Monday, March 7, 2011
Wise Singleness
Yesterday, I attempted (rather un-wisely) to cover everything Proverbs has to say about the marriage relationship, as well as give a cultural context for marriage in Ancient Israel compared to now, and even trace some of the trajectories that started in the Proverbial observations through the Apostle Paul and into the present day about singleness. Oh, and tie the living metaphor of marriage to the invisible reality of Christ and the church and therefore practice some intimacy through communion. We don't have the sermon uploaded yet, but when we do, I'll post a link.
For the many single people who were in the audience (and the single people who listen online), I apologize for trying to do too much in the message, because the important "trajectory" that I wanted to trace as an encouragement to you was far too rushed and missed some important points. These are conclusions that are available to anyone who calmly observes a handful of marriages, as well as clearly studying Proverbs' (and 1 Corinthians') teachings on marriage:
To begin with, Proverbs talks a lot about the "contentious wife." She is quarrelsome, fretful, and argumentative. To slow her down, according to 27:15-16, is like trying to stop the wind or grasp oil in your hand. Now, nearly everyone gets contentious once in a while; this is talking about those who are contentious as a point of character: constantly, repeatedly, naturally disagreeing to everything first, rarely trusting of her (or his) spouse. The basic observation is: life with her (or him) is really bad. It would be better to live on the corner of a rooftop (25:24), or in a desert (21:19) than with her. Poverty, the wise observer notes, is better than riches with constant bickering and arguing. It is important to note, here, that Proverbs does not give license for divorce; rather, these observations are to serve as "wake up calls" for those couples living in contention. Peaceful, kind, loving, and respectful ways of interacting can be learned.
With all that in mind, what "trajectory" is this starting? By the time Paul was offering wisdom to the early Christians, especially in 1 Corinthians, he was instructing the single or widowed believers that it was better NOT to get married (1 Cor 7:8-35). Ancient Israel may have expected basically everyone to be married, but Paul swims against the stream. How did he get there? I think it starts with the observations of Proverbs.
The contentious wife observations are a flashing neon sign saying to singles: "DON'T SETTLE! DON'T MARRY JUST BECAUSE YOU'RE LONELY!" I am 29, and I have already seen several of my peers' marriages fall apart because contentiousness took over in their relationship. Every one of them has said to me: it is miserable and they wish they had never married.
Let's take it a step further: Some marry because they so longed to have sex that they were willing to marry anyone. For those who have chosen purity in their singleness, I applaud you, AND I urge you to resist the message of our culture that says sex is so good that it's worth marrying someone you have trouble relating to because you want to have it. For men and women alike, sex is an apex in the mountain range of intimacy, but like any apex, you must climb the rest of the mountain to get there. In other words: sex without emotional and spiritual intimacy is NOT fulfilling... no matter how loudly our culture (and your hormonal impulse) shouts that it is. In other words: some people are burning with desire, as Paul says (see below) and should get married, but I believe many people are merely tricked by the sexual zeitgeist ("spirit of the age") to THINK they are burning with desire... when the Lord's best for you is actually to be single. Why would that be his best?
1 Corinthians 7 highlights a prioritization in these questions that is worth repeating here: Paul teaches that it is easier to be a messenger of the gospel if you are single, as marriage introduces responsibilities that single people don't have to worry about. In other words, the communication of the gospel is more important than marriage. No matter what the fear-mongers say about how fast other religions are pro-creating, let us hear Paul clearly: it is better to pro-create spiritually than biologically. BUT, the gospel hinges on the purity of the messenger - that is the way of Jesus, who communicated the kingdom most effectively in his pure life and sacrificial death. What that means is that because the gospel is more important than marriage, purity is more important than efficient gospel communication, because without purity the gospel cannot be effectively communicated. Or in Paul's words: if you are burning with desire, go ahead and get married.
This line of thinking should impact Church leadership decisions, too. Some of the wisest people in church communities are the mature single people, those who for any number of reasons never married, and therefore have grown very deep and intimate relationships with Jesus and with others in the Christian community. Some Protestants are tricked to believe that marriage is a sign of maturity (forgetting that Jesus and Paul were bachelors all their lives... would you NOT let Paul be an elder in your church?). I am very happy that our church has often had mature single people on the Session (the "elder board"), and I hope we never get deceived by the evangelical cult of marriage that says we shouldn't.
These are the points that did not get made very clearly about the Wisdom of Singleness in my sermon yesterday. Thank God for blogs and other media that give frustrated preachers like me a chance to patch the holes!
For the many single people who were in the audience (and the single people who listen online), I apologize for trying to do too much in the message, because the important "trajectory" that I wanted to trace as an encouragement to you was far too rushed and missed some important points. These are conclusions that are available to anyone who calmly observes a handful of marriages, as well as clearly studying Proverbs' (and 1 Corinthians') teachings on marriage:
To begin with, Proverbs talks a lot about the "contentious wife." She is quarrelsome, fretful, and argumentative. To slow her down, according to 27:15-16, is like trying to stop the wind or grasp oil in your hand. Now, nearly everyone gets contentious once in a while; this is talking about those who are contentious as a point of character: constantly, repeatedly, naturally disagreeing to everything first, rarely trusting of her (or his) spouse. The basic observation is: life with her (or him) is really bad. It would be better to live on the corner of a rooftop (25:24), or in a desert (21:19) than with her. Poverty, the wise observer notes, is better than riches with constant bickering and arguing. It is important to note, here, that Proverbs does not give license for divorce; rather, these observations are to serve as "wake up calls" for those couples living in contention. Peaceful, kind, loving, and respectful ways of interacting can be learned.
With all that in mind, what "trajectory" is this starting? By the time Paul was offering wisdom to the early Christians, especially in 1 Corinthians, he was instructing the single or widowed believers that it was better NOT to get married (1 Cor 7:8-35). Ancient Israel may have expected basically everyone to be married, but Paul swims against the stream. How did he get there? I think it starts with the observations of Proverbs.
The contentious wife observations are a flashing neon sign saying to singles: "DON'T SETTLE! DON'T MARRY JUST BECAUSE YOU'RE LONELY!" I am 29, and I have already seen several of my peers' marriages fall apart because contentiousness took over in their relationship. Every one of them has said to me: it is miserable and they wish they had never married.
Let's take it a step further: Some marry because they so longed to have sex that they were willing to marry anyone. For those who have chosen purity in their singleness, I applaud you, AND I urge you to resist the message of our culture that says sex is so good that it's worth marrying someone you have trouble relating to because you want to have it. For men and women alike, sex is an apex in the mountain range of intimacy, but like any apex, you must climb the rest of the mountain to get there. In other words: sex without emotional and spiritual intimacy is NOT fulfilling... no matter how loudly our culture (and your hormonal impulse) shouts that it is. In other words: some people are burning with desire, as Paul says (see below) and should get married, but I believe many people are merely tricked by the sexual zeitgeist ("spirit of the age") to THINK they are burning with desire... when the Lord's best for you is actually to be single. Why would that be his best?
1 Corinthians 7 highlights a prioritization in these questions that is worth repeating here: Paul teaches that it is easier to be a messenger of the gospel if you are single, as marriage introduces responsibilities that single people don't have to worry about. In other words, the communication of the gospel is more important than marriage. No matter what the fear-mongers say about how fast other religions are pro-creating, let us hear Paul clearly: it is better to pro-create spiritually than biologically. BUT, the gospel hinges on the purity of the messenger - that is the way of Jesus, who communicated the kingdom most effectively in his pure life and sacrificial death. What that means is that because the gospel is more important than marriage, purity is more important than efficient gospel communication, because without purity the gospel cannot be effectively communicated. Or in Paul's words: if you are burning with desire, go ahead and get married.
This line of thinking should impact Church leadership decisions, too. Some of the wisest people in church communities are the mature single people, those who for any number of reasons never married, and therefore have grown very deep and intimate relationships with Jesus and with others in the Christian community. Some Protestants are tricked to believe that marriage is a sign of maturity (forgetting that Jesus and Paul were bachelors all their lives... would you NOT let Paul be an elder in your church?). I am very happy that our church has often had mature single people on the Session (the "elder board"), and I hope we never get deceived by the evangelical cult of marriage that says we shouldn't.
These are the points that did not get made very clearly about the Wisdom of Singleness in my sermon yesterday. Thank God for blogs and other media that give frustrated preachers like me a chance to patch the holes!
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Proverbs, Relationships, and Exposed Nerves
This last Sunday I attempted to communicate the heart of Proverbs' message about the Parent-Child relationship. You can hear that sermon here. I am not a parent (yet), nor am I all that old and experienced (yet). However, this particular issue, and the one I'm preparing to discuss next Sunday (marriage, unless the Spirit alters the plan), exposes nerves.
After all, sitting in the relatively small congregation on Sunday (I'd guess we had about 70 adults there, but I'm not great at making that guess), there were people who:
Not only that, but the heart of the message was not supposed to be to parents, but to all of us as children of parents - which comes in many forms: biological parents, spiritual parents, adopted parents, and more. Suffice it to say, my list of painful issues with all of those relationships would be much longer than 7 points.
And yet, as I've written in previous posts, Proverbs is mostly optimistic about things. It generally says: "Live wisely and ultimately reap the benefits." It is at times realistic about the fact that people can find themselves in very luxurious or typically-desirable situations (such as wealth, feasts, marriage, lots of kids, influential positions, etc.) even though they are immoral, dishonest, vindictive, cruel, or otherwise wicked and foolish (See the many "better than" statements which honestly recognize that some people are wicked but have material luxury: 16:8, 19; 17:1; 21:9, 19; and several more). I'm grateful that it has this realistic balance, and that such a balance forces us to read the promised rewards for the wise and righteous as beyond the scope of this life.
The point of this post, however, is to ask: what does one do in light of the fact that the pithy sayings of Proverbs, which are indeed generally true, don't line up well with the painful and messy situations of life? I've been wrestling with this in the wake of preaching on Parenting and in the preparation for preaching on Marriage. And it certainly will continue when we get to Proverbs on money, on the way we speak, on business practices, and more.
The answer is Jesus. Really. Tonight I stumbled across an excellent article by Rev. Tim Keller of Redeemer Presbyterian in New York City on "The Importance of Hell." For reasons far beyond the scope of this discussion, I hope many Christians read it and grapple with it; it very succinctly explains my beliefs about hell (and adds new insights and explanations that ring deeply true).
Inside the scope of this article is his suggestion that Hell serves to teach the radical redemptive power of Jesus' sacrifice on the cross. As I read that thought, this whole discussion of parenting and marriage happening inside my head clicked with a new life: everything Proverbs has to say about parenting surely ultimately points us to Jesus. God, whom we lovingly call Father (as Jesus always called him), sets the supreme example of loving parenting by Incarnating as Jesus and enduring the corporal, spiritual, emotional, and social punishment that was justly deserved by all of his children. Sacrifice proves to be the key to parenting; God the Father proves to be the perfect parent. And even he, like several of the people sitting in the congregation of Littleton Christian Church last Sunday, endured the worst sort of suffering in hopes of a great sort of gladness knowing that many whom he loved would continue to reject him.
What I'm trying to say is: Proverbs on Parenting sets our hopes high by saying it like it is: a wise child makes his/her father and mother deeply happy (generally), while a foolish child brings great pain and sadness to his/her father and mother. Present and future parents alike long for that happiness. And yet, these high hopes lead to anxiety, shame, confusion, and ultimately, to the recognition that even the perfect parent, with the perfect discipline, must walk the way of the cross.
O God, you are the Perfect Parent, and for us to know you and know your wisdom, you became the Perfect Penitent. We turn from our human attempt at wisdom yet again, and walk to your cross, denying ourselves and following you for ourselves, and for those in our care. Amen.
After all, sitting in the relatively small congregation on Sunday (I'd guess we had about 70 adults there, but I'm not great at making that guess), there were people who:
- Have tried to have kids and were never able to.
- Have tried to have kids, weren't able to, and so adopted.
- Have had a great experience with their adopted kids.
- Have had deeply painful experiences with their adopted kids, despite their best efforts.
- Have kids at several stages of life and because of divorce and a host of other issues are now separated from them.
- Have kids and are doing the best they can... but can feel them slipping away.
- Have kids and it all seems to be going according to plan.
- I'm sure there's more... but I'm just doing a mental scan of the people in the room!
Not only that, but the heart of the message was not supposed to be to parents, but to all of us as children of parents - which comes in many forms: biological parents, spiritual parents, adopted parents, and more. Suffice it to say, my list of painful issues with all of those relationships would be much longer than 7 points.
And yet, as I've written in previous posts, Proverbs is mostly optimistic about things. It generally says: "Live wisely and ultimately reap the benefits." It is at times realistic about the fact that people can find themselves in very luxurious or typically-desirable situations (such as wealth, feasts, marriage, lots of kids, influential positions, etc.) even though they are immoral, dishonest, vindictive, cruel, or otherwise wicked and foolish (See the many "better than" statements which honestly recognize that some people are wicked but have material luxury: 16:8, 19; 17:1; 21:9, 19; and several more). I'm grateful that it has this realistic balance, and that such a balance forces us to read the promised rewards for the wise and righteous as beyond the scope of this life.
The point of this post, however, is to ask: what does one do in light of the fact that the pithy sayings of Proverbs, which are indeed generally true, don't line up well with the painful and messy situations of life? I've been wrestling with this in the wake of preaching on Parenting and in the preparation for preaching on Marriage. And it certainly will continue when we get to Proverbs on money, on the way we speak, on business practices, and more.
The answer is Jesus. Really. Tonight I stumbled across an excellent article by Rev. Tim Keller of Redeemer Presbyterian in New York City on "The Importance of Hell." For reasons far beyond the scope of this discussion, I hope many Christians read it and grapple with it; it very succinctly explains my beliefs about hell (and adds new insights and explanations that ring deeply true).
Inside the scope of this article is his suggestion that Hell serves to teach the radical redemptive power of Jesus' sacrifice on the cross. As I read that thought, this whole discussion of parenting and marriage happening inside my head clicked with a new life: everything Proverbs has to say about parenting surely ultimately points us to Jesus. God, whom we lovingly call Father (as Jesus always called him), sets the supreme example of loving parenting by Incarnating as Jesus and enduring the corporal, spiritual, emotional, and social punishment that was justly deserved by all of his children. Sacrifice proves to be the key to parenting; God the Father proves to be the perfect parent. And even he, like several of the people sitting in the congregation of Littleton Christian Church last Sunday, endured the worst sort of suffering in hopes of a great sort of gladness knowing that many whom he loved would continue to reject him.
What I'm trying to say is: Proverbs on Parenting sets our hopes high by saying it like it is: a wise child makes his/her father and mother deeply happy (generally), while a foolish child brings great pain and sadness to his/her father and mother. Present and future parents alike long for that happiness. And yet, these high hopes lead to anxiety, shame, confusion, and ultimately, to the recognition that even the perfect parent, with the perfect discipline, must walk the way of the cross.
O God, you are the Perfect Parent, and for us to know you and know your wisdom, you became the Perfect Penitent. We turn from our human attempt at wisdom yet again, and walk to your cross, denying ourselves and following you for ourselves, and for those in our care. Amen.
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Relational Wisdom
In this study of Proverbs, I have found myself reading through the entire book weekly as I seek the principles for each message in this series. The result has been a bit messy, given the circumstances of life that have accompanied the last two weeks of sermon prep. Because the principles are so important, and this last Sunday was SO messy, I'd like to rephrase last weeks study of proverbs here. Proverbs has a lot to say about relationships of practically every kind (parents, spouses, neighbors, enemies, even animals). The key to real relationship is the gospel, and that came through in the messy sermon. You can listen to it here. Rather than discuss everything it has to say on relationship, here are what I determined to be the first two principles Proverbs asserts about wise relationships:
1. The Fear of the LORD is the foundation for wise and healthy relationships. Proverbs 29:25 says this: "The fear of others lays a snare, but one who trusts in the LORD is secure." It is very normal for us to fear one another rather than the LORD. But you will never be able to be who God has made you to be, nor will you be able to love the people in your life well, if you fear them - or if you fear losing them. It is no mistake that the first practical advice given after the summary statement in 1:7 ("The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge") is about who we choose as companions. Which leads me to principle #2:
2. Be intentional about when and by whom you are impressed. By "impressed" I mean formed, changed, and developed as a person. Proverbs is written to young, impressionable men (but, contains essential principles for the rest of you too), and urges them to choose their friends wisely. 13:20 summarizes this oft-repeated principle of the book well: "Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise, but the companion of fools suffers harm." In other words, generally speaking, the people you spend time with will shape you. Most of us become a reflection of our community. Which is why Hebrews 10 is right on when it urges Christians not to "give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing."
On that second point, it's important to note that Biblical maturity is accurately defined by contrast in Ephesians 4:14: "We must no longer be children, tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine, by people's trickery, by their craftiness in deceitful scheming." In other words, we are all expected to come to the point where we can be around people who are "simple," "immature," or "foolish," for eventually we will be like the speakers of the Proverbs, calling out to the simple to come spend time with us. That is called discipleship, and is the marching-order for every believer: mature to the point where you can be around different ideas and lifestyles without being swayed. BUT, be realistic: if you can't be around certain destructive behavior without participating, you need to avoid it.
That principle brings me to my last point of clarification. Proverbs is more overt about the treatment and abuse of alcohol than any book in the Bible. If you listen to the sermon (or if you were there), you'll note that there was a long silence while I shuffled my VERY disorganized notes, looking for the passage that is so direct about alcohol (it was a bad preparation week: I apologize!). Alcohol becomes, for Proverbs, an illustration (along with theft, adultery, and a few others) of what happens when we fellowship with fools.
Take a look at Proverbs 23:29-24:2. This is not saying drinking alcohol is a sin - but it is certainly saying that maturity must be established before we can rightly engage with alcohol. This is, however, the most overt discussion of the abuse of alcohol I've seen in the Bible, so it's worth it for beer and wine loving evangelicals like many of us to read this very honestly. One of alcohol's most common effects is bumping us a few rungs backwards on the maturity ladder, so we become more and more "swayed by winds of doctrine" the more we drink. The reality is, many of us (myself included) should be much more careful about when and how much, if ever, we consume alcohol. Lord, have mercy!
There's so much more in the Proverbs about relationship, and in the weeks to come, we'll investigate it more and more.... hopefully with a little bit of structure and clarity, from here on out! I welcome your prayers. And your comments.
1. The Fear of the LORD is the foundation for wise and healthy relationships. Proverbs 29:25 says this: "The fear of others lays a snare, but one who trusts in the LORD is secure." It is very normal for us to fear one another rather than the LORD. But you will never be able to be who God has made you to be, nor will you be able to love the people in your life well, if you fear them - or if you fear losing them. It is no mistake that the first practical advice given after the summary statement in 1:7 ("The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge") is about who we choose as companions. Which leads me to principle #2:
2. Be intentional about when and by whom you are impressed. By "impressed" I mean formed, changed, and developed as a person. Proverbs is written to young, impressionable men (but, contains essential principles for the rest of you too), and urges them to choose their friends wisely. 13:20 summarizes this oft-repeated principle of the book well: "Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise, but the companion of fools suffers harm." In other words, generally speaking, the people you spend time with will shape you. Most of us become a reflection of our community. Which is why Hebrews 10 is right on when it urges Christians not to "give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing."
On that second point, it's important to note that Biblical maturity is accurately defined by contrast in Ephesians 4:14: "We must no longer be children, tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine, by people's trickery, by their craftiness in deceitful scheming." In other words, we are all expected to come to the point where we can be around people who are "simple," "immature," or "foolish," for eventually we will be like the speakers of the Proverbs, calling out to the simple to come spend time with us. That is called discipleship, and is the marching-order for every believer: mature to the point where you can be around different ideas and lifestyles without being swayed. BUT, be realistic: if you can't be around certain destructive behavior without participating, you need to avoid it.
That principle brings me to my last point of clarification. Proverbs is more overt about the treatment and abuse of alcohol than any book in the Bible. If you listen to the sermon (or if you were there), you'll note that there was a long silence while I shuffled my VERY disorganized notes, looking for the passage that is so direct about alcohol (it was a bad preparation week: I apologize!). Alcohol becomes, for Proverbs, an illustration (along with theft, adultery, and a few others) of what happens when we fellowship with fools.
Take a look at Proverbs 23:29-24:2. This is not saying drinking alcohol is a sin - but it is certainly saying that maturity must be established before we can rightly engage with alcohol. This is, however, the most overt discussion of the abuse of alcohol I've seen in the Bible, so it's worth it for beer and wine loving evangelicals like many of us to read this very honestly. One of alcohol's most common effects is bumping us a few rungs backwards on the maturity ladder, so we become more and more "swayed by winds of doctrine" the more we drink. The reality is, many of us (myself included) should be much more careful about when and how much, if ever, we consume alcohol. Lord, have mercy!
There's so much more in the Proverbs about relationship, and in the weeks to come, we'll investigate it more and more.... hopefully with a little bit of structure and clarity, from here on out! I welcome your prayers. And your comments.
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Canonical Wonder
Of all the things Proverbs contains, one very notable ingredient is its optimism. Historically, this makes sense. Most of the Proverbs were written or had their origin (if they were tweaked) during the easiest era in all of Israel's history: the reign of Solomon. The kingdom was huge, the king was rich (some people theorize that he was the richest human alive), and the battles were few and far between. Foreign relations were smooth. Life was good.
And so, in a season like that, it's no big surprise that Proverbs begins to sound like the "Israelite Dream." Fear the LORD, get around the right people, work hard, plan ahead, have the right attitude, stay away from the wife of another, don't cheat, don't lie, don't talk too much, be kind... and life will go really well for you. Proverbs seems to promise riches, success, long life, and happy relationships to those people.
Last week, in the sermon, I described the reality we must face that Proverbs are observations that are dependent upon a specific set of circumstances. You can hear that message here. The phrase I will use throughout the study to describe that situation is that these things are true "all things being equal" (a phrase I stole from a Tremper Longman III lecture on Ecclesiastes).
Speaking of Ecclesiastes, it's worth taking a minute and comparing the wisdom of that Teacher to the wisdom of Proverbs. After that, swing by another major chunk of Israelite wisdom: Job. If you line the three books up with one another, the game "which of these is not like the other?" is pretty darn easy. Ecclesiastes and Job attempt to understand the world God created when there seems to be no justified reason for the very difficult circumstances of life. And then there's Lamentations, which is literally a lament for the way things have gone so poorly for Israel. When you're done with those, take a look at the Psalms, and you discover the wisdom of all three mixed together.
It seems the "Israelite dream" came crashing down. For those of us mining these books in search of divine Principles, we might become a bit frustrated. Allow me to invite you to take it all in as a gift from God, and an invitation to view justice, wickedness, joy, pain, triumph, and defeat from a heavenly perspective. The Bible is no one-dimensional manual for how to be happy. Instead, it faces the realities of life in a fallen world head on. I am amazed at the complexity and the balance that emerges. One of the greatest keys to reading Proverbs (and the rest of the Bible) rightly is this: read them in light of eternity. The rewards and pleasures promised to the righteous will be given out perfectly. Wisdom begins when we fear the LORD - in other words, when we glimpse at the infinite nature of the Creator of the universe, and shudder at the fact that we survived given our limited perspective. Consider the Bible's claim about the spiritual reality of believers in light of this complexity:
"But God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ -- by grace you have been saved -- and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus..." (Ephesians 2:4-5, emphasis added).
And so, in a season like that, it's no big surprise that Proverbs begins to sound like the "Israelite Dream." Fear the LORD, get around the right people, work hard, plan ahead, have the right attitude, stay away from the wife of another, don't cheat, don't lie, don't talk too much, be kind... and life will go really well for you. Proverbs seems to promise riches, success, long life, and happy relationships to those people.
Last week, in the sermon, I described the reality we must face that Proverbs are observations that are dependent upon a specific set of circumstances. You can hear that message here. The phrase I will use throughout the study to describe that situation is that these things are true "all things being equal" (a phrase I stole from a Tremper Longman III lecture on Ecclesiastes).
Speaking of Ecclesiastes, it's worth taking a minute and comparing the wisdom of that Teacher to the wisdom of Proverbs. After that, swing by another major chunk of Israelite wisdom: Job. If you line the three books up with one another, the game "which of these is not like the other?" is pretty darn easy. Ecclesiastes and Job attempt to understand the world God created when there seems to be no justified reason for the very difficult circumstances of life. And then there's Lamentations, which is literally a lament for the way things have gone so poorly for Israel. When you're done with those, take a look at the Psalms, and you discover the wisdom of all three mixed together.
It seems the "Israelite dream" came crashing down. For those of us mining these books in search of divine Principles, we might become a bit frustrated. Allow me to invite you to take it all in as a gift from God, and an invitation to view justice, wickedness, joy, pain, triumph, and defeat from a heavenly perspective. The Bible is no one-dimensional manual for how to be happy. Instead, it faces the realities of life in a fallen world head on. I am amazed at the complexity and the balance that emerges. One of the greatest keys to reading Proverbs (and the rest of the Bible) rightly is this: read them in light of eternity. The rewards and pleasures promised to the righteous will be given out perfectly. Wisdom begins when we fear the LORD - in other words, when we glimpse at the infinite nature of the Creator of the universe, and shudder at the fact that we survived given our limited perspective. Consider the Bible's claim about the spiritual reality of believers in light of this complexity:
"But God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ -- by grace you have been saved -- and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus..." (Ephesians 2:4-5, emphasis added).
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Neutral
My mind has been trained, through relentless practice, to be in neutral. As I discussed a couple posts ago, I chose on December 28, 2010 to abstain from giving my solo time to mind numbing and purposeless activities. This abstention from the downhill slopes that my mind has come to depend on for movement (tv shows, sports news, any computer game that is "solo," etc.) has been difficult. I'm over one month into it, and still feel I'm in detox. I still have to wrestle my mind into productive action, I still have to choose to be in a state of prayer, or to open any one of the many books that glimmered in my desired future when I was first inspired to this abstention.
Though it would be better if I were, I suspect I'm not alone. The capacity and ability of your mind to learn, to pray, to affect the non-physical and the physical world around you, is such that the moments of "neutral" ought to feel to us like priceless diamonds that have just slipped into the ocean.
In the words of the Flobots (and many others): "there's a war going on for your mind." I'm not sure where they're coming from philosophically, but they are absolutely right with this observation. All these distractions, all these things which promise rest and never deliver, they are part of a plot that is moving things constantly from order to disorder.
Here is my intention, and my invitation: abstain and engage. What do you need to turn off or block in order to have the "bandwidth" to engage things that really matter?
Though it would be better if I were, I suspect I'm not alone. The capacity and ability of your mind to learn, to pray, to affect the non-physical and the physical world around you, is such that the moments of "neutral" ought to feel to us like priceless diamonds that have just slipped into the ocean.
In the words of the Flobots (and many others): "there's a war going on for your mind." I'm not sure where they're coming from philosophically, but they are absolutely right with this observation. All these distractions, all these things which promise rest and never deliver, they are part of a plot that is moving things constantly from order to disorder.
Here is my intention, and my invitation: abstain and engage. What do you need to turn off or block in order to have the "bandwidth" to engage things that really matter?
Monday, January 24, 2011
Why Wisdom, pt. 2: Words for the Simple
I've given my answer for why we need wisdom ("Why Wisdom"). How about Proverbs' answer? The prologue to proverbs, 1:2-6, gives just that. Below is my very novice attempt to translate the passage. Please keep in mind that my Hebrew skills are very rudimentary. It's important to get a feel, though, for the repetitive use of words. The amazing scholars who translate this for the TNIV, NRSV, ESV, NLT, NASB, and so many others 1) understand Hebrew grammar - unlike me, and 2) draw out the intricacies of context and flow. The result is that you don't see how the original script used the same words or ideas over and over. Take a look. This is Proverbs 1:2-6.
To know wisdom and instruction.
To understand speech and understanding.
To receive instruction in prudence, righteousness, justice, and evenness.
To give craftiness to the simple, knowledge and discretion to the young.
Let the wise hear and add instruction, Let the understanding buy counsel,
to understand a proverb and a satire, words of the wise and their riddles.
There it is, the purpose of Proverbs, in the words of Proverbs, in the translation of Mike (borrowing from NRSV when I was stuck): To know, to understand, to receive, to give. Proverbs will not claim to present the truth through promises or commands, but rather to make observations on the world that seem to be generally true. It is designed to give people one of the most important skills of human life: what you do with all the words you hear, read, and say every day. Words hide things. Words sway. Words are at the heart of ideas. Words draw our emotions along: how many have felt the power of saying something out loud, either to reveal it as false, or remember that it is true?
I love also that everyone is included. The wise, the understanding, and the simple. The simple are my favorite, maybe because I identify with them. They are unformed, their decisions will either lead to wisdom or folly, to righteousness or evil. The fool, according to proverbs, is there by choice, and the fool can always choose to go back to being simple, in order to then become wise.
I'm testing this thought in my head, and I'd love your insight: one of the core ingredients to wisdom is considering oneself simple, and being teachable from there.
To know wisdom and instruction.
To understand speech and understanding.
To receive instruction in prudence, righteousness, justice, and evenness.
To give craftiness to the simple, knowledge and discretion to the young.
Let the wise hear and add instruction, Let the understanding buy counsel,
to understand a proverb and a satire, words of the wise and their riddles.
There it is, the purpose of Proverbs, in the words of Proverbs, in the translation of Mike (borrowing from NRSV when I was stuck): To know, to understand, to receive, to give. Proverbs will not claim to present the truth through promises or commands, but rather to make observations on the world that seem to be generally true. It is designed to give people one of the most important skills of human life: what you do with all the words you hear, read, and say every day. Words hide things. Words sway. Words are at the heart of ideas. Words draw our emotions along: how many have felt the power of saying something out loud, either to reveal it as false, or remember that it is true?
I love also that everyone is included. The wise, the understanding, and the simple. The simple are my favorite, maybe because I identify with them. They are unformed, their decisions will either lead to wisdom or folly, to righteousness or evil. The fool, according to proverbs, is there by choice, and the fool can always choose to go back to being simple, in order to then become wise.
I'm testing this thought in my head, and I'd love your insight: one of the core ingredients to wisdom is considering oneself simple, and being teachable from there.
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