Practice the wisdom of God
By Dean Collins
During my childhood and teenage years, if one of my parents or an adult in my life said “that’s enough” I knew that it would be a bad idea to make one more comment. Enough meant no more talking, pleading, begging, arguing, fighting. Enough meant enough.
When I think about the weeks and months ahead in this year’s election cycle, I wish that someone had the authority to say “that’s enough.” I understand that when we vote, we are doing our responsibility to vote for leaders and ideas that both represent us but also work for the greater good of society. So naturally, it is appropriate for candidates and parties to present how their policies help address the issues that concern their citizens and even the world at large.
My concern is that over the years, we - both candidates and constituents - have gotten increasingly worse at presenting issues and policies and have defaulted more to shouting and spewing hatred at the other side rather than seeking understanding and presenting solutions.
Proverbs 15:1-7 gives us wise and practical counsel about words, tone, and foolishness. The wise king began this chapter this way:
“A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.”
Maybe I missed it, but I have a hard time finding anyone using this wisdom in their campaigns. And worse, we are seeing an increased number of Christians who are promoting the angry tone and words of this election cycle instead of using the wisdom of Solomon whose wisdom basically says that both words and tone matter. Solomon was right. Harsh words do stir up anger.
It is sobering to consider Solomon’s words from verse 3: “The eyes of the Lord are in every place, keeping watch on the evil and the good.” We are not responsible for keeping records for God concerning who is doing evil or good. He is fully capable and on top of his job. What we should pay attention to is whether what we promote, say, post, or share is true and if the tone of our sharing is one that reflects the wisdom and love of God.
Verse 4 says this: “A gentle tongue is a tree of life, but perverseness in it breaks the spirit.”
Instead of judging whether a candidate or party is using a gentle tongue, being perverse, or breaking anyone’s spirit, we should be focused on ourselves and whether we are guilty of contributing to the nastiness of current politics or offering a soft answer that God might use to bring calmness to those around us.
As believers, we can either act like the world or choose to behave and speak like those who walk in the spirit and not in the flesh. You and I may not be able to change the tone of the country, but we can check ourselves and bring a wise and gentle answer to those around us. And if the church began to practice the wisdom of God found in these verses from Proverbs, it just might have a cascading impact on how God spreads his gospel throughout our country and beyond.
Father, we confess that we often slip into imitating the world instead of practicing the wisdom of God. Forgive us. Help us today in every situation to seek your wisdom and to answer and speak in a tone that reflects your love and kindness to another. In Jesus name, Amen.
Your Time with God’s Word
Proverbs 15:1-7, 32-33 ESV
Photo by Caleb Gregory on Unsplash
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