Final Week in Proverbs

We made it! A month in Proverbs.

I hope it was a blessing to you and that you see the relevance for today’s world in this 31 chapter book. Here is a brief recap from the last seven days of reading.

• Several times we are reminded not to be jealous of the wicked {23:17; 24:1, 19} because they will be punished {24:16; 24:20; 26:27; 28:18; 29:6}. This is a theme throughout the book, where we see the ultimate end of the evil.

• More pleas from a father to a son to listen, heed, obey his voice/commands {23:19, 22, 26; 27:11}. We first saw this in 1:8 and it runs throughout the book. Think of Solomon, the wisest person in history, pleading with his son to listen and not make the same mistakes he did.

• The difference between the wise and the fool are listed many times {23:9; 24:7; 27:12; 29:9}. The fool continues in his folly until judgment while the wise strive to live upright and gain reward.

• The last two chapters are a slight break. Chapter 30 has a pattern of, “these three things, yet four…” which is a way of drawing attention and repeating for emphasis. Chapter 31 is most famous for describing a virtuous woman and all the ways she looks after her household.

June is over and with it, our first reading of Proverbs for the summer! In June, I read the New King James Version and for July, I’ll be reading the Christian Standard Bible. I hope going through a chapter a day for a month was helpful for you to get a good overview and see some of the themes and repeated words in Proverbs.

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Weeks Two and Three in Proverbs

We are moving right along in our monthly reading of Proverbs!

Over the last two weeks, we’ve entered a section I like to call compare and contrast. While not an absolute, the majority of verses in chapters 10-24 follow a pattern.

“The righteous…but the wicked…”

“Wisdom says…but the fool says…”

Like I said, there is some variation in this and it doesn’t follow a perfect pattern. But throughout most of these chapters we see a compare and contrast between doing what God says and what the wicked say.

From this, we can pull out several themes that God is warning us about: our words {tongue, lips, mouth}, our friends {counsel, advisors}, and our work {diligent, lazy, slothful}. These are not the only themes but are continually repeated in several varieties.

Why is the compare and contrast helpful? Because it shows cause and effect, that one decision impacts tomorrow’s decision, that the opposite of God’s Wisdom is earthly folly. Consider just a few examples from the last two weeks of readings:

A slack hand causes poverty,
but the hand of the diligent makes rich. {10:4}

When pride comes, then comes disgrace,
but with the humble is wisdom. {11:2}

The thoughts of the righteous are just;
the counsels of the wicked are deceitful.
The words of the wicked lie in wait for blood,
but the mouth of the upright delivers them. {12:5-6}

Better is a poor person who walks in his integrity
than one who is crooked in speech and is a fool. {19:1}

This barely scratches the surface of what we have read the previous 14 days! But can you see the pattern I’m talking about? Sometimes in this compare and contrast, we read several verses before we see the opposite action. However, you can always see how the right and wrong paths diverge.

I believe this is so critical in our culture today. All around we hear that there really are no wrong choices. Just choices that aren’t the best for us but could be the best for someone else. Proverbs {and the Bible in general} makes it clear that there is sin. Sin makes for bad/wrong/evil/wicked choices. That is a universal truth. What the Bible calls sin is wrong for everyone and will have consequences.

I have found true, and maybe you have also in reading Proverbs, that I can think of current, real-time examples for many of the warnings given. Warnings about deceit, false witness, judges showing favor, anger, pride, friendship, and we could go on.

These are not outdated, useless principles. On the contrary, they offer helpful guidance and boundaries in a world set on removing all boundaries. Read these words with care and set your mind and life on following them.

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The Power of a Tweet

I have a Twitter account handle. But if you've looked me up you'll know I rarely tweet. 

It's not because I don't have anything to say. I will admit it's difficult for me to keep to 250 words and articulate what I mean but that's not the main reason for much of my silence on that platform.  

I find the platform often depressing. I don't follow a huge list of people - some Christian authors, sports teams, various royal families - and I'm saddened at how often it's the Christian accounts that burden my heart. 

It all comes down to loyalties. Pastors will retort back and forth, setting up camps. Others will join in to defend this point or that. Every controversial topic must be addressed, everyone must know who thinks what about everything. But in 250 characters, it doesn't always come across well. And many times it seems like people are defending ‘their person’ more than addressing the actual issue from a biblical standpoint.

I think of Twitter as social media sarcasm. People try to say the wittest thing in the fewest words. But sarcasm is hard to read when you can’t see the person’s body language. I’ve seen many a comment where someone said, “Are you serious?” and completely blew up because he thought the author was taking a certain a position. And the author replied, “No, I was being sarcastic.” How is that helpful? Who does that benefit? And why must we always seek to outdo the comment before us?

And then on Sunday Twitter, all the Christians come out with their favorite Bible verse, praise song, some uplifting sentiment. Monday is business as usual, flinging verbal mud at whoever disagrees about something. 

Now I know if someone who claims to be Christian is taking an unbiblical position or sinning, that needs to be confronted. But I rarely see that done on Twitter in love. And usually the statements that draw the most comments have to do with politics, culture, or a certain stand on an issue the author is taking. Immediately, people swoop in, writing things [I hope] they would never say to someone’s face. It’s pure anger and pride.

Let's be clear. No human is perfect. No leader or pastor or theologian has it right 100% of the time. And remember my dad was a pastor/Bible teacher for years, my husband is a pastor, several brothers in law are pastors, my father in law is a pastor…I’m surrounded by many wise, learned men who have studied the Bible for years. But they always encourage me to study the Bible for myself and not just take their word or blindly follow their every opinion. Because they know they are fallible.

We are not called to attack other Christians because they said something bad about our 'favorite Christian personality.' Which begs the question should we even have a favorite Christian personality? There are some well-known authors that I genuinely respect but I don’t always agree with everything they write. I have yet to find someone I would defend as passionately as I would the Bible.

I've seen several times where as soon as something hits the internet - a video or speech - a Christian thought leader will post thoughts or criticism or his/her take on it. Often it corresponds to the Christian leader's platform or favorite topic. Then a few days later when more of the story breaks or a new witness to the video steps forward, everything changes and apologies are issued. Grace and forgiveness are asked for. And I can't help thinking maybe they should have sat on their thoughts a few days before blasting them onto social media. 

But in this technology age, everyone wants to be relevant. Everyone wants to be heard. Everyone wants to be the first to issue a statement on things. 

This isn't the attitude we read about in the Bible.

Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Phil. 2:3-4

We are told as that chapter continues to be humble like Jesus who went to the cross, the most despicable way to die. Not because he was thinking of what it would do to him - to take our sin and have God turn from him -  but because he was thinking of us and how we didn't have hope without his sacrifice. 

Like I said, I don't tweet often. But I have typed out several, probably more than I've ever published, and then deleted. When I see my own words and imagine people reading them, people who don't know me or my background and me not knowing where they're coming from, it's easy to see how unhelpful my shotgun thoughts can be. I've been misunderstood in social media posts before. Where someone read my comment, framed it in their way, and turned it back in anger. It's incredibly frustrating to have strangers or friends think the worst about you because of hasty words. Misconstrued words. 

Let's be better. With God's help and wisdom, let's think before we tweet (or post), considering one another. Arguments are rarely won on the internet but oh the strife created! And doesn't Satan revel and laugh at our folly. Instead let's build one another up unto every good work {I Thess. 5:11}. Christians and unsaved alike are watching and judging and being influenced by how we conduct ourselves in the most public of places: online.

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