellowship activities.
The “disciplines” of the Christian life are a little harder to define. Every time you make a choice against your own desires but in line with Christ, you are in a sense “lifting weights” spiriturally. But there are also other disciplines we may take on, most obviously things like fasting and prayer times.
Challenge two for today is this: if you were about to compete in the Spiritual Olympics, would you be taut and limber, or would you be flabby, fat and lacking in endurance?
So the second reason one might choose to limit their freedom is to develop Spiritual discipline.
Finally, there is one other reason to limit your freedom. In chapter 10 verses 1-9, Paul gives us a stern warning against immorality of many kinds, using Israel’s past as a demonstration of what God has done in the past when people opposed him. And here Paul gives a very sharp reminder – Remember that the temptations you face are just the same as others have faced, and there’s no excuse, because there is always a way out! You can’t say it’s stronger than you!
Wow, when you hear that one in context, it’s a bit different to what you expect, isn’t it?
He then goes on to warn against “drinking the cup of demons”, which seems to go against all he told us about our freedom in the last two chapters.
But there IS a key difference. Paul tells us that the examples from Israel’s past are demonstrations to us of what God wants. These demonstrations – though they remind us of the awesome power of God – don’t actually mean that God is out to punish us for getting it wrong.
Yet this passage gives us a really important reason for limiting freedom – we know what God likes, and to behave in that way glorifies Him!
So the last challenge for today is this: What parts of our lives are glorifying to God, and what bits aren’t?
We are free in Christ, but “I can” is not enough reason to use your freedom. Sometimes we have to limit that freedom.
We may limit our freedom so that we can win others to Christ, so that we can develop Spiritual discipline or so that we can glorify God.
One of my friends who was a prison chaplain says that “normally you have to tell people that they’re a sinner. In gaol, you have to tell people they can be saved.
In a similar way, some people need to be told that they are free. Others need to be told “just because you CAN doesn’t necessarily mean you SHOULD.”
Tomorrow I am preaching at Sanctuary. As usual, fellow Sanctuarians, no peeking! Everyone else, here's what I'll be saying.
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1 Cor 9,10 –“You can” doesn’t mean “You should.”
There’s an old saying “Out of the frying pan, into the fire.” I feel a bit that way with preaching on 1 Corinthians. It’s fun, actually, because there’s so much meaty stuff in it to come to grips with – but at the same time you spend a fair amount of time asking yourself what on Earth you should do with all this.
In today’s passage (two chapters! That’s all!), Paul covers six distinct concepts. Now, the concepts can (and should) be linked together, but I leave you to imagine what goes through a preacher’s mind when he sees so much material.
But after a lot of thinking, praying and agonizing, somehow I started looking at these two chapters from a different angle; and I could see a clear pattern of the verses.
We’re following on from chapters 7 and 8, and those two chapters were all about freedom in Christ, and how much freedom we really do have. Now, if you take the two chapters we’re looking at today together, they provide the other side of the coin.
Put simply, they say that whilst you are free in Christ, there are limitations to that freedom. Those limitations are not imposed from God under threat of Hell, nor are they imposed by the Law under threat of ritual uncleanness; rather, they are imposed by we ourselves. I have therefore titled these chapters “‘You can’ doesn’t mean ‘You should.’”
Before we get really into this, a brief reminder – Paul is writing this letter in response to one sent by either the Corinthian church as a whole, or by members in it. We don’t have that letter, so it really is guesswork what was said; however, by looking at what Paul has to say we can work out a lot of the questions they ask (or perhaps, in some cases, the accusations they make!).
Last time I spoke on 1 Corinthians, I tried to reverse-engineer the questions they asked Paul. We decided that one of the questions was about marriage, and the other was something to do with whether Christians were permitted to eat meat that had been sacrificed to idols.
Where Paul is going right now is a little hard to judge. He appears to be continuing on with dealing with the question of our freedom in Christ; maybe he’s just expanding further on his answer to the question about sacrificed meat. But I don’t think that’s it, or at least not ALL of it.
Again I’m going to throw a guess out there as to what someone asked Paul. This guess is based on both the text itself and what a couple of commentators say. Notice that Paul defends himself on two counts: 1) He demonstrates that he is most definitely an apostle, and 2) He discusses why he worked for a living in Corinth rather than accepting payment for his Gospel work.
From this, we can suggest that the Corinthian letter accused Paul of not being a proper apostle; the proof of this being that he never claimed the pay or benefits of being one, instead working for his own living!
There’s a little irony here, really – all too often Christians are a little stingy when it comes to paying their workers! I can understand where this comes from, of course; Christian organizations are never exactly awash with money, and there’s the temptation to cut costs wherever possible. In any case, Christians can often mutter and complain about how much the minister is getting paid.
But poor old Paul here is getting kicked around because he is NOT getting paid!
This is actually a little less ridiculous than it sounds. Remember that Corinth was a Greek city, and operated by a different set of social rules than many other places. In ancient Greek city life, the higher classes of society prided themselves on not having menial work to do so that they could participate fully on matters of greater importance – which, as far as I can tell, seemed to have consisted of debating in the parliament, attending lavish drinking parties and discussing philosophy! Remember in Acts chapter 17:21 Luke describes the Athenians as “Doing nothing except discussing the latest ideas”. So it’s quite possible to expect that some of the higher-born members of the Church might look down on Paul and Barnabas because they were working for their living instead of having their money provided for them. To these people, it indicated that Paul and Barnabas were of lower social status – and therefore that they weren’t really apostles!
Paul first tells them very bluntly that he IS an apostle, thank you very much, and he offers two proofs: firstly, that he actually saw Jesus after His resurrection (though the circumstances of this were unusual), and secondly, that the work he had done in Corinth demonstrated his credentials – “You are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord!”
Paul then goes on to explain that, although he had every right to be looked after as Peter (and his family), the other apostles and the brothers of Jesus had been, AS HIS OWN CHOICE Paul decided not to. His reasoning? He gets all the reward he needs when he can share the infinite riches of the Gospel with people for free! See verse 18: What then is my reward? Just this: that in preaching the gospel I may offer it free of charge, and so not make full use of my rights as a preacher of the gospel.
But Paul isn’t finished here. He ties this whole thing beautifully back into an understanding of how and why we limit our own freedom in Christ – it’s not because of fear or because of rules or restrictions, it’s because we believe in the importance of God’s mission for us!
We all know about the restrictions that Jews have placed upon them. They can’t eat pork, they can’t work on the Sabbath, they have to keep meat and dairy separate, and so-on. Paul is free to ignore all those cultural taboos if he wishes – but that’s not his plan. Paul wants to win the Jews to Christ; so he becomes LIKE a jew. Although he is free to do what he likes, he faces the same restrictions as those he seeks to win. As he lives like them, he becomes a more credible witness to them. Similarly, he chose to become like those under law, like the weak. In fact it was Paul who coined the phrase, still often used today that he became “All things to all men.”
And here we find the first challenge that I wish to lay before everyone today. As I read this passage, I became very acutely aware that I am in almost every respect a good Christian man.
No, that wasn’t a brag. In fact, in context, it wasn’t even a complement. I couldn’t say what Paul says here – I can’t with all honesty say that I’m willing to be like others to win them to Christ. To be perfectly honest, I expect them to come to me.
In fact, if I’m totally honest with myself, at the moment, my primary evangelism strategy is to sit here, in this room, hoping against hope that some unsaved guy walks through that door so I can share the Gospel with him.
Am I becoming like him? No. In fact, I’m expecting him to become like ME. It’s foolish, it’s selfish, and above all else it simply doesn’t work.
I can remember years ago I used to teach people a good old Student Life acronym – Associate, Befriend, Create an interest in Christ, Declare and Defend the Gospel, Encourage a response, Follow up and Group new believers!
Guess what – at the moment I fail at A!
So here I have to repent in front of you all and ask you to pray for me as I help to put this right. Contrast this with Paul, who became all things to all men that he might win some. Contrast it even more with Christ, who came to seek and save the lost!
I know there are others in this room who can honestly say the same thing as me. I also know there are some in here for whom the reverse is true – I have seen Vanessa doing a really good job of being like the people she is around. Surprise surprise, some of those people are occasionally here at church, and you can bet that some, if not most of them, will one day come to Christ.
Similarly, Kylie often talks to me about the people that she spends time with, including her parents, including friends, workmates and all sorts of others. She lives like them and associates with them so that she can lead some to Christ.
Have you got the challenge yet? The challenge is simply this. Who do you associate with? Are you becoming like those you seek to win, or are you hoping they’ll miraculously become like you?
God can do all sorts of things, but I don’t think He’s going to work it that way, simply because it’s not the way things are supposed to work!
So the first reason we may choose to limit our own freedom is to win others to Christ. What are some other reasons?
Paul gives a second reason, and it’s one that several people here can understand. In verses 24-27 of chapter 9 he gives the example of an athlete in training. Paul is probably imagining one of the boxers at the Olympic games, which in his day were every bit the pinnacle of competition that they are today, except you weren’t allowed to compete if you weren’t Greek. And a male.
On the one hand, an athlete COULD eat anything he likes and do whatever he likes. But by his own choice, the athlete limits his diet to what is good for him, and by choice he spends hours each day training, often after a busy day at work. Now, he doesn’t enjoy doing that; but he DOES believe the result is worth while. So he continues to choose to train.
Paul compares living the Christian life to training as an athlete. He points out that the athletes compete “to receive a crown that will not last” (actually a laurel wreath). Whereas we compete to win a prize that will last eternally. So Paul carefully selects what is good for training him in righteousness.
Well, an athlete needs a good diet, and an athlete needs a program of training disciplines. And both of these have analogies in the Christian life.
The “diet” of the Christian is input from God. Most obviously this would be found in studying the Scriptures, and that is very worthwhile; but God can have input into our lives in other ways too. For example, Geoff last week was talking about how we can individually meet with others – that’s a form of spiritual input. So is meeting together in this context. So are Bible studies and fellowship activities.
The “disciplines” of the Christian life are a little harder to define. Every time you make a choice against your own desires but in line with Christ, you are in a sense “lifting weights” spiriturally. But there are also other disciplines we may take on, most obviously things like fasting and prayer times.
Challenge two for today is this: if you were about to compete in the Spiritual Olympics, would you be taut and limber, or would you be flabby, fat and lacking in endurance?
So the second reason one might choose to limit their freedom is to develop Spiritual discipline.
Finally, there is one other reason to limit your freedom. In chapter 10 verses 1-9, Paul gives us a stern warning against immorality of many kinds, using Israel’s past as a demonstration of what God has done in the past when people opposed him. And here Paul gives a very sharp reminder – Remember that the temptations you face are just the same as others have faced, and there’s no excuse, because there is always a way out! You can’t say it’s stronger than you!
Wow, when you hear that one in context, it’s a bit different to what you expect, isn’t it?
He then goes on to warn against “drinking the cup of demons”, which seems to go against all he told us about our freedom in the last two chapters.
But there IS a key difference. Paul tells us that the examples from Israel’s past are demonstrations to us of what God wants. These demonstrations – though they remind us of the awesome power of God – don’t actually mean that God is out to punish us for getting it wrong.
Yet this passage gives us a really important reason for limiting freedom – we know what God likes, and to behave in that way glorifies Him!
So the last challenge for today is this: What parts of our lives are glorifying to God, and what bits aren’t?
We are free in Christ, but “I can” is not enough reason to use your freedom. Sometimes we have to limit that freedom.
We may limit our freedom so that we can win others to Christ, so that we can develop Spiritual discipline or so that we can glorify God.
One of my friends who was a prison chaplain says that “normally you have to tell people that they’re a sinner. In gaol, you have to tell people they can be saved.
In a similar way, some people need to be told that they are free. Others need to be told “just because you CAN doesn’t necessarily mean you SHOULD.”
09 July 2011
Chapter 17
BAD STUFF HAPPENS. I say this at the start to remind you, dear reader, that things happen in this world that are far less than ideal.
And a lot of these things happen just “because”.
I’m saying this because I don’t want you getting the idea that I think all suffering is the result of God giving us a whoopin’ because we’ve done something wrong. Quite plainly, that’s not the case.
But God does want us perfected, and sometimes part of the process of perfecting us involves disciplinary action against us.
As a Chemistry teacher myself, I find verse 3 very relatable – as silver in the crucible and gold in the pan! In the same way God is testing us (probably more for our benefit than his) as we approach perfection.
Of course, the writer of Proverbs knows that this is not the cause of all suffering – witness verse 10! But it is certainly something that should be considered.
When we suffer, the question “Why” is a natural one. But it is important for us to ask ourselves if maybe, just maybe, God might be trying to teach us something when life hasn’t gone the way that we expected it to.
And a lot of these things happen just “because”.
I’m saying this because I don’t want you getting the idea that I think all suffering is the result of God giving us a whoopin’ because we’ve done something wrong. Quite plainly, that’s not the case.
But God does want us perfected, and sometimes part of the process of perfecting us involves disciplinary action against us.
As a Chemistry teacher myself, I find verse 3 very relatable – as silver in the crucible and gold in the pan! In the same way God is testing us (probably more for our benefit than his) as we approach perfection.
Of course, the writer of Proverbs knows that this is not the cause of all suffering – witness verse 10! But it is certainly something that should be considered.
When we suffer, the question “Why” is a natural one. But it is important for us to ask ourselves if maybe, just maybe, God might be trying to teach us something when life hasn’t gone the way that we expected it to.
08 July 2011
Chapter 16
Note: Monday the 18th of July Mere and I celebrate 13 years of happy marriage! For various practical reasons, we’ll be going away a week early, so there will be no commentary on Sunday 10th (and depending on how things go perhaps not on Monday night either).
Also, those reading this via email may have noted that the dates were getting a little weirded out. At some stage I missed a day without noticing! Sorry . . .
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Every now and again we come to a point in life where things don’t seem to be working out right; and it’s not (this time!) because of anything that we’ve done in particular that’s wrong, or unwise; it’s just one of those things that happen.
Right now I’m witnessing that first hand. Someone my wife cares about deeply is sick with cancer, and the doctors are fairly grim about his chances. And since this is not Mere’s first experience with cancer, she sometimes wonders what has gone wrong – why always her friends and relatives?
In short, why does life not make sense right now?
It can feel like there’s no-one at the wheel, that life is just careening off into the wild blue yonder like an out-of-control aircraft.
But one thing I have learned is that God IS in fact in control.
I know we get sick of hearing this, but Romans 8:28 is the key here – all things work together for good to those who love the Lord and are called according to His purposes.
Similarly, this chapter tells us to be aware of that fact – that God is in control.
How does that make you feel?
For some, it’ll be a puzzling fact – the logical response will be “But what are you doing, Lord?”
For others, though, it’s a relief to know that God is there, and in control. As chapter 16 likes to remind us, there IS no other who has both the authority and the power to make it happen.
Also, those reading this via email may have noted that the dates were getting a little weirded out. At some stage I missed a day without noticing! Sorry . . .
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Every now and again we come to a point in life where things don’t seem to be working out right; and it’s not (this time!) because of anything that we’ve done in particular that’s wrong, or unwise; it’s just one of those things that happen.
Right now I’m witnessing that first hand. Someone my wife cares about deeply is sick with cancer, and the doctors are fairly grim about his chances. And since this is not Mere’s first experience with cancer, she sometimes wonders what has gone wrong – why always her friends and relatives?
In short, why does life not make sense right now?
It can feel like there’s no-one at the wheel, that life is just careening off into the wild blue yonder like an out-of-control aircraft.
But one thing I have learned is that God IS in fact in control.
I know we get sick of hearing this, but Romans 8:28 is the key here – all things work together for good to those who love the Lord and are called according to His purposes.
Similarly, this chapter tells us to be aware of that fact – that God is in control.
How does that make you feel?
For some, it’ll be a puzzling fact – the logical response will be “But what are you doing, Lord?”
For others, though, it’s a relief to know that God is there, and in control. As chapter 16 likes to remind us, there IS no other who has both the authority and the power to make it happen.
07 July 2011
Chapter 15
Although it shares the free form nature of the rest of Proverbs, you can fairly divide Chapter 15 into two sections.
The first (vs 1-11) is labeled “God doesn’t miss a thing” in the Message, but I think a better title may well be “You can’t fool God.”
And really, you can’t.
Over the years one question that has been repeatedly asked of me by people objecting to the Christian faith is “But what if someone lives a sinful life and then says ‘God, you can have me now,’ when they’re on the death bed. Doesn’t God have to take them? And isn’t that unfair?”
My answer is “It depends.”
It can be unfair. And no, God doesn’t have to accept a deathbed conversion. YOU CAN’T FOOL GOD. If you’re just saying the words with no actual conviction, you might fool the others around you and you could conceivably fool yourself; but there’s one person you won’t be fooling, and that’s the person you’d really need to fool! God is not deceived.
More than that, there are other things God can always be relied on to know.
• God doesn’t miss good and evil (v3). After all, He invented Good, and He saw it corrupted into evil. So if you think you can put one over Him, forget it.
• God understands when people are posing and not being honest (v8). If you look like you’re praying, make sure you actually are!
• God can read what’s going on inside the human heart (v11).
Verses 12 – 33 depart from the formula above, instead focusing on “What gives you a good life?”
Here Solomon gives a few pointers for living a life that’s worth living. There’s a lot here, but I want to focus on a couple:
• A simple life in the fear of God is better than a rich life with tons of headaches (v16).
• Better a bread crust shared in love than a slab of prime rib served in hate (v17).
• God smashes the pretensions of the arrogant (v25).
The thing that I notice here is that the values the world espouses are once again picked up and turned on their head. The world values money, power and position; yet here (as in many places in scripture) we see God standing instead for simplicity, relationship and honesty.
This connects fairly well to yesterday’s concept – there is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death. Ultimately God understands what is best for us. We can try to do what comes naturally, but that’s not always the smartest idea. On the other hand, what God wants is difficult; but it’s also what will lead in the end to the best outcome.
The first (vs 1-11) is labeled “God doesn’t miss a thing” in the Message, but I think a better title may well be “You can’t fool God.”
And really, you can’t.
Over the years one question that has been repeatedly asked of me by people objecting to the Christian faith is “But what if someone lives a sinful life and then says ‘God, you can have me now,’ when they’re on the death bed. Doesn’t God have to take them? And isn’t that unfair?”
My answer is “It depends.”
It can be unfair. And no, God doesn’t have to accept a deathbed conversion. YOU CAN’T FOOL GOD. If you’re just saying the words with no actual conviction, you might fool the others around you and you could conceivably fool yourself; but there’s one person you won’t be fooling, and that’s the person you’d really need to fool! God is not deceived.
More than that, there are other things God can always be relied on to know.
• God doesn’t miss good and evil (v3). After all, He invented Good, and He saw it corrupted into evil. So if you think you can put one over Him, forget it.
• God understands when people are posing and not being honest (v8). If you look like you’re praying, make sure you actually are!
• God can read what’s going on inside the human heart (v11).
Verses 12 – 33 depart from the formula above, instead focusing on “What gives you a good life?”
Here Solomon gives a few pointers for living a life that’s worth living. There’s a lot here, but I want to focus on a couple:
• A simple life in the fear of God is better than a rich life with tons of headaches (v16).
• Better a bread crust shared in love than a slab of prime rib served in hate (v17).
• God smashes the pretensions of the arrogant (v25).
The thing that I notice here is that the values the world espouses are once again picked up and turned on their head. The world values money, power and position; yet here (as in many places in scripture) we see God standing instead for simplicity, relationship and honesty.
This connects fairly well to yesterday’s concept – there is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death. Ultimately God understands what is best for us. We can try to do what comes naturally, but that’s not always the smartest idea. On the other hand, what God wants is difficult; but it’s also what will lead in the end to the best outcome.
06 July 2011
Chapter 14
Much of the time we look at the lives of those who live without God, and sometimes we may feel like we’re getting gypped.
After all, from our perspective, the wicked seem to do okay. Crime pays plenty, and living a faithful life often appears to be lurching from one bad situation to the next; it’s a hard life. And that’s not even considering the faithful people overseas who are actually persecuted for their faith.
Well, chapter 14 talks about this a bit. And a particular passage – v 12– is well known in this regard.
“There is a way that seems right to a man; but in the end it leads to death.”
Pardon the version here, but I memorized this passage as a kid!
The main thrust of many proverbs in this chapter is the consequences of our actions (yeah, I know that sentence should be taken out and shot; I can’t really see how to actually improve it!).
It starts with suggesting that one good reason for living right is that “an honest life shows respect for God; but a degenerate life is a slap in His face.”
And from there we have the usual selection of proverbs, with some being about the theme and others not. In amongst warnings agains foolish living, you also find discussions on the difference between winning and losing (Seriously!). Remember, this book is about wise living in EVERY circumstances, not just the “important” issues!
Okay, so here’s our challenge.
Do we know (or have a fair guess of) the consequences of our actions? If so, have we considered all the damage that this could do? Remember, there is a way that may seem good to you but which ends up being to our harm.
After all, from our perspective, the wicked seem to do okay. Crime pays plenty, and living a faithful life often appears to be lurching from one bad situation to the next; it’s a hard life. And that’s not even considering the faithful people overseas who are actually persecuted for their faith.
Well, chapter 14 talks about this a bit. And a particular passage – v 12– is well known in this regard.
“There is a way that seems right to a man; but in the end it leads to death.”
Pardon the version here, but I memorized this passage as a kid!
The main thrust of many proverbs in this chapter is the consequences of our actions (yeah, I know that sentence should be taken out and shot; I can’t really see how to actually improve it!).
It starts with suggesting that one good reason for living right is that “an honest life shows respect for God; but a degenerate life is a slap in His face.”
And from there we have the usual selection of proverbs, with some being about the theme and others not. In amongst warnings agains foolish living, you also find discussions on the difference between winning and losing (Seriously!). Remember, this book is about wise living in EVERY circumstances, not just the “important” issues!
Okay, so here’s our challenge.
Do we know (or have a fair guess of) the consequences of our actions? If so, have we considered all the damage that this could do? Remember, there is a way that may seem good to you but which ends up being to our harm.
05 July 2011
Chapter 13
There is something of a theme to Chapter 13, and it’s really about the application of wisdom to everyday life. It’s all very down-to-Earth.
For example:
• Wise children listen to their parents; foolish children do their own thing.
• Arrogant know-it-alls stir up discord; but wise men and women listen to each others’ counsel.
• Irresponsible talk makes a mess of things; but a reliable reporter is a healing presence.
• A good life gets passed on to the grandchildren; Ill-gotten wealth ends up with good people.
This is just a smattering, but you get the idea. Up until know we’ve been talking about specific areas of wisdom – your integrity, your sexual behaviour, the reasons for considering wisdom; now we’re looking at where the rubber meets the road.
It’s an interesting thing to imagine a checklist for the wise. This would work for most chapters of Proverbs. Read the verses, and as you recognize yourself (and be kind!), tick yourself off. I wonder how many of us would have the checklist half ticked off!
It’s easy to have good things going on inside your head; that doesn’t make you wise, only smart. The point at which you know someone is wise is when they can take that information and actually do something with it.
For example: It’s all very well to say “Careful words make for a careful life” – but what does it mean in practice?
For example:
• Wise children listen to their parents; foolish children do their own thing.
• Arrogant know-it-alls stir up discord; but wise men and women listen to each others’ counsel.
• Irresponsible talk makes a mess of things; but a reliable reporter is a healing presence.
• A good life gets passed on to the grandchildren; Ill-gotten wealth ends up with good people.
This is just a smattering, but you get the idea. Up until know we’ve been talking about specific areas of wisdom – your integrity, your sexual behaviour, the reasons for considering wisdom; now we’re looking at where the rubber meets the road.
It’s an interesting thing to imagine a checklist for the wise. This would work for most chapters of Proverbs. Read the verses, and as you recognize yourself (and be kind!), tick yourself off. I wonder how many of us would have the checklist half ticked off!
It’s easy to have good things going on inside your head; that doesn’t make you wise, only smart. The point at which you know someone is wise is when they can take that information and actually do something with it.
For example: It’s all very well to say “Careful words make for a careful life” – but what does it mean in practice?
04 July 2011
Chapter 12
Chapter 12 has even less of a theme than previous chapters. It’s all good stuff, but . . it’s hard to put into a box.
One more time I have to say READ THIS! It’s a great chapter, and because it’s so wide ranging, there has to be something here that can speak to your current situation, no matter what it is!
Anyway, whilst there’s no main theme, there IS a theme which returns a couple of times. It’s how one reacts to learning.
We are shown in several situations how the wise and the fool react when faced with new knowledge. Whilst there are many different variations, the ongoing theme is that the wise embrace it, whereas the fools ignore it. A wise man is one who would take advice, but the fool is headstrong (v15).
This is interesting. You’d think the fool, having more to learn, would be more willing to take new learning on board. But most of us know this isn’t the case. Just like rich people are generally rich because they understand how to manage money, so people who are wise are those who have learned to manage their wisdom, and to increase it.
We will come face to face with new information every day. More than that, we’ll face learning situations (some of them painful). Whether we are wise or not will be showed in our reactions – do we take the lesson on board? Or do we try to go our own way?
It’s our choice. Be warned, though – when we don’t learn the lesson, God has a tendency of repeating the lesson, be it ever so uncomfortable, until we get it right!
One more time I have to say READ THIS! It’s a great chapter, and because it’s so wide ranging, there has to be something here that can speak to your current situation, no matter what it is!
Anyway, whilst there’s no main theme, there IS a theme which returns a couple of times. It’s how one reacts to learning.
We are shown in several situations how the wise and the fool react when faced with new knowledge. Whilst there are many different variations, the ongoing theme is that the wise embrace it, whereas the fools ignore it. A wise man is one who would take advice, but the fool is headstrong (v15).
This is interesting. You’d think the fool, having more to learn, would be more willing to take new learning on board. But most of us know this isn’t the case. Just like rich people are generally rich because they understand how to manage money, so people who are wise are those who have learned to manage their wisdom, and to increase it.
We will come face to face with new information every day. More than that, we’ll face learning situations (some of them painful). Whether we are wise or not will be showed in our reactions – do we take the lesson on board? Or do we try to go our own way?
It’s our choice. Be warned, though – when we don’t learn the lesson, God has a tendency of repeating the lesson, be it ever so uncomfortable, until we get it right!
03 July 2011
Chapter 11
Chapter 11 is mostly about integrity.
This is interesting. We live in a very different world today from that inhabited by Solomon. Technologically speaking the life of many humans is unrecognizable. Economic life is radically different. Humanity faces vastly different challenges now to what it faced in Solomon’s time.
Despite all that, integrity is valued just as much as it always was (but encountered every bit as rarely as always, which is perhaps why it was valued).
Even more strikingly, though, integrity is still largely similar – just read the proverbs in question. Most of them are quite applicable even now.
The word “integrity” literally means “the state of being in one piece”. In this context we are saying that one is in fact the same person no matter which aspect of life is active at a given time.
A few examples of what integrity does for you:
• v3: Keeps you on track.
• v5: Makes for smooth traveling.
• v13: Prevents you violating a confidence.
Integrity remains important today. That is why we need to examine ourselves and ask ourselves the simple yet cutting question – “Do I have integrity?”
This is interesting. We live in a very different world today from that inhabited by Solomon. Technologically speaking the life of many humans is unrecognizable. Economic life is radically different. Humanity faces vastly different challenges now to what it faced in Solomon’s time.
Despite all that, integrity is valued just as much as it always was (but encountered every bit as rarely as always, which is perhaps why it was valued).
Even more strikingly, though, integrity is still largely similar – just read the proverbs in question. Most of them are quite applicable even now.
The word “integrity” literally means “the state of being in one piece”. In this context we are saying that one is in fact the same person no matter which aspect of life is active at a given time.
A few examples of what integrity does for you:
• v3: Keeps you on track.
• v5: Makes for smooth traveling.
• v13: Prevents you violating a confidence.
Integrity remains important today. That is why we need to examine ourselves and ask ourselves the simple yet cutting question – “Do I have integrity?”
02 July 2011
Chapter 10
Note: After a day spent not doing very much at all, I’m much more on top of things. So, on with the commentary!
--
We’re now getting into the proverbs in earnest. From here on, the themes of the book are (deliberately) less consistent. That’s as it should be, because this book is a collection of, well, proverbs.
What this means is that there’s little point in trying to describe what Solomon is saying; it’ll change from verse to verse.
Rather, what I’ll do is to pick out a few proverbs that make a particular impact on me this time, and comment on them. Note that this book is a bit of a Rorschach test, and what you’ll see this time will be what you’ll see next time you stop by Proverbs.
Whilst there’s no hard and fast rule about all of them, many of the Proverbs listed in verses 1- 14 of chapter 10 are about honesty. The Message has the section titled “Honesty is immortal,” which is a pretty good way of putting it. Of course, there are few that would dispute this one; even outside of the Judeo-Christian worldview there would be little disputing it.
Nor would there be much in the way of dispute against the second major theme, in verses 22-32 – discipline (though some may raise eyebrows at comments like “the wage of a good person is an exuberant life”, which flies in the face of the prevailing public opinion (which holds that a good person lives a boring life, whilst the “bad boys” are the truly interesting people!).
But the third major theme is that the Fear of God Expands Your Life. And this deserves a little comment.
The image of Christians that is prevalent in our society, rightly or wrongly[1] is of sad and sober people. Just this evening I was watching the movie “Happy Feet” with my daughters, and the thinly-veiled statement against religious faith that is found there reinforced the image I am talking about. The religious people . . err, penguins . . were depicted as old, out of touch and unthinkingly arrogant.
Now, it’s easy to say “Real Christians aren’t like that.” Oh really? We’re not?
The trouble is that some of us ARE like that; enough few enough that we feed this image.
[1] I think WRONGLY, obviously; but that’s obvious!
The bottom line for us is this: We are Christ’s representatives onEarth; and if we are to live up to that, it’s going to be necessary for us to rely on the help of the One who created us.
--
We’re now getting into the proverbs in earnest. From here on, the themes of the book are (deliberately) less consistent. That’s as it should be, because this book is a collection of, well, proverbs.
What this means is that there’s little point in trying to describe what Solomon is saying; it’ll change from verse to verse.
Rather, what I’ll do is to pick out a few proverbs that make a particular impact on me this time, and comment on them. Note that this book is a bit of a Rorschach test, and what you’ll see this time will be what you’ll see next time you stop by Proverbs.
Whilst there’s no hard and fast rule about all of them, many of the Proverbs listed in verses 1- 14 of chapter 10 are about honesty. The Message has the section titled “Honesty is immortal,” which is a pretty good way of putting it. Of course, there are few that would dispute this one; even outside of the Judeo-Christian worldview there would be little disputing it.
Nor would there be much in the way of dispute against the second major theme, in verses 22-32 – discipline (though some may raise eyebrows at comments like “the wage of a good person is an exuberant life”, which flies in the face of the prevailing public opinion (which holds that a good person lives a boring life, whilst the “bad boys” are the truly interesting people!).
But the third major theme is that the Fear of God Expands Your Life. And this deserves a little comment.
The image of Christians that is prevalent in our society, rightly or wrongly[1] is of sad and sober people. Just this evening I was watching the movie “Happy Feet” with my daughters, and the thinly-veiled statement against religious faith that is found there reinforced the image I am talking about. The religious people . . err, penguins . . were depicted as old, out of touch and unthinkingly arrogant.
Now, it’s easy to say “Real Christians aren’t like that.” Oh really? We’re not?
The trouble is that some of us ARE like that; enough few enough that we feed this image.
[1] I think WRONGLY, obviously; but that’s obvious!
The bottom line for us is this: We are Christ’s representatives onEarth; and if we are to live up to that, it’s going to be necessary for us to rely on the help of the One who created us.
01 July 2011
Announcement
Hey all. Mind is clay; reading the passage several times has revealed nothing except I need to go to bed. See you tomorrow! :)
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