Warped

Proverbs 12:5-8

Letting it all hang out seems to be acceptable today. If you don’t believe me, walk around the local mall and watch for the droopy pants and belly button piercings. And then you hear the language! Yikes!

Our proverbs today deal with this lack of boundaries in our actions and words. If you are going to go into business, or build a close friendship, you want someone who is seeking the LORD. You want someone who will be straight forward in their dealings with you and with others. You don’t want to be on the receiving end of deception.

We need to be careful about who is giving us advice. They might be setting a trap for us. They might be working for their own benefit to our detriment. Their words just sit there, until they do their harm. Like a sleeper cell, you don’t know it exists until it is too late. So it is with the wicked and their words.

Prudence means to know and act according to a known standard. It could also be translated wisdom. It is easy to tell a fake if you have studied the genuine long enough. Bank tellers are trained using real money. When they know what the real looks and feels like, the counterfeit is easy to spot.

If we could use the same standard for people we would be better off. If you have been around genuine, caring people, you can spot a fake a mile away. You might not be able to tell exactly what is fake about them, but the warning bells are sounded.

Now I don’t want to imply that I am completely genuine all the time. We all use masks from time to time to protect ourselves. For years I was the class clown to protect the fragile kid who wanted to be accepted. But our goal is to become more and more transparent, thus allowing the LORD to shine through us.

We need to know what genuine love looks like lived out in another human being. When we see it enough we can spot it in others and in ourselves. If all we see is deception, without an active seeking of the grace of God, we will become deceptive. Our mind will be warped by the sin and we will call evil good and good evil.

Ruin's Invitation

Proverbs 10:13-14

These two verses give us a simple picture of the results of wisdom and folly. We can take them together because there is a parallel between the first and forth lines, and the middle two lines. The outside lines deal with what each says, and the middle lines deal with what each gains. So let’s look at each.

What wise people say is contrasted with what fools say. What we are on the inside comes out of our mouths. Our true character spills out. The fool “is asking for it.”

The text says that the fool “invites” ruin. Why would someone invite ruin into their lives? I can think of many people who make choices, dumb choices, and then try to talk their way out of the consequences. They justify their actions, often by blaming another person. Someone who drinks too much alcohol is inviting ruin. If you spend more than you earn, you are inviting ruin. Eating too much of the wrong things invites ruin. Neglecting the important relationships in your life invites ruin. With each of these, and many more, the fool will excuse their behavior and they do so with their words.

The wise person gives out wisdom by the very words spoken. Their lives match their words. It is not that the wise person is pretending or being fake, it is that what they have put into their lives spills out. They have taken the time to discipline themselves and fill up on God’s wisdom. What they have put is comes out. Of course it takes effort to fill up on wisdom. The pursuit of wisdom is a long term project. It doesn’t happen overnight. And it is a process that is never finished. The wise continue to learn.

The fool ends up getting disciplined for his actions. The rod is a symbol and sometimes an instrument of discipline. We tend to not use physical punishment in this country. People go to jail rather than getting a public beating. But we tend to punish and not discipline. Discipline is intended and designed to bring about a change of heart. Jail is about making the public feel safer. We put the “bad guys” behind bars. But little is done to change the heart.

In the end the wise person has something to show for the path he has chosen. He has stored up knowledge. I remember a professor at college who exemplified this concept. When you were around him he just overflowed with a joy that was contagious. Without even trying he gave out wisdom. And his life matched his words.

Are you storing up knowledge or inviting ruin?