I offer you…a skeleton key

Imagine this scene with me:

You are an ancient treasure hunter, looking for your next big score.  You have found golden items from antiquity, ancient burial pottery, and rare-gem jewelry.  However, you have recently heard that ancient wisdom literature can bring in great value.  So now you find yourself in a dimly lit, dusty bookstore and trinket shop, talking with a disheveled old man that you suspect was there when the pyramids were built.

You describe to him what you’re looking for, this “Book of Life” you’ve heard about, and his right eyebrow pops up.  He suddenly has more energy about him than he did a moment ago, and he’s staring intently into your eyes.  His head cocks slightly to the side as he dryly says, “What you seek can be found, but it will cost you some effort.”

You insist that you’re up for the challenge, so he continues, “I know the intro to the book.  I can recite it for you, but after hearing it…you’ll have to decide if you’re willing to take up the search from here.”  His voice suddenly grew stronger and pulsated through the words as he began to quote from memory:

These sayings were written down so we’ll know how to live well and right,
to understand what life means and where it’s going;
A manual for living, for learning what’s right and just and fair;
To teach the inexperienced the ropes and give our young people a grasp on reality.
There’s something here also for seasoned men and women,
still a thing or two for the experienced to learn –
Fresh wisdom to probe and penetrate, the rhymes and reasons of wise men and women.

“And now,” he said in a loud whisper, “the next line is the most important.  It is the skeleton key.  Use it as a guide when you discover the text.  Knowing this will open up the rest of the book.”

Want to know what he said?  Are you curious about this “skeleton key” to the “Book of Life”?

Then I should probably tell you that while I invented the story, the text quoted by the old man was not made-up.  It was taken from Eugene Peterson’s paraphrase of the Bible, The Message, and it is the first six verses of the book of Proverbs.  And yes…verse seven is the skeleton key to the entire book.

While a paraphrase can be helpful from time-to-time, it is ultimately one person’s summation and rephrasing of a previously translated text.  So, before we get to the skeleton key, let’s look at the direct-from-Hebrew translation:

Proverbs 1:1-6
The proverbs of Solomon, son of David, king of Israel:
For learning wisdom and discipline;
for understanding insightful sayings
for receiving prudent instruction in righteousness, justice, and integrity;
for teaching shrewdness to the inexperienced, knowledge and discretion to a young man –
              let a wise person listen and increase learning
              and let a discerning person obtain guidance
for understanding a proverb or parable, the words of the wise and their riddles.

Solomon recorded many wise sayings and proverbs in order to pass them down to his son.  His introduction to the proverbs heavily emphasizes the benefits of heeding their wisdom and the costliness of ignoring their warnings.  The concepts of wisdom and discipline, understanding, righteousness, justice, and integrity will be explored further on in the text.  But before he develops these topics, Solomon gives his son the skeleton key to the entire book:

Proverbs 1:7
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge,
fools despise wisdom and discipline.

The Hebrew word translated as fear refers to honor, respect, and awe.  If Solomon’s son wants the benefits listed above, he must approach God with respect and honor.  If the son believes he can figure out life without consulting God, then his puffed up self-worth will prevent him from seeing God properly…and if he doesn’t recognize that God and His ways are higher than ours, then he’ll have no opportunity to learn the wisdom principles Solomon wants to share with him.

You and I have the same opportunity – to learn the wisdom principles contained in the book of Proverbs.  Knowing and understanding them will make us skilled at living this earthly life.  However, we, like Solomon’s son, must approach them with humility toward God and what He says about the human experience.

That is our first step, the beginning of true knowledge.

Keep Pressing,
Ken

A double warning for those who work

We see the same stereotypes in most of our TV shows.  Take a group of five adults in a workplace setting, and you’ll almost always have an overbearing boss, the perky one, someone who can’t keep their personal life together, the nerd, and the old guy/gal.  We’ve seen them so much that we tend to anticipate that people in life will act out these roles.  In a real sense, our entertainment has become our expectation.  And while TV shows are society’s current choice of distraction and amusement, the need to be mindful of a stereotype’s influence is actually an old issue.

There was a running gag in ancient comedies of the arrogant, back-talking slave who mocked the master behind his back and sassed his master to his face.  Either of which would lead to the slave taking a beating for comedic effect.  This motif was regularly present in Greek and Latin plays.  These shows also type-casted the role of the slave to be wicked and selfish.

When Paul wrote to Timothy, as much as one-third of the Roman world was made up of slaves.  Roman slavery was not like what we think of in terms of slavery – it wasn’t race-based (there were slaves of all races) and while some did the harsh, menial work other slaves had significant skills and responsibilities (such as medical work, teaching, and business).  The average age of a slave was 17, and most could reasonably expect to be freed by the time they reached 30 (with typical life expectancy of 36 for women and 43 for men). 

So if 1/3 of society was slave population, you can imagine that there would be a fair number of slaves in the church.  And if the general expectation of “slave behavior” was rudeness, disrespect, and conduct that deserved an occasional beating – would God expect something different because of their society status?

1 Timothy 6:1-2
All who are under the yoke as slaves must regard their own masters to be worthy of all respect, so that God’s name and His teaching will not be blasphemed. 

And those who have believing masters should not be disrespectful to them because they are brothers, but should serve them better, since those who benefit from their service are believers and dearly loved.

Whatever circumstance a slave found themselves in, they were to demonstrate their relationship with Jesus in the way they treated their master.  Paul doesn’t say that the master must deserve respect or should earn respect…instead, the slave must [choose to] regard their own masters to be worthy of all respect.  They were to ignore the low-bar expectations of society and realize that their actions mattered to God’s reputation.  A slave that acted counter-culturally would stand out as a positive witness for God.

Paul is such a realist.  He recognizes peoples’ general, selfish tendency to use a situation to their own benefit – and warns slaves not to take advantage of their believing masters.  Choosing to act like society’s stereo-typical slave because you assume that grace and mercy will be available is not only hypocritical, but shows a lack of understanding of the love Christ showed all of us.

Paul’s directions are applicable for us, even though we don’t live in an indentured-servant society.  We come across all sorts of stereotyped behaviors in our own jobs, and we need to make the choice to live out of our relationship with Jesus, rather than meet society’s low-bar expectations.

Every time we go to work, God’s reputation is on the line.  Others will definitely notice how you go about your business – even if the boss is an overbearing jerk.

Keep Pressing,
Ken

Finding favor and respect

Mentors have the great privilege of teaching their protégé about the important lessons God has for us in this life.  The earlier we listen to our mentors; the better quality our lives will have.

David taught Solomon to have a strong desire to gain wisdom.  After he became a father, Solomon wrote the book of Proverbs to communicate the importance of wisdom to his sons.  Several times Solomon told his sons “don’t forget”.  For us, this phrase gives a hint as to what lessons Solomon considered highly important.

Proverbs 3:1-4
My son, don’t forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commands;
for they will bring you many days, a full life, and well-being.

Never let loyalty and faithfulness leave you.
Tie them around your neck; write them on the tablet of your heart.
Then you will find favor and high regard in the sight of God and man.

The Hebrew word translated as loyalty is hesed.  Hesed means to have a zeal (in a good sense) in love and kindness toward any one; it especially refers to the grace, favor, and mercy God shows toward men or that one person may show to another.

The Hebrew word translated as faithfulness is emeth.  Emeth means to be truthful, faithful, and reliable.  It refers to what one can rely on because it is stable.  As we read the Scriptures, we find that we can rely on God because He is stable and sure.

Solomon’s son would have recognized the phrase loyalty and faithfulness, for these words are often paired together throughout the Old Testament.  Most often they are used to describe God’s character.  Whenever Solomon mentions them together in the book of Proverbs, they are treated as high and excellent qualities.

Solomon wants his son to keep these two Godly qualities – hesed and emeth – permanently around him.  Around his neck, they would be ever-present to everyone; and yet as they are written on his heart, they would be ever-present inside of him.

The ultimate goal of wisdom is not to produce external adherence to a body of rules; rather, it is to internalize the principles in a way that produces Godly character.  Imitation is the highest compliment we can give someone, which is why we are constantly encouraged to imitate God.  We were made in His image, so let’s act like Him!

Think of all the ways God has been loyal and faithful, how He has shown you hesed and emeth.  That same regard we feel toward God, others will project toward us as we imitate Him.  God will favor those who honor Him.

That’s an important lesson for us to learn…and an important one to pass along to the next generation.

Keep Pressing,
Ken

Practical application: marriage

Paul has spent more than half of his letter to the believers in Colossae telling them that because of Jesus’ sacrifice for their sins, they have a new relationship with God.  Paul continued to describe the impact this relationship has on their lives now and in eternity…with the entire focus on Jesus.   As they grow in understanding of who Jesus is and what a relationship with Him is like, these believers will live a fulfilled life of continual thankfulness that reflects the glory of God.

As Paul encourages the Colossian believers to press on toward maturity, in 3:12-17 he gives them a list of Christ-like characteristics that will come from their relationship with God:

…put on heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience…
…forgive one another…just as the Lord has forgiven you…
…above all, put on love…
…be thankful…
…let the message of the Messiah dwell richly among you…
…whatever you do, in word or in deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus…

And then, Paul gets real specific as to where these characteristics are to be practiced and developed.

Colossians 3:18-19
Wives, be submissive to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord.  Husbands, love your wives and don’t become bitter against them.

That’s about as real as it gets, isn’t it?

We go from talking about theoretical living – yeah, I need to be more compassionate…I know I should be more thankful…and I’ve been working on my patience – to suddenly being told to apply these things to the person we see the most of in life.  We know our spouse’s good points, and we also know their flaws.  In fact, we probably know their flaws better than they even recognize them.

Submissive is hard word these days.  Keep in mind, though, that Paul does not say that all women are to be submissive to all men.  This direction is only for Christians in a marriage relationship.  The basis for submission has nothing to do with inferiority, but is instead grounded in respect for the position God has placed her husband in.  There is an important qualifier here, too – as is fitting in the Lord.  If your husband is rebelling against God and his leading of the family is contrary to Scripture, then you have the right and responsibility to not follow him.  However, if you don’t agree with the direction your husband is leading and there is no sin involved, a conversation needs to be had – first between you and God.  Maybe he does need to change.  Maybe you need to change.  But you will need to sort your own heart out with God before trying to change your husband’s mind.

Paul’s direction to husbands is equally challenging – to love your wife.  The Greek word for love here is agapao, the “give all” kind of love, and not the phileo “give and take” type, and not the erao “take all” type.  Men, how much are you willing to “give all” for your wife?  Sure, we all say we’d take a bullet for her…but what parts of ourselves are we willing to give up for her well-being?  When was the last time we set aside our hobby time to take care of her needs?  Are you willing to turn down an “opportunity” if the new job would take you away from her?  Also, if life’s circumstances change her – due to illness, injury, hardship, or anything else – will you stick to your commitment to love her, for better or worse?  Or will we allow those changes to be our excuse to become bitter toward her?  Will we resent her for not being the same woman we initially married? 

In no way does submissiveness or guarding against bitterness mean that we avoid the issues that will naturally come up when two sinful people get married and live life together.  Notice that in Paul’s practical application of marriage, none of the previous Christ-driven characteristics are disqualified or removed.  Godly submission and love without bitterness will only happen in our marriages as we

…put on heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience…
…forgive one another…just as the Lord has forgiven you…
…above all, put on love…
…be thankful…
…let the message of the Messiah dwell richly among you…
…whatever you do, in word or in deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus…

Keep Pressing,
Ken