Calvary Chapel of Jonesboro

The Sluggard's Thoughts: Mindless Muttering of a Mental Midget - Proverbs 26:16

09/27/2012

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The sluggard is wiser in his own eyes Than seven men who can give a discreet answer.
Proverbs 26:16

The fourth verse we come to about the sluggard has to do with how his lack of any work ethic eventually affects his reason as well as his ego. He is wise in his own eyes - even though he does not put any work into what he thinks. He is a stranger to hard physical work - but now we learn he is also one to mental work as well. When he looks to someone for wisdom - he looks to himself. This is because of his ego - which is vastly overgrown while having no real reason to be so. He is too lazy to study - yet he thinks he knows far more than those who do. He is wiser than seven men who give a reasoned, well-studied, well-thought out answer. He is a genius in his own estimation - while his supposed genius is honestly ignorance of anything other than what he himself thinks. A legend in his own mind, he mentally gives himself the Nobel prize for everything.

Anyone who has ever done good academic work knows that this is no place for the sluggard. Good quality academic work requires painstaking study and hours of sacrifice both thinking and writing (not to mention re-writing). Someone who has expertice in a subject area has put in years of effort in order to have it. The whole idea of a "masters" degree is that someone has "mastered" a subject area. The seminary I attended required that we read a 300-500 page text for each course taken. But, this was not all we were required to do. We also were required to do extensive reading while preparing papers as well as do 1500 pages of outside reading on the subject. Even after all this effort, we were just barely beyond ignorant in the subjects we studied. Most areas of theology had literally thousands of texts written on it -some had hundreds of thousands.

The mental sluggard stands against seven men who work hard at honing their minds - and mocks all of them. He will take what little learning he has and string it together so as to think he is a mental heavyweight - when he doesn't even tip the scales of learning at a single pound. He spouts his opinion and then closes his mind to anything other than his highly self-valued moronity. He has no need to listen to others since his own ultimate genius has been voiced. Thus the mental sluggard continues his self-imposed banishment to ignorance in a miniature land of his own making.

A wise man knows that he does not yet know as he should know. He is teachable above all things - and is willing to spend more time gathering information than spouting it to others. He who holds his tongue and opens his mind is wise! He may not agree with what is said to him - yet he takes all things in an effort to become wiser still. He does not see himself as wise in his own eyes. He sees God as ultimately wise - and is actively looking for those who will speak according to God's wisdom. If you are a mental sluggard beware of lacking the wisdom of seeing yourself as not yet wise. Few things can dwarf your intellect and your spiritual acumen like being wise in your own eyes. It is proof that your field of spiritual and mental vision is extremely narrow.

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Demolishing Strongholds by Wisdom - Proverbs 21:22

07/17/2012

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A wise man scales the city of the mighty And brings down the stronghold in which they trust. Proverbs 21:22

Throughout history there have been battles won and cities conquered more due to the wisdom of men than due to the strength of their army. From these historical events we learn why it is better to be wise than just strong. Wisdom can bring down city walls and demolish fortresses once thought impregnable.

It was not the strength and power of Menalaus' Spartan army that brought the mighty city of Troy to its knees. His army fought for 10 long years seeking to destroy that city and did not prevail. It was, however, the wisdom of an older Greek warrior that he used that eventually won him the city. That wise Greek warrior was the one who came up with the idea of the Trojan horse. This horse was build as an a false offering to the offended Trojan gods - but was filled on the inside with Greek soldiers. They waited until the middle of the night and crawled out of the belly of the horse to open the gates of the city to the rest of Menalaus' army - who subsequently sacked and destroyed the city. Thus it was wisdom, not power that won that battle.

In like manner it was wisdom that brought down mighty Babylon. Balshazzar sat within the walls of that great city certain he was safe. Yet it was the wisdom of the Medo-Persian army that won the day. A branch of the Euphrates River wove through the city like a canal. When the general of the Medo-Persian army diverted the water to where the river dried up - there was a entrance under the wall of the city where the water once flowed. The Medo-Persian army followed the dry canal bed into the city. The Babylonians were defeated and their city taken before they even knew what was happening to them.

Over and over again history records wise men who bring down the strongholds of the mighty. Every time it happens men are shocked that once again the battle does not always go to the strong or to the one with the largest army. The battle goes to the wise - and more often than not to the ones who trust in the Lord. Gideon was a marvelous example of God's wisdom using a far smaller army to defeat one hundreds of tiems larger than their own. The idea of holding torches, blowing trumpets, and the war shout of the men was used by God to defeat a much larger army.

We also need to remember that God is able through His wisdom to tear down any strong man's stronghold in which they trust. Too often we become intimidated by the world and by what seems to be strongholds of thought - strongholds of besetting sin - strongholds of ungodliness - and a myriad of other strongholds that the enemy of our souls has erected in our society. But it is through God's wisdom that these are torn down and overcome. Remember then, dear saints that Jesus Christ is made unto us - wisdom. It is through Him and through the gospel that we can tear down any mental, spiritual, or physical fortress that holds men in bondage to sin, self, or Satan. Do not cower before any man - any doctrine - or any sin that lifts itself up agaisnt the knowledge of God through the gospel. God will prevail - and His spiritual weapons can demolish strongholds and any lofty thought brought up against the gospel of Jesus Christ. Hold fast to His wisdom and to His way - for that is the way to prevail and win any victory that must be won!

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Philosophical Treachery's Difficult Path - Proverbs 13:15

06/13/2011

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Good understanding produces favor, But the way of the treacherous is hard. Proverbs 13:15 

Intelligence with insight and discernment is worth its weight in gold and jewels.  We see the phrase "good understanding" at the beginning of this proverb today.  This phrase means to have an intelligence or good sense.  God did not intend for us to be ignorant.  The Word of God makes it clear that we are to learn, to be educated, and to gain knowledge.  Where the world has made its fatal mistake is to separate their gathering and thirst for knowledge from God and from a life given to know and please Him. 

The idea behind having good understanding is ones ability to take their intelligence and use it to also manifest good sense and discernment.  It is the ability to have more than just knowledge - it is the ability to gain insight from that knowledge.  It is taking our knowledge and seeing it as the servant of God.  Unfortunately in the past there were some in the church (not necessarily in Christ) who reacted wrongly to those who in foolish education decided that part and parcel of their education was a call to reject God.  In their misguided zeal to "protect" God - they began to reject education.  In our day there has been such a false separation between God and education that many believe you have to choose one or the other.  Such a separation is falacious entirely.  What the academic rejects is submitting his knowledge to anything or Anyone - which leads him to many foolish conclusions.  What the Christian academic does is submit his study to the Word of God - which, if he will do so consistently, will lead him to even greater discoveries (and by the way - acurate ones as well). 

Ultimately - and here is where the purely secular academic will howl with disapproval - the goal of life is to experience God's favor and grace.  This is wholly unacceptable to the academic who rejects the Bible as ultimate truth.  He sees this as a step backwards into stupidity and ignorance.  But his rejection of God's favor only produces problems for him - and for those who adopt his worldview based upon purely flesly science and research.  The Scriptures here state very clearly that the way of the treacherous is hard.  The word treacherous is telling here.  It is the Hebrew word "bagad" and it means to be traitorous, to act unfaithfully, to betray.  This has at least two applications.  First is the one I to which I am currently referring in this discussion of true scholars - who move past mere research to conclusions which ultimately seek the favor of God.  The treachery of which they are guilty is a betrayal of their very principles of research and understanding.  In cutting off any consideration of the divine - they betray their own conclusions.  They demand a world without anything except what their fallen senses can detect.  But such a world would be one without meaning or purpose.  Thus their very science which seeks to make sense out of the world and its workings - is passionately pursuing of a moot point.  There is no meaning - there are no morals - there is no purpose in a world that is based on an amoral starting point.  You cannot begin with amorality - and come to a conclusion of any moral reasoning. 

This is why the way of the treacherous is hard.  Rejecting God, rejecting truth, rejecting the biblical worldview - is hard.  In the end you are left with a machine that has no purpose nor meaning that crushes the life out of those who are desperately wanting their philosophical nothingless void to whisper that there is something to live for in life.  Though they may never admit it in their lifetime - their pursuit of a nothing that means something will laugh at them in the end - showing that their lifetime has been spent tilting at philosophical windmills.  Even worse - they will give the philosophical underpinnings that will give rise to the most monstrous of men.  Germany rejected God - and rejected truth in the early 20th century in what they thought was a freedom from the mentally constipated constructs of Christian theology which they felt constricted science and philosophical thought.  The step-child of their philosophy rose to power amidst the Third Reich - and Hitler arose as the one who would take their atheistic, evolution-driven understanding and put it to a use that would horrify the ages.  His actions that sought a super-race - free from the restraints of human kindness and consideration - gave us the genocide of the Jews in his generation.  Yet he was only following the treacherous path laid for him by those who asserted that a worldview based on the survival of the fittest.  He was only taking their philosophical treachery and drawing conclusions that make sense in that system.  In the end the way is hard for the treacherous. 

There is a second kind of treachery - one that exists in the church itself.  It is the treachery of hypocrisy within our hearts.  This is where our so-called Bible understanding short-circuits and does not lead us to valid discernment of sin and righteousness.  This is where we have a disconnect with the truth.  We choose NOT to follow the Word - nor the conclusions that should be drawn from it.  We choose NOT to walk in obedience - or to reject an action because the Scriptures clearly show it to be sin.  Thus we become treacherous in how we either know the Word or how we should apply it.  Once again the conclusion of this matter is that the way of the treacherous one is hard.  Sin, regardless of who commits it, is going to be hard.  There are going to be stumbling blocks - consequences - and difficulties that will not go away simply because we claim to be Christians.  The Word stands - we can either follow it and walk in a way that will be blessed - or go the way of the transgressor, which the Bible also tells us, is hard. 

The wise man is the one who grasps that God is truly God - and that His Word IS truth.  Knowing this he is armed with what I would call "advanced" information about this world.  It is information given to us - indeed revealed to us - from an Infinite Intelligence.  If we learn to follow it - and know that stepping outside of its philosophical and moral constructs will only bring difficulty - we will be blessed - even favored if you will accept it.  But to do so requires us to also accept the Author's worldview of man - that of a fallen one who has rebelled and turned from the right way to follow his own base nature.  It requires us to see that the purpose of all things does not find its apex in man - but in God.  Unfortunately for many academics - and religious hypocrites - that is the most odious step to take. 

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