Proverbs 22:16, 22-23

“Oppressing the poor in order to enrich oneself, and giving to the rich, will lead only to loss. Do not rob the poor because they are poor, or crush the afflicted at the gate; for the Lord pleads their cause and despoils of life those who despoil them.” NRSV

Francis Schaeffer was a theologian in the mid 1900's. In one of the books he wrote, How Then Shall We Live, he talks about the legacies of the Reformation. While the Reformers brought great freedom to the Church, they also, unfortunately, left us with the idea of accumulating wealth without considering those around us.

The United States has a long history of believing that people should earn their own living. And, on one hand, that is a biblical principle. The apostle Paul taught: “For even when we were with you, we gave you this command: Anyone unwilling to work should not eat” (2 Thess. 3:10 NRSV). But, I think that we have embraced this idea without the balancing understanding that we are also to help the poor and not to accumulate wealth at their expense.

Currently, in the United States, housing foreclosures are at a new high. Many Christians are having to leave their homes because they’ve lost their jobs. And yet, I think there’s at least a small sense in the Church that these Christians are losing their homes due to their own fault. In fact, some studies should that churches have increased their demands for tithes and giving, even in a time when some of the congregation members are looking at the possibility of being homeless.

When times get tough and there is the possibility of loss, it is human nature to pull in and begin to guard what one has. Giving does go down; so does generosity. Even where we can, we may reach out less feeling that perhaps that person in need isn’t quite as deserving of our generosity.

Giving needs to be wise, but it doesn’t need to be judgmental. What do I mean by that? Well, it’s probably not wise to give a homeless person money, because they may use it to feed their habit. But there’s nothing wrong with buying them a meal or groceries or giving them a lift to the local shelter. However, I’m thinking that it would be better to err on the side of generosity than on the side of judgment. If we give, and the person uses it unwisely, wouldn’t that be better than not giving when they might have used it wisely? Should gifts be given with the idea that the recipient must use the gift in the way it was intended?

Romans 5:8 tells that “God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us” (NRSV). I wonder how we prove our love to others?

© 2009 Robin L. O’Hare. All rights reserved. Permission granted for nonprofit and church groups to use this article in its entirety (including this notice). For other uses, please contact servinggodalone@yahoo.com.

Proverbs 22:15

“Folly is bound up in the heart of a boy, but the rod of discipline drives it far away.”

I just read a book that talked about this verse. The author—with whom I agreed about a great many things—insisted that this verse spoke of corporal punishment (spanking) and that every child (until a certain age) needs spanking to “get rid of the foolishness.”

I’m not so sure I agree.

Oh, that isn’t to say that I’m necessarily against spanking. There were times that I spanked my children. It worked for our daughter. (It worked for me!) It didn’t work for our son . . . and it didn’t work for my sister. Some children respond to pain (and the threat of pain). Some children aren’t moved in the slightest from their rebellion by the thought of a spanking. And for many adults, it’s difficult to separate spanking from anger. I know that there were times that I spanked in anger. Fortunately, it was through layers of cloth diapers and likely hurt my hand more than their bottom. But what if I couldn’t control myself? What if I moved from diapered bottom to unprotected face . . . or arms . . . or back?

The NASB Dictionary gives a number of definitions for the word translated here as “rod.” Only one of those definitions is “rod.” One definition is correction. In other words, one possible translation is something like “the correction of punishment” or “the correction of chastening.”

It’s difficult for me to believe that God has commanded us to beat our children into submission. However, it’s not difficult to believe that God wants us to discipline our children and to so discipline them that it drives the foolishness of sin from them. Proverbs uses the terms “fool” or “folly” frequently in opposition to “wisdom” or “the wise” to contrast those who obey the Lord and those who are rebellious. The point of parenting is to bring our children to the point of serving the Lord with gladness, rather than rejecting Him and His Word. The fact is, if we parented more (trained up our children), we might have to correct less.

Most Christian parents today don’t know that our worldviews have been corrupted by the influences of evolution. We believe that children should have a say, a choice, in what they do and want because they are separate individuals from us. That belief is a product of social evolution and it isn’t biblical. Christian parents have the mandate to raise their children as unto the Lord. In such a way that the children, as adults, embrace salvation and the mercy of God. And until they are old enough to make wise choices, we are commanded to use correction and discipline to move them into the path of life. (They don’t get a vote!)

I used spanking as did my own parents. If one spanks a toddler through a diaper (and doesn’t spank in anger), it doesn’t damage children. But if we, as adults, are unsure whether we can control our anger or not, we do better not to spank. Perhaps if we parented better, the need to spank would never arise.

© 2009 Robin L. O’Hare. All rights reserved. Permission granted for nonprofit and church groups to use this article in its entirety (including this notice). For other uses, please contact servinggodalone@yahoo.com.

Proverbs 22:10-14

“Drive out a scoffer, and strife goes out; quarreling and abuse will cease. Those who love a pure heart and are gracious in speech will have the king as a friend. The eyes of the Lord keep watch over knowledge, but he overthrows the words of the faithless. The lazy person says, ‘There is a lion outside! I shall be killed in the streets!’ The mouth of a loose woman is a deep pit; he with whom the Lord is angry falls into it.” (NRSV)

We live in a culture surrounded by words, spoken words, printed words, filmed words, televised words, words broadcasted by the Internet. Prior to the Internet, there were gatekeepers (editors and producers) who, while they may or may not have done their job well, had the responsibility to making sure that the words that reached the public were approved and had value. Now, with the Internet, anyone can say anything and feel important and authoritative.

Now, I’m not bagging on the Internet for, like any media, it is a neutral device that can be used for good or evil. As Christians, it is our responsibility to make sure that our words—whether in our homes or neighborhoods or on the Internet—are words that are pure and gracious and glorify the Lord. Lately, one of the things I’ve been doing in my life is trying to focus on the fruit of the Spirit. What’s interesting is that entire passage:

Galatians 5:22-26 (NRSV): “By contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against such things. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also be guided by the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, competing against one another, envying one another.”

Notice the final verse: “Let us not become conceited, competing against one another, envying one another.” The NAB translates it this way: “Let us not become boastful, challenging one another, envying one another.” Unfortunately, even for believers, rather than a place of edification, the Internet has become a place of war. Many, many websites are put up for the specific purpose of tearing down someone else. And while it’s important to teach correct doctrine, it’s also important to remember that the person with whom we disagree may simply be more spiritually immature than we are. Perhaps our fighting is actually damaging to her spiritual growth. Paul talks about this in 1 Corinthians:

“‘All things are lawful,’ but not all things are beneficial. ‘All things are lawful,’ but not all things build up. Do not seek your own advantage, but that of the other. . . . out of consideration for the one who informed you, and for the sake of conscience--I mean the other's conscience, not your own. For why should my liberty be subject to the judgment of someone else's conscience? . . . just as I try to please everyone in everything I do, not seeking my own advantage, but that of many, so that they may be saved.” (1 Corinthians 10:23-24, 28b-29, 33 NRSV).

I know that I chopped up this passage a bit, but it was to bring out specific points. Notice here:

• Not all things are beneficial
• Not all things build up
• Do not seek your own advantage, but that of the other
• Consider the conscience of the other person
• Not seeking my own advantage

One of the things I think we do is fight rather than pray. And it seems ironic that we think we can change the heart of someone when the Holy Spirit Himself has been unable to. That isn’t to say that we can’t sit down and share the scripture with someone who disagrees with us. We can. But there is a point when, if that person refuses to listen, that we need to stop talking and start praying. (We should be praying first, too.) Words that lead to war—even emotional war—shouldn’t be the way of the believer.

The fruit of the Spirit is “ love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” These are things that should be at the forefront of our hearts and mind constantly. Are we patient (willing to suffer without complaining)? Are we kind? Are we generous (willing to give in where it doesn’t matter that much)? Are we gentle and are we self-controlled? The fruit is the mark of the believer and it should be what we are thinking about and doing all the time. It is also how we should judge everything we do, for if what we do isn’t seasoned with this, then we have likely stepped out of God’s will.

The passage in Proverbs says to “drive out the scoffer.” A scoffer is someone who is sarcastic, who makes fun of others in a hurtful way. Are we the scoffer? I think rather than looking for the scoffer in others, we need to drive out the scoffer that lives within us and replace her with a person who is living the fruit of the Spirit. When the scoffer is gone, strife, quarreling, and abuse will cease. If there is a quarrel, let it not be started nor fueled by me. Proverbs 15:1 tells us that “A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger” (NRSV). Today, I want to be a soft answer.

© 2009 Robin L. O’Hare. All rights reserved. Permission granted for nonprofit and church groups to use this article in its entirety (including this notice). For other uses, please contact servinggodalone@yahoo.com.

Proverbs 22:9

“Those who are generous are blessed, for they share their bread with the poor.” (NRSV)

Robert Fulghum wrote, in his book, All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten, “share everything.” For the Christian, sharing should be second nature. We should never fail to reach out our hand to someone, even when we think they are undeserving.

We are often so busy accumulating that we forget that all of this is going to burn anyway! Years ago, I preached a sermon about not hanging onto stuff. I mean, everything we own will someday either end up in the dump, a thrift store, or a yard sale! We are holding onto yard sale junk! The Lord Jesus admonished us to stop hanging onto that which had no value and instead grasp onto that which has eternal value: "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal; but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal” (Matthew 6:19-20 NRSV). We gain eternal value when we learn to share.

We have so many things that we can share: our stuff, our time, our emotions, our support, our wisdom, our experience, our physical strength, our finances. Instead of spending useless time trying to figure out why we shouldn’t share with someone, perhaps we should just begin to share liberally and often! Imagine, this economy, what it would appear like to those who are unsaved if the Christians began to give and give and give some more. (Even more than we already do.) Unfortunately, we tend to become more and more like the world around us, hanging onto stuff that doesn’t matter, when we should have our eyes on the eternal prize and begin to let go!

"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life . . .” (Matthew 6:25 NRSV). I like the KJV because it says “give no thought about your life.” Don’t even think about what you might need (or want or desire or lust after). If we are giving no thought to the things that are temporal, but instead trusting God to provide, then we are fully able to freely share without thought about tomorrow.

Unfortunately, the model of “having” is all around us, even within the Church. Congregation after congregation (unfortunately usually led by their pastors) have built huge physical plants, filled with expensive electronics and other such things. It becomes almost a cultural “keeping up with the Joneses” from within our own church culture! And while it’s chic now to dress down for church, I rarely see pastors wearing thrift store casual. It’s more like Macy’s casual. (Have you priced a pair of really nice flip-flops lately?)

As people, as churches, we are commanded not to store up treasures on earth, but to share. It’s a blessing to share what we have with others. If God replenishes it, then we needed it. If He doesn’t, then we didn’t need it to begin with. The thing is this: God can’t work the miraculous in our lives if we already have everything we need, we want, and could possibly ever even think about having! If we want the miraculous, then we need to begin to give so that God can have room to bless!

© 2009 Robin L. O’Hare. All rights reserved. Permission granted for nonprofit and church groups to use this article in its entirety (including this notice). For other uses, please contact servinggodalone@yahoo.com.