One of the first steps in wisdom is learning who to
listen to. Whose voice will I accept as
wise and virtuous? Which opinions will I
learn to take with a grain of salt? How
will I learn to filter the bombardment of information and pressure in this life? Solomon’s first answer at these questions
comes quickly in Proverbs. Mom and dad
should be voices of wisdom into their children’s lives, and youth should learn
to listen to what they have to say.
As voices of wisdom, parents are supposed to prepare
their children for what is coming their way and offer commentary. It does no good for a parent to allow a child
to raise themselves, or sift through competing voices themselves. Parents are designed by God to warn children
and provide clear input on the ways that are foolish and the ways of God’s
wisdom. So we see in this passage that
parents encourage their children to listen to them and then spell out how sin
and foolishness will entice their children. As a result, we see what kinds of arguments
foolishness will use to look like wisdom and be appealing in its ugliness. The enticement is powerful.
Foolishness tells the young man that they will lie in
wait for blood. They will take the first
unsuspecting pedestrian, trap and beat them, and take their goods. This is violence both for the sake of it (“ambush
the innocent without reason”) and for the sake of unjust gain (“fill our houses
with plunder”). This is both the allure
of violence, possibly especially for young men, and the promise of gain without
work. And though we are not all allured
by a life of random violence, how many of us are tempted by gain without
work? If I can simply take it from
another – no matter how violent or legal the means – and not have to work for
it, isn’t that an easier way of life?
Why wait to have what I can have now?
The fool continues to draw in his bait. The young man is promised community when the
sinner says, “throw in your lot among us; we will all have one purse” (vs 14). The promise of a group of people who will
take care of your needs, provide protection and a sense of belonging touches a
deep need within every human. What
family and the family of God is intended to provide, the fool promises to
give. And though fools and thieves are
liars, their false promise is nonetheless a temptation for many. God built us to desire community, and he
built the family and the Body of Christ to meet that need.
Don’t listen to them.
Don’t walk down that path. The
advice is straightforward, and it is the voice of reason and wisdom in our
lives if we listen to it. And it isn’t
just about joining gangs or throwing in our lot with violent thugs. The voice of wisdom reveals what is being
manipulated in every human heart with this appeal of the fool: “Such are the
ways of everyone who is greedy for unjust gain” (vs. 19). All of us need to watch our step. I need to be aware of those ways in which I
am tempted by greed and the collection of things in this life that cause me to
step on other people. Have I walked over
someone at work? Have I short-changed
someone in a business deal? Have I
harmed a neighbor just to make my lot bigger or better? Have I hurt a family member just to get my
way? Any way in which I am tempted to
enlarge myself and my fiefdom at the expense of my neighbor is greed, and it
will end up costing me my own life.
Begin listening to the voice of wisdom. You may think you have a better plan or that
you are too smart by half for the fool.
But you are wrong. They end up
setting a trap for their own lives and doing themselves in. The path of the fool leads to your own
destruction no matter how hard you try to manage it. Listen to Mom and Dad Wisdom, and you will
avoid the path of the fool.
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