Introvert or Arrogant?

Proverbs 18:1 (KJV) Through desire a man, having separated himself, seeketh and intermeddleth with all wisdom.

I am an introvert.  I do not have a high need for company.  I am quite content in my room with a good book and a bit of music in the background.  That’s my basic personality.  My basic personality was also that of a sinner.  I was rebellious against God.  I was totally self-centered.  I was on my way to hell.

The point is that we are expected to change, grow, respond.  Just as the grace of God saved us from a life of sin and the Holy Spirit enables us to walk in righteousness, it might be a good idea to get out more.  At least that’s what this is saying to me today.  I need to get out more.  I need to interact with other human beings.

On one sense it’s my need.  In another sense, I have a responsibility to share, to give.  I often said that I never looked for a church based on what it would give me but a church in which I could give.  I always wanted to be in a place where my gifts could be used.  Part of the reason why I enjoy preaching so much is that listening to preaching tends to put me to sleep.

So?  Don’t be separated.  Join in.  Share the blessings of who you are.  Share the blessings of what God has made you.  It may be that you have a unique perspective on life with someone else needs to fill in the gaps with in theirs.  

Listen Up

Proverbs 21:13 (KJV) Whoso stoppeth his ears at the cry of the poor, he also shall cry himself, but shall not be heard.

This spoke to me today as I am playing nursemaid to my wife.  She just had surgery, and although she claims to have a high pain threshold, and to not be a whiner, that does not always work out in real life.  She is a high need person right now and legitimately so.  I, on the other hand, I’m still a person who does not understand the gift of mercy.

In my case the cry of the poor applies to her.  She has many needs that she cannot meet.  It is my place to step in and take care of that.  I somehow have to reach down inside of me and find the mercy and service that are called on in the spot.

My concern cannot be selfish.  I can’t focus on the second part of this verse and try to be a servant just because I want to avoid suffering myself.  I guess might get the job done but that’s not how love is defined.

So?  I seek the right attitude and the right actions.  Keep in mind that the poor who are crying out to you may not be those who have no money but who are lacking and some other area.  Pray that you would be heard.

Fruit Talk

(John 15:2 KJV)  Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.

(Proverbs 25 also read)

As I was reading this today it got me to wondering what it means to “bear” (5342) “fruit” (2590).  I have generally looked at this in terms of witnessing and changing the world around me.  This morning it occurred to me that this is the same word that Paul used when he wrote about the fruit of the Spirit.  

On one level this is liberating because it means that I can be in Christ without doing personal evangelism.  On another level this is a call to service because it means that we should be demonstrating the fruit of the Spirit everywhere we go.  One of the passages of scripture that is often on my mind and tongue is I Corinthians 13.  There are a lot of parallels between the definition of love and the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22-3.  

So?  Fruit is the natural outgrowth of fertilized buds.  I think that the point is if we are on the vine, in contact with Jesus, it will show up in our lives in some way.  We may be blessed with seeing people move toward faith.  We should be blessed by being examples of the faith. 

Time to Harden

(Pro 25:19 KJV)  Confidence in an unfaithful man in time of trouble is like a broken tooth, and a foot out of joint.

Misplaced “confidence” (4009) can be a tragedy.  Sometimes trusting the wrong person is unavoidable.  People are very good at covering up their true character.  I wonder how often the real reason we are fooled is because we don’t want to make the hard calls.  The modern church has adopted “Judge not...” as their go to verse for daily living.  We have been told time and time again that we are not to be critical but to accept people as they are.  To me this has obviously been overdone.

It is time for us to move people with the gift of mercy to an advisory position in the church instead of putting them in charge of the order of service.  We need to seek out people with discernment and allow them to exercise their gifts.

So?  We can do a lot better job of picking our leaders and deciding whom to support but it will take some effort and risk at being called hard-hearted.  It is time to move the pendulum back to the middle. 

Antics

(Pro 6:7 KJV)  Which having no guide, overseer, or ruler,

I know a lot more about bees than I do ants.  I am guessing that most people are that way.  Bees are creatures that leave you alone if you leave them alone and while they are ignoring you they go about keeping the world going.  They pollinate and make much of our pleasure foods possible.  Ants seem to be mainly pests.  They are scavengers in the same business as shrimp, vultures and fungus.  

Most of us would be insulted if we were told to be like ants, or we would if we thought about it.  It is disgusting to find ants in your kitchen.  We have fire ants that have been known to attack and kill people if they aren’t paying attention.  Remember the red ants of your childhood.  And yet in all of that they have a role to play and it is played because they are focused on their calling.

So?  We are called.  We are given gifts.  We have the Holy Spirit and the word of God.  In many of the areas of our lives we don’t need someone telling us what to do.  When was the last time you saw an ant asking you what he should do next?  I need to do the things I know about and allow God to tell me what comes next in His time.

Potential

(Pro 8:30 KJV) Then I was by him, as one brought up with him: and I was daily his delight, rejoicing always before him;

This reminds me of the gift of craftsmanship.  I believe this is a spiritual gift mentioned in the Old Testament.

(Exo 31:3 KJV) And I have filled him with the spirit of God, in wisdom, and in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship,

Some people just have the gift.  I don’t.  I can’t cut a board straight.  At the same time we each have a gift for edifying the saints.  We are to strive to be a “master workman” (525).  In the KJV the term used is “one brought up”.

So?  Obviously we are not equal to wisdom personified but we are children of God, made in His likeness and usually capable of much more than we are showing. 

RSVP

(Pro 15:17 KJV) Better is a dinner of herbs where love is, than a stalled ox and hatred therewith.

One of the things this is talking about is the gift of hospitality.  I don’t know about your circles but we have been noticing for years that people do not do a lot of “have them over for dinner” anymore.  I think this goes back at least a decade in our observation.  We have tried reaching out.  There is a pattern.  People look confused but agree to come for dinner.  They arrive and stay late, obviously having a good time.  There is no reciprocation.  It is a one way street. 

At one point when we were getting involved in a new church we saw this pattern.  We had been attending a few years and were in a discussion on why the church was not growing.  Keep in mind that this was a church with a nice facility in a good location with a steady stream of visitors.  I asked a guy who was at the heart of the church but was not related to the core, founding family, “Other than us and the pastor, how many people in this church have had you to their house for dinner?”  He didn’t need to think long to say, “None.” 

What this verse tells us is we need to have people over for simple meals.  Don’t let a lack of fine china stop you.  It doesn’t matter if you are not a gourmet cook.  Go against the cultural norm of our day and have someone over for sandwiches and some koinonia. 

So?  Open your home and be gracious.  It may not be returned but it can be given. 

Express Yourself

(Pro 9:13 KJV) A foolish woman is clamorous: she is simple, and knoweth nothing.

I have the feeling that Solomon had my granddaughter in mind when he wrote this.  At least is seems that way in the NASB when it says “boisterous” (1993).  She is quite willing to run shrieking through the house.  It helps if someone is chasing her.  She will try to sneak into my room and has a general enthusiasm with life that is exhausting to us old people.  If you take the KJV with its “clamorous” you get the other side of this characteristic. 

The KJV seems more in tune with how Proverbs uses the word.  It is associated with rebellion, drunkenness and block parties.  It is not generally something you want applied to you.  And yet, like so many Biblical concepts, is channeled through a heart and mind transformed by the Holy Spirit, it can be a source of joy and encouragement to those around you.

So?  God has given you a personality that approaches life in a unique way.  Apply it with righteousness and be a blessing.  Or just be clamorous. 

Multi-Dimensional

(Proverbs 30:22 KJV)  For a servant when he reigneth; and a fool when he is filled with meat;

It used to be said, “The way to a man’s heart is through his stomach.”  Of course that would be considered sexist today, even if it is still true.  It may be true but it reflects the opening salvo of a relationship.  Good cooking is not enough to build a life long relationship on.  Neither is looks or sex.  The point being made here is that a “fool” (5036) tends to be one dimensional.

If your measure of success is food then you are a fool.  Proverbs also has the same thing to say about people fixated with wealth and power.  People who only have one interest tend to be driven in that area but ignore the rest.  Followers of Jesus need to be well rounded.  No one will be great in everything and a person who is at the 50 percentile in everything is boring but we cannot rest on one strength.

So?  We may only have one gift but we have all of the fruit.  Both rooms of our character need to be developed. 

Mercy’s Designated Driver

(Proverbs 2:11 KJV)  Discretion shall preserve thee, understanding shall keep thee:

“Discretion” (4209) is not wisdom.  It is not personified.  It is interesting to me that the definition of the word has an evil taint to it.  I think that might be because of the hard choices it demands.  If you look back the discernment involved is built up by training and grown into.  It is a mark of maturity and a trait that the immature do not understand.

It is also a trait that people focused on certain gifts of the Spirit have a hard time with.  To the person who is saturated with the gift of mercy, discernment seems to be some alien harshness.  To the gift of service it seems like the epitome of selfishness.  That is because maturity demands hard choices and many people do not want to make them.

So?  If you are a mercy person understand that the Spirit also gives discernment.  Just because you run on empathy, discernment is fueled by clear thinking.  We need both but my feeling is that the modern church is rejecting the hard choices.

The Mysterious Seven

(Proverbs 9:1 KJV)  Wisdom hath builded her house, she hath hewn out her seven pillars:

This is the only place that the term “seven pillars” is used in the NASB.  I have no idea what they refer to.  Feel free to speculate until I someday come up with the final word.

Keil and Delitzsch spend more space on the “seven” (7651) “pillars” (5982) than on anything I have tried to read before.  It is amazing how many scholars and authorities have found seven items.  You have everything from the seven ages of the church to the seven heavens.  Most are grabbing at straws.  I think the most probable is something that K&D call the “seven gifts of the Holy Ghost.”  For this they refer the reader to Isaiah 11:2

(Isaiah 11:2 KJV)  And the spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD;

On first count I only found six gifts but when I read their comments on Isaiah they talked about the seven “spirits” starting with the spirit of the Lord.  That works.  You also find it links well with the traditional Menorah used in the temple which had places for seven lamps.

So?  Just a reminder that God works in our lives in a multitude of ways.  He meets us at all times.  He works with us as we need working. 

Poor Resources

(Proverbs 13:23 KJV)  Much food is in the tillage of the poor: but there is that is destroyed for want of judgment.

One of the definitions of “tillage” (fallow ground NASB) (5215b) is simply untilled.  That means areas that have not been prepared for planting.

Solomon is not writing a manual on farming techniques.  He is looking at spiritual and life issues.  The people involved here are the poor.  We are looking at a comment about the poor.  They are lacking in what life has to offer and yet we are told there is “abundant” (7230) potential.  This is a Biblical view of the nature of man.  We are created in God’s image.  Each of us has a world of potential.  Often it is not used.

The apostle Paul talked about spiritual gifts.  He seems to say that each of us has a spiritual gift.  How often are those spiritual gifts not used.  How much does society suffer from that?  How weak is the church because of that?  How pointless does your life seem because of that?

So?  God has given you hidden resources.  Find out your spiritual gift and put it to work.  Maybe you will find that you are not spiritually poor any more and you will become an asset to those around you. 

Spiritual Gifts Show

(Proverbs 18:16 KJV)  A man's gift maketh room for him, and bringeth him before great men.

“Gift” (4976) could refer to a bribe or to a spiritual gift.  Usually it means to physically give something and is sometimes translated “bribe.”  I think in this context it means more of a spiritual gift.  I say that because the term used for “great men” (1419) seems more a term of respect and honor than just power.

Every believer has at least one gift of the Spirit.  What this is saying is that this special attribute “makes room” (7337) for you.  We are to apply our spiritual gift in the building up of the body of Christ.  It will have a correlation in the outside world that will be spill over.  Don’t be surprised if the person with gifts of leadership ends up being the spokesman or the organizer.  Don’t be surprised if the person with the gift of teacher ends up making a presentation at work.  Spiritual gifts have wide application.

So?  What is your spiritual gift?  If you have no idea you might examine the things you are asked to do and investigate how that would apply in spiritual terms. 

Gifts Applied

(Proverbs 12:14 KJV)  A man shall be satisfied with good by the fruit of his mouth: and the recompence of a man's hands shall be rendered unto him.

At first this seems like an observation.  On rereading, it seems like it might be a command to be “satisfied” (7646).  I guess this is another case of both/and instead of either/or.

This is another approach to the Protestant Work Ethic, aka Bible Work Ethic.  We are expected to work and produce in our lives.  God doesn’t really have a lot of time for parasites.  What I like about this verse is that it extends the concept of work beyond being a farmer.  This verse reminds us that there are many ways to contribute to the world, society and the kingdom.

Some of us contribute the “fruit” (6529) of our “mouth" (words NASB) (6310).  We are talkers and writers.  Give me a board, a square and a saw and I will produce a mess.  Give me a word processor and I will show you how to make it sing.

Some of us contribute the “recompense" (deeds NASB) (1576) of our “hands” (3027).  If you go back and read the sections about the building of the tabernacle, you will see that the gift of craftsmanship was given by the Holy Spirit.  In my mind that puts it on the list of spiritual gifts.  You can be a carpenter for Jesus just as readily as a preacher. 

Some are so blessed that they can contribute in both areas.  I think of such overlooked contributions as mothering children or making your home the playground for neighborhood children who have no adults at home.

So?  Accept who you are.  If you take a back seat let it be because Jesus is teaching someone else to drive.  Be a blessing in your way, not the way your older brother does it.

Offering, a Bribe?

(Proverbs 29:4 KJV)  The king by judgment establisheth the land: but he that receiveth gifts overthroweth it.

When I first went through Proverbs, our nation has just allowed congress to bail out the large banks of the country.  If you follow the money you can see easily that this is a clear case of “bribes” (8641) given to corrupt politicians, representing the “king” (4428), and corrupt business leaders.  All they can see is the short term increase in their wealth and power.  If they see the damage they are doing to the country and liberty, they don’t care.  They think their position will shield them from the consequences.  They are probably right.

We are not politicians, or at least I assume none of us are.  None of us in one swoop can damage the entire country by one action.  Yet, this is a Biblical truth and applies to us.  How?  Any time we allow personal gain to harm others we are part of this problem.  It comes down to the word “bribes”  (8641), KJV has “gifts.”  I assumed this was the word that is used interchangeably with “gifts”.  I could not have been more wrong.  This is actually the word for offerings.  In the definition it specifically says “for sacred uses.”  Let me quote a familiar verse:

(Malachi 3:8 KJV) Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings.

Our word here is “offerings.”  This is saying to us that any time we misuse what we should be giving to God, we are damaging the “stability of the land.”

We contribute in our own little ways.  Each decision effects us and a few others.  When enough people compromise then you have what the nuclear scientists would call “critical mass.”  In physics you have an explosion.  In society you have genuine harm.  If the critical mass reaches the right level you have God moving to chastise a nation.

So?  Are you faithful in your giving to God?  Some people freak-out at the concept of tithing.  In the Bible, the tithe is the beginning platform, not the ultimate goal.  What about your spiritual gifts?  Are you using them for the glory of God?  For many of us the issue is bigger than money.  Think, pray, meditate, act.

Comments Are Love in Action

(1 Corinthians 12:20-1 KJV)  But now are they many members, yet but one body.  And the eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no need of thee: nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you.

Recently I received a comment from Stan at According to the Book.  You can read it HERE.  This is an example of how the internet can be a tool for building our spiritual lives.  One of the gifts of the spirit that I do not have and do not understand is the gift of Mercy.  People with this gift drive me crazy.  I keep wondering what is wrong with them.  The problem is not in them, it is in me.  I need a constant reminder of that and this comment pointed it out, oh so gently.  I don’t know if it was the intent of the writer, but it was the intent of God.  I don’t know that I would change what I said, but when you deal with issues that can discourage the innocent you need to keep such things as mercy on the edge of your mind.  And of course the opposite is true.  When we are feeling compassion for people we need to be honest about their contribution to the problem.  This is part of the meaning of the Body of Christ and the way in which the gifts work together.

So keep using the web as a spiritual tool.  Keep writing.  Keep reading.  Above all keep open to the teaching of the Holy Spirit as we give and take.  I have another post that I read on another blog that is bouncing around in my head.  I may respond on line but the work is being done in my soul.  Preach it brothers!  (and of course sisters)