Proverbs – In Conclusion (For Now)

 

I’ve not posted for a while because I’ve been pondering whether to continue in Proverbs or to explore other facets of Christ – in the past few months we’ve considered witnessing, discipline and discipleship, and leadership, in Christ in Proverbs. There are many other passages in Proverbs, beyond what we’ve covered, that speak to us in Christ, and of Christ, regarding these things. I think that we will leave Proverbs for now, but before we go let me remind us that Proverbs is about Jesus Christ, it is not a self-help book, and that when we read and ponder Proverbs we ought to be looking for Jesus and asking the Holy Spirit to reveal Jesus to us.

 

With all our chatter about Messianic prophecy in what we call the Old Testament, the reality is that most of the professing church has lost the ability to see Christ in the Old Testament. As I said in a previous reflection, what good does it do us, or what glory does it give to God, to believe in Noah’s Flood and the Ark, or to go see a reproduction of the Ark, if we do not see that Jesus Christ is the Ark and that we are to live in Him and to call others to live in Him? What good does it do us if we do not see that we, His People, His Church, His Temple, are (in Him) the Ark? (He is the Head and we are His Body).

 

In the same fashion, if all we see in Proverbs are principles to live by, then we are missing the purpose and trajectory of this divinely – inspired book, for its purpose is to reveal Christ and its trajectory is Christ – to lead us deeper and deeper into Jesus Christ. And while I don’t mean to offend anyone, in the same way if we look at the Bible as “Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth,” then as pithy as that may sound, we are missing the glory of Jesus Christ and the purpose of the Bible – which is to reveal Jesus Christ, the Father, and the Holy Spirit, and to draw us into relationship with the holy Trinity and with one another (1 John 1:3).

 

When we ponder discipline in Proverbs, do we see that Jesus, “Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered. And having been made perfect, He became to all those who obey Him the source of eternal salvation”? (Heb. 5:8 – 9).

 

Do we see that the Father is conforming us into “the image of His son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren”? (Rom. 8:28 – 30).

 

When we consider witnessing in Proverbs, do we see that just as Jesus has come to declare and manifest the Father, so He has sent us to manifest the Father and Son? (John 17:18; 20:21). Do we see that the Incarnation continues in us, His People?

 

Along this same line of thought, when we read about kings and others in authority in Proverbs, the root and genesis of what we read is the King of kings and Lord of lords – godly leadership flows from being under the authority of Jesus Christ – we are to be the His Incarnation, and therefore our leadership is to be His leadership expressing itself through us. (John 15:1 – 11).

 

We are to have no life but the life of Christ; in Proverbs we see Christ manifesting Himself through many images and teachings, and we see what our lives ought to look like as we live in Him and He lives in and through us.

 

Why, is not even the wise woman of Proverbs 31 an image of the Bride of Christ?

 

A Proverbs 31 Church is always looking for her Husband, in Proverbs and in all Scripture.

 

“I must arise now and go about the city; in the streets and in the squares I must seek him whom my soul loves…” (SS. 3:2 a, b).

 

Let us learn to seek our Lord Jesus in Proverbs.

Pondering Proverbs – Leadership (11)

 

 

“In the light of a king’s face is life, and his favor is like a cloud with the spring rain.” Proverbs 16:15.

 

Verse 15 is a contrast with verse 14. I used to ask myself, when I was in business and traveling from location to location, “Are people glad to see me or do they hate to see me coming and are they glad when I leave? Am I building people up or am I tearing them down?”

 

I was once based in the regional office of a firm; we seldom had visits from the owners and top executives of our company, but when we did I observed behavior that puzzled me then and puzzles me now. These men and women could visit our office and leave without saying “Hello” to the few people who worked there. They would usually come to our office, meet with whomever they needed to meet with, and then leave without any interaction whatsoever with the rest of us – and at no time were there ever more than eight of us working in the office. They would not even look into our individual offices and say, “Hi, how are you today?”

 

This was not only rude, it was poor leadership, for as Proverbs 16:15 tells us, “In the light of a king’s face is life.” When we are in authority and leadership we have the opportunity to pay attention to others and to make their day just a little bit better with recognition and inquiry into their wellbeing.

 

The image of “the light of the king’s face” is powerful in a world in which we often do not make eye contact, often do not really look others in the face nor turn our faces toward them, and often do not really listen. How often have we seen folks out for a meal who are interacting with cell phones rather than those at the table?

 

I live in a community in which people often walk, there is little car traffic and walking is generally a safe exercise. There are two kinds of walkers, those who acknowledge you and make eye contact and then those who don’t - who walk right by you as if you are not there, as if you are invisible. This is particularly strange in that virtually all walkers are residents of our community, that is, we are neighbors.

 

I have often thought of listening to music when I walk, but I don’t because I don’t want to pass people by without being open to opportunities to meet them, talk with them, and pray with them.

 

Of course, the king’s face that matters most is that of our Lord Jesus Christ, the light that His face gives us is indeed life, it is refreshing as the rain. If His face gives us light and life, then our faces ought to give others light and life – for He is the Vine and we are the branches and His life flows through us (John 15:1 – 11).

 

Our hope and expectation is that we will behold the face of our God in righteousness (Ps. 17:15), and indeed our Lord says to us, “Seek My face,” and our hearts respond, “Your face, O LORD, I shall seek” (Ps. 27:8).

 

Consider these prayers:

 

“Make Your face to shine upon Your servant; save me in Your lovingkindness” (Ps. 31:16).

 

“God be gracious to us and bless us, and cause His face to shine upon us” (Ps. 67:1).

 

“O God, restore us and cause Your face to shine upon us, and we will be saved” (Ps. 80:3, 7, 19).

 

God not only answered the prayers of the people who prayed them in the Psalms, but He answered them in fulness in sending His Son, our Lord Jesus, in the Incarnation and into our lives:

 

“For God, who said, ‘Light shall shine out of darkness,’ is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.” (Gal. 4:6).

 

As wonderful as it is to see the face of Christ now, we shall see Him in greater fulness on that great Day. “There will no longer be any curse; and the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and His bondservants will serve Him; they will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads.” (Rev. 22:3 – 4).

 

John tells us, concerning this promise and expectation that we will see His face:

 

“Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is. And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.” 1 John 3:2 – 3).

 

My point is that God’s Face matters, and that if God’s Face matters then our faces matter, for we, in Christ, are His sons and daughters. If we are entrusted with positions of leadership and authority then our faces especially matter; but since all of God’s daughters and sons have been given authority we can also say that all of us have faces that matter. What do people see when they see our faces? Do they even see our faces, or do we hide our faces?

 

Are we sending the light and warmth of the sun on others? Are we bestowing refreshing rain? That is, are we showing the light and life of our Father to others? For dear friends, as our Father is to others, so we in Christ are to be to others. (Mt. 5:13 – 16; 43 – 48). We are to live as the mature children of our Father, and this is particularly expressed in our dealings with others.

 

The fact that some people will choose not to receive what we have to give in Christ is not something we can control, but we can choose whether to fulfill our calling in Christ to be His Presence wherever we are (by His grace). Few people may be thankful for the sun or the rain of refreshing, but our Father continues to bestow these blessings on humanity.

 

Every person we will ever meet matters to God; do they matter to us?

 

Do the faces of others matter, or do we walk by others as if they all wear the same face?

 

O Lord Jesus, help us to allow your Face to shine through our faces, that others may come to know Your love for them, that others may come to know You.

 

 

Pondering Proverbs – Leadership (10)

 

“The fury of a king is like messengers of death, but a wise man will appease it.” Proverbs 16:14.

 

In my garage I have safety glasses, rubber gloves, face masks, and protection that covers my ears. I use this personal protective equipment when I do certain tasks and when I handle certain products. During my career in property management, employees were required to attend safety training throughout the year, and this included the proper use of PPE, personal protective equipment. Safety training never stopped, best practices in safety were insisted upon and failure to adhere to safety practices, the violation of government standards, could lead to termination of employment. Safety can be a life-or-death matter on the job, just as it can be a life and death matter in my own garage. I ought to handle muriatic acid differently than I do hose water. Products that can be helpful can also be harmful; actions that can be productive, such as splitting firewood, can also lead to injury.

 

I have been angry for good and bad reasons, I have displayed anger sensibly and stupidly, and I have responded to the anger of others wisely and foolishly. I have been more foolish with anger than thoughtful, and consequently I’ve learned much from my mistakes – thanks to the grace of God. I have also seen how obedience to Jesus Christ in volatile situations leads to the peace of God ruling in our hearts.

 

When we encounter anger, whether it is our own anger or that of others, it is helpful if we realize that we are dealing with something dangerous and that if we don’t have the equivalent of PPE (personal protective equipment) that we will hurt ourselves and others. Anger can be helpful, but it can also be deadly, it can poison our souls – and most of the anger we see around us and…I imagine…within us…is toxic.

 

I can only say so much in a brief reflection, here are two elements of Proverbs 16:14:

 

When a leader is angry, whether for righteous or unrighteous reasons, and whether the anger is expressed righteously or unrighteously, the effect is exponential and “like messengers of death." That is, the effect of anger coming from leadership, from the king, can shock the organization, the system, the team – for good or for evil. A leader’s anger can have an exponential effect – again, whether for building up or for tearing down.

 

I once worked for the owner of a company who was intelligent in many ways, and from whom I learned some positive things that helped me in my career; but who was stupid when it came to displaying his anger and criticism. In just a few moments he could destroy months of good morale with his anger and criticism – and considering that it was his own company that he was hurting this made no sense – his anger was costing him money and he couldn’t see it.

 

More than once I asked him to please relay his concerns to me and that I would communicate them to our employees. I tried again and again to help him see the damage he was doing to a fine group of people with his sarcasm and anger – but I don’t think he ever understood my point.

 

The greater our authority and position, the greater the potential effect of our words and actions. When I was a construction laborer no one really paid attention to any anger I displayed, but when I was leading a company, my anger grabbled everyone’s attention.

 

My own sense is that when anger does need to be communicated that we ought to first submit ourselves to our Lord Jesus Christ, asking Him to search our hearts and guide our words and emotions – we ought to fear the egotistical and self-indulgent display of anger. Submission to Jesus is the best PPE we can wear, akin to the armor of God described in Ephesians Chapter 6.

 

The reason electricity providers use transformers is that our houses and businesses would burn up if the electricity transmitted to them was not stepped down before entering our buildings. In the same fashion, raw anger is seldom helpful – it needs to be modulated and thoughtfully communicated.

 

There is much lying and cheating and inequity and stealing in this world; and people ought to have leaders who are angry about these things, who will not tolerate nor reward these things, but who will rather hold those who practice them accountable. However, such anger ought to be in submission to Jesus Christ, it ought to be thoughtful, and as redemptive as possible – when we engage with anger we are handling nitroglycerin.

 

Again, my sense is that anger ought to be seldom displayed and used because otherwise it will wear us out and wear down those around us. Leaders who are perpetually angry seldom have truly fruitful and productive teams – ruling by fear is not the Way of Christ.

 

As for the second part of our verse, “but a wise man will appease it,” I think of Proverbs 15:1, “A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.” When anger is directed toward us, we do not have to respond in kind. In fact, Jesus teaches us to turn the other cheek and to bless those who curse us and to pray for those who use us (Matthew 5:43 – 48).

 

When anger is allowed to burn itself out, when fuel is not heaped on the fire of anger to keep it flaming, hopefully the person spewing anger will exhaust himself. In the meantime it is a good opportunity to pray and seek wisdom as to how to thoughtfully engage the person who is angry.

 

Anger from others need not threaten the son or daughter of the Living God, for our identity is in Jesus Christ, He is our Rock and our Refuge, and He is our defense. We are called to “Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts” (Col. 3:15a). Our confession is to be, “The Lord is my helper, I will not be afraid, what will man do to me?” (Heb. 13:6; Psa. 118:6).

 

While others are venting anger, we can be praying and communing with our Lord Jesus, seeking His wisdom in the situation.

 

So as not to be misunderstood, I believe that we are called to protect others from evil, and that includes evil anger. It is one thing for me to bear the brunt of anger, it is another thing for me to witness others, whom I am responsible for, suffer as objects of ungodly anger. I have witnessed abusive situations both in church and in the workplace in which  those who were in authority did nothing to protect others, and then I have seen examples when those in authority did indeed protect others.

 

Well, these are some brief thoughts about a complex subject. If we will live under the lordship and authority of Jesus Christ we will live in a place of security and peace in Him, and hopefully we will be a blessing to others, no matter what our position may be in this world from time to time.

 

James 3:13 – 18.

Pondering Proverbs - Leadership (9)

 

 

“Righteous lips are the delight of kings, and he who speaks right is loved.” Proverbs 16:13.

 

I have a friend whose name is Alethea; Alethea means “truth” in Greek. I wonder what it is like to live with a name like that – is it a blessing or a burden? With my friend, since she knows our Lord Jesus, I trust it is a blessing – I trust that it is a reminder of who our Lord Jesus is and who she is in Him. I trust that it is a reminder of her calling in Christ – to allow the Truth to live within her and through her, to be the Truth in Christ to others.

 

In Ephesians 4:15 Paul writes that a characteristic and dynamic of the Body of Christ is that we ought to be “speaking the truth in love” to one another. Then in Ephesians 4:25 he again writes, “Therefore, laying aside falsehood, speak truth each one of you with his neighbor, for we are members of one another.”

 

What hope do we have that we’ll speak the truth to the world, to those who don’t know Jesus, if we will not speak the truth within the Body of Christ – within that Body to whom we are organically joined? If our destiny is that transparent City of Light (Rev. chapters 21 – 22), ought we not to live in that City today?

 

Whether in the professing church, or in the world, how often do we see those in authority value righteous lips – lips that tell the truth and that are validated with lives that live the truth? How often do those in authority demonstrate their approval toward those who are truthful?

 

Men and women who tell the truth are not likely to last long in our vicious society – they will be devoured by one or more factions. And here is a principle that is true from generation to generation, those who tell the truth must be willing to lose for the truth – after all, the One who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life was crucified – are we better than He is?

 

How many people would invest in a firm that promised to always tell the truth?

 

How many boards of directors would stand by a CEO who promised to always tell the truth?

 

How many religious institutions would still be with us today if their hierarchies and leadership were transparent and truthful and accountable?

 

And for citizens of the United Sates, do we really care more about the truth than about seeing this side or that side winning the next election?

 

Are righteous lips really the delight of kings? Do those in authority really love men and women who speak right things?

 

Well, we know that righteous lips are the delight of our Lord Jesus – and He is the One who should matter to us, for our lives are in His hands. We know that Jesus loves those who obey Him (John 14:23 – 24; 15:10 -11).

 

I was once with a firm who had a very difficult client, we’ll call him Hector. Hector was not only wealthy, his family produced products that are household names around the world – which is to say that he was accustomed to not only wealth, but also power – to getting his own way one way or another. Because Hector was so demanding, his was a difficult account to service – he was detailed oriented and never forgot anything anyone said to him or wrote to him, he had an amazing mind and a driving will, he was exceptionally aggressive.

 

A time came when his account manager with our firm could no longer work with him, he was too much for the manager to work with – I can’t say whether he was unreasonable or not because I wasn’t close to the situation at that time, but I can say that he had high expectations and that he was not about to coddle anyone. I can also say that the account was not performing well financially, which means that there was high pressure to perform. (Isn’t there always pressure to perform?)

 

Our firm’s regional director asked someone else to service the account, we’ll call him Frank. Because I was close to Frank, I had a front row seat at what transpired with Hector and Frank, I also participated in meetings between the two men.

 

The pressure continued, Hector’s personality and approach didn’t change – he was unrelenting. However, Frank and Hector not only had a good relationship, the account stabilized and began to turn around, meeting the goals of Hector and his family. This was one of the most amazing turnarounds I witnessed in all my years in the property management industry. The reasons for this were many, including new local leadership which Frank recruited and encouraged, but the reason I’m telling this story is because of something Hector said about Frank, which I think was the foundation of their relationship and of Hector’s trust in Frank – without which there would have been no turnaround, without which the firm would likely have lost this important account.

 

One day I was in a meeting with Hector, Frank, our regional director, the president of our firm, and a few others. At one point Hector looked across the conference room table at our president and said, “Frank will always tell me the truth. If I ask him something that he doesn’t know, he will tell me that he doesn’t know and then he will find the answer. He will never make things up. He will always tell me the truth.”

 

At that moment I realized the key to Frank’s success with Hector, it was based on Frank telling the truth. Now obviously Frank had to perform, he had to provide Hector with sound advice, he had to manage the assets of Hector’s family in a responsible fashion, he had to make good decisions – but all of this had to be based on the truth. Frank had to tell Hector the good news and the bad news, the potential dangers as well as the upsides, Frank had to warn as well as encourage. Telling the truth carried with it always doing the right thing and saying the right thing – legally, ethically, and morally – Frank had to be this way with Hector, with Hector’s customers, with Hector’s employees, with government agencies…it had to be Frank’s way of life.

 

Looking back, I imagine that because of Hector’s experience in business and politics, that because of his wealth, that he knew that people often told him what they thought he wanted to hear rather than the truth, that others often caved into his strong personality and let him intimidate them, Hector was used to getting his way. On the other hand, Hector valued the truth even when it was not good news, he wanted to know facts so he could base decisions on them – and he respected Frank because Frank told him the truth.

 

Hector was a king who valued “righteous lips,” and while I don’t know that Hector loved Frank in the sense of Proverbs 16:13, he obviously appreciated him and honored him, giving him honor before our firm’s executives and within Hector’s own family.

 

I should also tell you that Frank’s life was rooted in Jesus Christ – the Way, the Truth, and the Life. For Frank, to tell Hector a lie would be to deny Jesus Christ. For Frank, telling Hector the truth, always the truth, was serving Christ and testifying to Christ.

 

When I read of the false accusation against Joseph by Potiphar’s wife in Genesis 39, I believe the reason Potiphar had Joseph jailed rather than executed is because he knew that Jospeh was telling the truth and that his own wife was lying to him. Like Hector, Potiphar was a man in power and authority, like Hector, Potiphar knew the difference between truthtellers and liars, and Potiphar knew that Jospeh was a truthteller and that his own wife was a liar.

 

When professing Christians lie, we drink the up of Satan, we imbibe evil and wickedness, for God is light and in Him is no darkness at all, and Satan is the father of lies (1 Cor. 10:21; 2 Cor. 6:14 – 7:1; 1 John 1:5; John 8:44).

 

When we endorse liars we become partakers with them of their demonic activity, drinking with them of the devil’s cup.

 

The very idea that professing Christians should worship idols of lesser evils than those of perceived greater evils is akin to teaching that it is better that spouses should commit adultery with one or two or three other people rather than with twenty or thirty people – adultery is adultery.

 

John wrote, “I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it, and because no lie is of the truth.” (1 Jn. 2:21).

 

Could he write this to us today? Do we understand that “no lie is of the truth”?

 

John also wrote, “We know that we are of God, and that the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.” (1 John 5:19). When the Holy Spirit writes, “the whole world,” does He really mean “the whole world”? (See also 1 John 2:15 – 17).

 

John concludes his first letter with, “Little children, guard yourself from idols.” (1 John 5:21).

 

Idols are served by lies…in religion, in business, in politics, in education, in some branches of purported “science” – especially what passes for social science, in sports, everywhere.

 

Jesus Christ is served by the truth, always served and worshiped by and in the truth (John 4:23 – 24; 8:12).

 

Are our lips the delight of the one king who truly matters, our Lord Jesus Christ?