The upright life of the Christians
“Do not love sleep, or you will become poor; Open your eyes, and you will be satisfied with food. ‘Bad, bad,’ says the buyer, But when he goes his way, then he boasts. There is gold, and an abundance of jewels; But the lips of knowledge are a more precious thing. Take his garment when he becomes surety for a stranger; And for foreigners, hold him in pledge. Bread obtained by falsehood is sweet to a man, But afterward his mouth will be filled with gravel. Prepare plans by consultation, And make war by wise guidance” (Proverbs 20:13-18).
A few months ago, we had a time to read and share the words of Titus 2 in our small group Bible study. At that time, one of the brothers in Christ said that the people who believed in Jesus seemed worst that the non-believers. I didn’t know exactly what he meant. But when he explained to us what happened to him after the Bible study and during the meal time, I was able to understand the meaning of his words in more detail. And I had to agree with what he said. There are so many time we became speechless because we Christians not only be the light and the salt in this world but rather we are worse than unbelievers. When I think about what the cause is, I think one of the reasons is that we are not very good at learning “sound doctrine,” as Titus 2:1 says. As a result, we are not “sound in speech” (v. 8) and sound in life.
I would like to learn four lessons from Proverbs 20:13-18 under the heading “The upright life of the Christians.” I hope and pray that we may be able to live as true Christians in this world by taking these lessons and keeping them as best as we can.
First, we must have the right lifestyle.
Look at Proverbs 20:13 – “Do not love sleep, or you will become poor; Open your eyes, and you will be satisfied with food.” When we meditate on the Book of Proverbs, there are many teachings about laziness and diligence. One of the teachings can be found in Proverbs 6:9-11: “How long will you lie down, O sluggard? When will you arise from your sleep? ‘A little sleep, a little slumber, A little folding of the hands to rest’-- Your poverty will come in like a vagabond And your need like an armed man.” When we meditate this Proverbs 6:9-11 in connection with Proverbs 20:13, the conclusion we can make is that a lazy person likes to sleep and s/he will become poor. Therefore, the Bible says “Open your eyes," that is, stay awake (20:13). In other words, stay awake when we need to work. For example, in Proverbs 6: 6-11, like the ant who prepares her food in the summer and gathers her provision in the harvest, we shouldn’t sleep but should work when we have to work. Then we will be satisfied with food (20:13).
In the Bible, God has told us many times to stay awake. For example, look at 1 Thessalonians 5:6 – “So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be alert and self-controlled.” Then what should we do as we stay awake and are alert? We must pray. Look at Colossians 4:2 – “Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving.” In the Bible, the topic that is often associated with the word ‘be alert’ is prayer. In other words, the Bible tells us to stay awake, be alert and continue to pray. Why does the Bible command us to stay awake, be alert and continue to pray? The reason is so that we may not be tempted. Look at Matthew 26:41 – “Keep watching and praying that you may not enter into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” Another related theme in the Bible that is in connection with ‘be alert’ is the Second Coming of the Lord Jesus. Look at Matthew 24:42 – “Therefore be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming.” We must be awake and be alert because we don’t know which day the Lord will come again. This is what Luke 21:36 tells us: “But keep on the alert at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are about to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.” The Bible says that we should keep on the alert at all times and pray.
Here, the thing that we should know is that the right lifestyle of the Christians is not to like to sleep but to wake up and work diligently. This reminds me the hymn “Work, for the Night is Coming”:
(1) Work, for the night is com-ing: Work through the morn-ing hours;
Work while the dew is spark-ling; Work 'mid spring-ing flowers;
Work while the day grows bright-er, Un-der the glow-ing sun;
Work, for the night is com-ing, When man's work is done.
(2) Work, for the night is com-ing: Work through the sun-ny noon;
Fill bright-est hours with la-bour, Rest comes sure and soon;
Give ev-'ry fly-ing min-ute Some-thing to keep in store;
Work, for the night is com-ing, When man works no more.
(3) Work, for the night is com-ing: Un-der the sun-set skies,
While their bright tints are glow-ing, Work, for day-light flies;
Work till the last beam fad-eth, Fad-eth to shine no more;
Work, while the night is dark'-ning, When man's work is o'er.
Like these lyrics, we cannot deny that there is a night when we will no longer able to work. And we know that that night will come quickly. Therefore, we must work when we need to work and not play. And when we need to work, we should like to sleep, but we must work diligently. This is the right lifestyle of the Christians.
Second, we must speak the right word.
Look at Proverbs 20:14 – “Bad, bad," says the buyer, But when he goes his way, then he boasts.” How do you bargain with a seller when you go to buy something, whether it's a department store or a market? I still remember that in December 2003, when I came back to the United States from South Korea and went to buy a car with my father-in-law, I went to few car dealerships in the Buena Park area. And I remembered that I had an impression that I should buy a car like my father-in-law. When he was dealing with the salesman, he kind of said that the price of the car was too expensive. And he told him that we would go to another dealership. Then the salesman seemed to say that he would be able to lower the price of the car. So he actually lowered the price and my father-in-law bought Honda Pilot for us. I also tried to deal with a person in the car wash when I went to wash my car. The person said that since my car was SUV, I had to pay $15. But I told him that whenever I came her, they charged me $12.99. So the guy changed the price from $15 to $13. In Proverbs 20:14, what King Solomon tried to say was that the buyer who tried to bargain with the seller said “Bad, bad” in order to intentionally cut the price of the item. He does so in order to show off his cleverness (MacArthur).
Have you ever experienced this? In this age of purchasing various kinds of goods over the Internet, we as buyers of goods must not only like the things we want to buy, but also the prices must be low. But for the people who sell them, I am sure they want a higher price. Therefore, the buyer and the seller must negotiate with each other, but at a price that is already set, the buyer can't do anything much with the seller. Most of the things we buy on the Internet seem to be like that (except for the auction sites). However, if it is possible to control the price of the goods, the buyer of the goods wants to negotiate with the seller. But in negotiations with the buyer who want to buy the goods cheaply and the seller who need to earn more income, I think it’s hard to be pure and honest in their conversation. In particular, in the salesman’s point of view, it won’t be easy for him to be honest with the buyer about price and the goods because he has to earn more money. So he may have to exaggerate and maybe even lie. But we Christian salesmen should say the right thing. In other words, we should not lie and deceive people who buy things from us. What is the reason? The reason is because the Lord detests it (v. 10). Our God hates differing weights and differing measures (v. 10). God hates lying and deceiving. Look at Proverbs 20:17 – “Food gained by fraud tastes sweet to a man, but he ends up with a mouth full of gravel.” What does it mean? At first, food gained by fraud tastes sweet, but later on, the result is very unpleasant and uncomfortable, like eating sand in the mouth (Walvoord). In other words, the food that is cheated and is eaten at first but it will be later woe to us. This reminds me Proverbs 9:17 – “Stolen water is sweet; And bread eaten in secret is pleasant.” Food that has been deceived and water that is stolen or secretly eaten rice cake seem to taste good at first, but later on the consequence of the dishonest behavior can never taste good. The problem is that even we Christians later lie and deceive others, even to some degree, knowing the consequences of our wrong choice.
We must not lie. As Christians, we should not deceive others. Rather, we must say the right thing. We must speak the truth. We must say the right thing, speak the truth, and our lips must be wise lips. Look at Proverbs 20:15 – “There is gold, and an abundance of jewels; But the lips of knowledge are a more precious thing.” In order for our lips to be wise, we must speak knowledge with our lips. As Christians, we must speak our knowledge of God. We must speak of knowledge of the Bible and of knowledge of Jesus. We must speak the wise words and the right words in right times (Walvoord).
Third, we must do the right love.
Look at Proverbs 20:16 – “Take his garment when he becomes surety for a stranger; And for foreigners, hold him in pledge.” What if your loved one asks you to hold you in pledge, what will you do? Especially if you know that your loved one is incapable of paying you back with money, will you still stand surety for your loved one or will you gently reject it? The Bible Proverbs 6:1-5 teaches us about standing surety our neighbor. The point of the lesson is that if we have become surety for our neighbor (v. 1) and we have been snared into the hands of our neighbor (vv. 2-3), if we assume the responsibility of paying the debt of our neighbor, then we must deliver ourselves (v. 5). Here, what the author of the Book of Proverbs King Solomon warns us is the act of foolishness. And the foolish act is to promise ourselves a responsibility of pledge for the person who defaults, knowing that s/he is indebted to others and s/he cannot pay back. Of course, I don't think the Bible warns that making a pledge here is in itself the foolish act. The reason is because when our neighbor is in financial trouble, being a guarantor for that neighbor can be a practice of Christ's neighbor love. But the foolish act that King Solomon warns here is that if a guarantee is given, it will not be a guarantor who is not prepared to take responsibility in the event of an accident, a person who is deceived by another, a guarantor, or an insurer who is incapable of performing responsibilities.
In Proverbs 20:16, King Solomon warns of a possible mistake in people's acts of pledge. And the mistake is that the person who makes a pledge for another person whom s/he doesn’t know well cannot get anything back. The question we can ask here is why do we make pledge for the person whom we don’t know well? Dr. Park Yun-sun is referring to this behavior as ‘economic adventure’ (Park). How big is this economic adventure? Whether we lend money to someone who is unable to pay off our debts or make a pledge, these actions can result in significant economic loss to the person who gave the loan. Of course, we may say that the moneylenders are earning a lot of money by lending their money to people who can't even pay back their debts by forcing them to even pay the interest of the their money. But many times the Bible warns us the adventurous acts of pledge (6:1-5, 11:15, 17:18, 22:26-27). Dr. Yun-sun said: ‘The people (especially believers) fail when they are economically adventurous, because their excessive economic adventurous is a kind of unbelief. Such an adventure is to disregard God as if to claim tomorrow's work by human power (Jam. 4:13-17)’ (Park). What do you think about the phrase ‘excessive economic adventure is a kind of unbelief’? Do you agree?
As I meditate on the Book of Proverbs, I feel more desperately in need of God's wisdom in loving my neighbor with God's love. For example, in my introduction, I mentioned about how I talked with the brother in Christ after the Bible study. We also talked about how we should love our neighbors. I shared with him some things that God taught me in my life, and one of them was devoted to trust another person as I trust in God. The reason is because even though we trust our neighbor, entrusting everything and loving him or her like a family member, but s/he can betray us and we will be hurt and thus we cannot trust anybody anymore. Another thing I shared with him is that in loving our neighbor, we don’t have to tell all the truth of our hearts to our neighbor. I personally like to share my life transparently. But one day when I was reading the story of Samson in Judges 16, I was little bit shock. The reason is when Delilah pressed Samson daily with her words and urged him to tell the secret of his great strength, Samson’s soul was annoyed to death (vv. 15-16) so he told her everything (v. 17). So I shared that lesson with the brother in Christ that no matter how dear other person may be to us, we don't have to tell everything to him or her. It is lesson that we need to be self-control in loving our neighbors. And among the self-control, we must know how to say “No” politely but firmly when we should say no. I think one of thing that we must say “No” politely but firmly is when our neighbors ask us to hold a pledge for them. Of course, if we have the economic ability to pay off the debt and make the pledge for our loved one, then we can do so because it will be no problem. But if we hold the pledge for our neighbor even if we don’t have economic ability to pay off the debt but borrowing money from other people here and there, then that’s not loving our neighbors wisely. I think we need to take seriously what Dr. Park Yoon-sun said that such economic adventure comes from distrust of God. The lesson that the Bible teaches us is that we give financial help to our loved ones who need financial help rather than to guarantee it for them (Deut. 15:1-15; 19:17) or to lend money without receiving the interest (cf. Leviticus 25:35-38; 28:8).
We must love right in the sight of God. The right love is to love in the Lord and in the truth. Love that is outside of the truth of God is never right love. We must love our neighbors according to the Word of God. In particular, as Proverbs 20:16 says, we must be careful of making pledge for others. If we make a mistake in the guarantee for our neighbor’s debt, the consequences cannot be avoided. Furthermore, the result is that we will hide the glory of God. Therefore, in loving our neighbor, we should wisely judge about guaranteeing our other person’s debt and shouldn’t make the mistake.
Fourth, we must do the right management.
Look at Proverbs 20:18 – “Prepare plans by consultation, And make war by wise guidance.” Wal Mart, which has been very successful in the U.S. market, has made inroads around the world on the basis of its success in the U.S. market (1998 in Korea). But the company suffered so much just in the Korean market. Do you know why? The reason is because the low price that wasn’t right for the Korean consumers’ propensity. For example, the Korean consumers hate the warehouse-type store, which is a representative form of large discount stores, and they want to display products in the same way as department stores. But Wal-Mart completely ignores this customers’ inclination. As a result, Wal-Mart was completely defeated in competition with Korean companies, who are familiar with Koreans like E-Mart, and sold all their business in Korea to E-Mart (Internet). In relation to this result and today's text, Proverbs 20:18, there must be "consultation" and wise "guidance" in management. A good example is an advice given by Moses' father-in-law Jethro to Moses in Exodus 18:17. The background of the advice was that Moses sat down to serve as judge for the people of Israel, and the people stood around Moses from morning till evening (v. 13). As a result, his father-in-law Jethro knew that that will only wear Moses out because the word was too heavy for Moses and he couldn’t handle it alone (v. 18). So Jethro advised Moses to select capable men from all the people – “men who fear God, trustworthy men who hate dishonest gain” – and appointed them as officials over thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens and have them serve as judges for the people at all times (vv. 21-22). When Moses heard the words of his father-in-law Jethro, he did everything he said (v. 24). “He chose capable men from all Israel and made them leaders of the people, officials over thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens” (v. 25). And they served as judges for the people at all times (v. 26). “The difficult cases they brought to Moses, but the simple ones they decided themselves” (v. 26). Like this, in management, consultation (advice) and guidance is necessary and important. In addition to Proverbs 20:18, look at Proverbs 15:22 – “Without consultation, plans are frustrated, But with many counselors they succeed.” And the Bible says “many advisers make victory sure” (11:14). In order to win the war, we need to have wise guidance (20:18).
One economics professor says that the Bible emphasizes more on the economy than any economics textbook. It is said that there are 1,600 times the passage that mentions economy and management throughout the New and Old Testament. In that sense, the Bible is an excellent economic and management textbook (Internet). ‘An example of a biblical economy and management model is the Torah economy. This economy is characterized by the separation of ownership and management. The Bible separates ownership and management from the beginning. If so, who is the owner? God. Who is the manager? We who are delegated management. We are delegated and managing God's own property or wealth’ (Internet). This is one of the three aspects that we Christians must have, that is the biblical perspective of wealth. In other words, the biblical perspective of wealth is that God is the owner of the wealth and we are the managers. The difference between the biblical economy and the general economy is that while the general economy mainly studies what we earn, the Bible teaches us how to use what we earn (the Internet). This is what Proverbs 16:1 and 16:3 says: “The plans of the heart belong to man, But the answer of the tongue is from the LORD. … Commit your works to the LORD And your plans will be established.” What do these verses teach us? We must commit our works to the Lord. What is the reason? The reason is because only God's plan and His work will be done. Look at Isaiah 14:24 – “The LORD Almighty has sworn, "Surely, as I have planned, so it will be, and as I have purposed, so it will stand.”
We are Christians. We must live right lives as Christians. In order to live a right life, we must have the right lifestyle, must speak the right word, do the right love, and do the right management. Then we will be able to faithfully play the role of light and salt as Christians in this world.