In a thought-provoking discussion, we unravel the nuances of proverbs that speak to the heart of work ethic and societal responsibility. Examining contrasts between laziness and diligence, this episode challenges prevailing cultural narratives about poverty, urging a reevaluation of how fear of failure and the pursuit of wealth influence behavior. Solomon’s timeless foresight acts as a guide for building strong foundations for financial prudence and societal contribution.
The CEM Network is pleased to present Ronald L. Dart and Born to Win.
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What father does not take pride in the accomplishments of his son? And what mother doesn’t glow with pride when her daughter is honored for her talents and her obvious abilities? And what parent doesn’t burn with shame when their children are shamed? I suppose we could say that Solomon was stating the obvious when he said, A wise son makes a glad father, but a foolish son is the heaviness of his mother. But if we pause and think about it, what does it say to the modern parent? Is this just a platitude? A wise parent makes a glad father, but a foolish son is the heaviness of his mother. Or is it a warning? It says this, and I think it’s important to know this. Your life is not going to work when your kids’ lives are coming apart. You can’t pursue and find your own happiness when you neglect the teaching, the training, and the loving of your own children. It’s amazing how many parents seem to think that children, well, they’re a nuisance. They’ve got to have them. You’ve got to feed them and clothe them and get them off to daycare. And that doesn’t matter. I’ve got to be happy. And if I’m not happy, well, we’ll just get a divorce. And it doesn’t matter if it tears the children’s lives up. I want to be happy. Well, say what you will. You’re not going to be. because your happiness is going to be bound up in the happiness of your children. That little rug rat crawling across the floor is learning every minute of every day whether you teach him or whether you neglect him. I’ve watched a lot of parents over the years, and I have noticed one powerful determinant in the character of children as they grow up. It’s this. It’s the time and attention given to them by mom and dad. I suppose that there are better and worse ways of teaching and training children, because I certainly have seen enough of a variety in the way people teach and train their children to know some are good and some aren’t so good. But all of them are better than neglect. All of them are better than abandonment. If you could just spend a little time thinking about this, it will become clear that there are things you can do now that will make a difference to the entire life of your child for years to come. I wrote a letter yesterday to my high school speech teacher. I’ve just got his address from years and years ago. And I wrote him a letter, and I wanted to tell him that of all the teachers I had known through all the years, he probably had made the biggest difference in my life. He made the biggest difference for a very simple reason. He caught me at a moment where I really needed somebody to help me make a turn, and he helped me make that turn. He encouraged me. He taught me some things I needed to know, and it has changed my entire life. Parents who are with their children regularly and constantly have so many opportunities to change the lives of their children for the better. And you might as well give this some attention. Because once you bring a child into the world, what Solomon is saying to you here is, your future happiness is permanently and inexorably tied to the happiness and success of that child. To think of it any other way is simply to fool yourself. And one of the hardest things to teach a child is that what works in the short term can kill you in the long term. It’s hard to teach a child, but you have to try. Solomon continues in Proverbs 10 and verse 2 to make the point this way. He says, Treasures of wickedness profit nothing, but righteousness delivers from death. The Lord will not suffer the soul of the righteous to famish, but he casts away the substance of the wicked. Now, you know that you would have a hard time convincing the wicked man that his ill-gotten gains don’t profit him, right? You’d have a terrible time. You’d say, look, that’s not going to do you any good while he’s there lighting up another cigar and drinking another glass of the most expensive wine. But God says there are laws out there that are not very well understood that will wreck the criminal’s life, even if God never lifts a finger. In the short term, a lot of things will work. There are all kinds of things that feel good in the short term. There are all kinds of things that help you get rich in the short term. But they will bring you down in the long term. Now, children can’t see long-term consequences. That’s why they have parents. But if the parents are not willing to engage in a little deferred gratification, if the parents are not willing to put off things that feel good, to put off things that just have short-term benefits but long-term pain, if parents are not willing to look at the long-term, how on earth can they ever expect their children to learn this? You see, there are things that make our lives work, and there are things that cause us to fail, and our children as well. Does anyone care what they are? Consider your child’s future economic well-being. Will the child turn out to be poor or financially secure? Will he arrive at age 65 a millionaire in that day’s money? Will he actually be well-to-do? Will he be comfortable, have his home paid for? Or would he be living on a grate, sleeping on a grate in the cold somewhere with a bottle of wine in his hand? Is all this just a matter of luck? Does it just happen? Well, Solomon says, no, it’s not. In chapter 10, verse 4 of the book of Proverbs, he says this, He becomes poor that deals with a slack hand, but the hand of the diligent makes rich. He that gathers in summer is a wise son, but he that sleeps in harvest is a son that causes shame. Now, it’s very plain in this passage that what Solomon is telling us is that there’s a cause-effect relationship between poverty and wealth. He said the person who deals with a slack hand, who does not do things diligently, who is half-hearted in the way he does his jobs, who is slipshod in the way he carries out a task, is going to wind up being poor. It’s the man who really carries through, who can be dependent on, who gets the job done and works with zeal and finishes it ahead of time. He’s the guy that’s going to do well. And it’s carried out in this expression, he that gathers in summer is a wise son. What he’s talking about is that there is a time of harvest, and most people would not even begin to harvest until the time. But the wise son keeps an eye on things so that when some crops get ready a little early, he goes right to work, gets the harvest done, even in summer, even when it’s hot, even when it’s really difficult to work because of the heat and the discouragement. He gets out there and gets the job done, and he’s ahead of the time. And what happens then is that the lazy man who waited until it cooled off gets ready to harvest, and the rain hits his crop and ruins it. He that gathers in summer is a wise son. He that sleeps in the harvest is a son that’s going to cause shame. Now, this is not to say that all poor people are lazy, but it does say that laziness is a cause of poverty. There are those who are poor through no fault of their own, and the Bible is very specific in admonishing us to care for these people. There are a lot of mentally ill people wandering around the streets of our society. They actually can’t help themselves. And a lot of these are the people who wind up sleeping on grates in the wintertime. Sometimes, because of their mental illness, they don’t take their medication. We need to look after these people. They are a responsibility of society. But there’s a category of people who are poor because they deal with a slack hand. They are slovenly, they are lazy, they do slipshod work if they work at all, and they sit around complaining because they are poor and envying the rich. Society has no obligation to care for this category of the poor. What the lazy poor need is a good dose of fear. Fear of hunger has sent a lot of people to work in the past and has kept them hard at their work. It’s not a bad thing. Now that sounds like a mean Old Testament idea, doesn’t it? but it is as much a New Testament idea as anything the apostles ever said. I’ll tell you about that when I come back in a moment.
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Before you take pen in hand, write me a letter and tell me how hard-hearted I am for suggesting that what some poor people need is a little dose of fear. I’d like for you to consider that we are New Testament Christians and we look to the New Testament for guidance, and let’s consider what the New Testament has to say about poor people who won’t, not can’t, but won’t work. The Apostle Paul wrote to the Thessalonians in his second letter, chapter 3, verse 7. He said, “…you yourselves know how you ought to follow us, because I never behaved myself disorderly among you, and I never ate any man’s bread for nothing.” I worked with labor and travail night and day because I did not want to be chargeable to any of you. Notice, he didn’t expect anybody to give him anything. He actually worked with his own hands. Not because we don’t have the power, he said. I did it to make an example so you would follow us. For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat. Okay, here is a Christian community that takes a firm line. You don’t work, you don’t eat. And we’re not talking about people who can’t work. We’re not talking about the helpless poor. We’re not talking about the handicapped poor. We’re not talking about anything like that. We’re not talking about children. We’re talking about people who can work but don’t because they are lazy and slovenly and won’t put forward the effort. They need a little fear of hunger. And Paul went on to say, We hear that there are some that walk among you disorderly, working not at all, but are busybodies. Now those that are such we command and exhort by our Lord Jesus Christ, that with quietness they work and eat their own bread, not someone else’s. Get a job, is what Paul said to these poor. Returning to the book of Proverbs now, though, a lot of passages in the Bible become clearer when you start noticing the structure of them. Many sections of Proverbs are composed of couplets. In other words, two ideas set right adjacent to one another, and a lot of them are inverse couplets. And this is really helpful because when you see these, you can often understand an obscure expression by comparing it with its opposite. An inverse couplet is two phrases that couple opposing statements. Here’s an example. Blessings are upon the head of the just, but violence covers the mouth of the wicked. The memory of the just is blessed, but the name of the wicked shall rot. It makes it really easy for you when the couplet is put together with a but in the middle. Blessings are upon the head of the just on the one hand, but violence covers the mouth of the wicked on the other. In the first couplet, justice and violence are set opposite one another. And what’s interesting is we are told that justice and violence bring opposite results. Blessings upon the just. Violence comes upon the wicked. The second couplet has to do with results as they affect your reputation. Your reputation is really important because it has to do with whether you can be trusted or not, right? And whether you can be trusted or not has everything to do with whether you can earn a living or not. I like the word rot as a description of what unjust conduct does to your reputation. Rot isn’t something that happens all at once. It doesn’t collapse. It happens over time, and it just eats and eats and eats. And what’s bad about it is that once you do something stupid that really screws up your reputation, the thing tends to have legs. It’s like a two-year-old. It has legs. It runs around breaking things, and it’s going to grow. And as a matter of fact, a lot of times you get a reputation for something like this. You suddenly find yourself accused of things you didn’t even do. And it’s hard to say no. It’s hard to deny it because everybody knows your reputation. And it is. It’s like a cancer. It’s like dry rot that’s gotten in there. And sooner or later, it’s going to bring your whole life down. Your reputation is important. Protect it. But you know, about the only way you can protect it is by living a just and an upright life. Solomon goes on in verse 8 of chapter 10 to say, The wise in heart will receive commandments, but a prating fool shall fall. This is the first of many proverbs that will contrast listening with running off at the mouth. Notice I didn’t say just listening with talking. I said running off at the mouth. Because some people just can’t keep their mouth shut. And even when they are not speaking, they are thinking not about what they’re hearing. They’re thinking about what they’re going to say next. They’re so occupied with themselves. A prating fool is going to fall because he isn’t listening when someone tells him something that will help him stand up. Now mind you, Solomon is talking about consequences, not punishment. The fall of the fool is inexorable. God need not lift a finger. I think some people presume upon the mercy of God. They think, well, I’m safe here. God, who is merciful, can be trusted not to punish me for this. And that’s quite true. But consequences are another matter from the punishment of God. Consequences are absolutely implacable. If you are stupid enough to flout safety rules, you don’t wear your goggles when you’re working on a grinder, and you lose an eye in the process. consequences are not going to feel sorry for you and give you your eye back. Isn’t that simple? You see, most of biblical law deals with consequences, and consequences don’t care. If this were wrong merely because God said so, and He could just let you off the hook, that would be fine. But God, while He will let you off the hook, doesn’t make consequences let you off the hook. If you lose an arm, it’s gone. If you’re paralyzed, your legs are gone. God isn’t going to give them to you back because God didn’t take them away. All this stuff we are talking here about wisdom and prating fools and noisiness, this all has to do with the natural consequences of living your life in a certain way. Now, I ask you, do you want your kids to know this? Do you want to know it? Or would you rather go through life and take your chances with the consequences? Solomon continues with these inverse couplets. He says that he that walks uprightly walks surely, but he that twists his ways, hey, we’re going to recognize him. He that winks with the eye causes sorrow, and a prating fool shall fall. You know, the winking of the eye is a symbol of the hidden message, a sign that some kind of deception is underway, that you and I are united. But this third party over here, wink, wink, nod, nod, nudge, nudge, he doesn’t get it. Solomon says, this is conduct befitting a fool. I got it. Don’t do it. Now listen carefully to the contrast in these couplets. They speak of actions and results. They speak of mistakes and consequences. I want to know about these, don’t you? I would like for my children to understand them. The mouth of a righteous man is a well of life, but violence covers the mouth of the wicked. Hatred stirs up strife. But love covers all sins. I think this is good stuff. You know, the mouth of a righteous man is a well of life. It’s a good place to go and let the bucket down and draw up water and drink deeply. And the analogy is apt because a righteous man is not necessarily going to be standing there telling you all the time what you ought to be doing. You’re supposed to go ask. Let down the bucket. Hear the water. Hear the splash. Pull up the water. You’re supposed to then drink. But the mouth of the wicked… It’s just covered with violence. It’s no place to go for information. Hatred is a rot that will eat away your soul. You know, strife is a fight. Solomon said hatred stirs up strife. And in a fight, people get hurt. People get hurt on both sides. Stifle your hatred of other people. Pour water on it. Get away and cool off. Nothing good can come of it. Now you can carry this idea of love covering sins a little too far. James says that we should not rush in to be teachers because us teachers shall be judged with special strictness. And so consequently when one of us who holds an office of a teacher or in the public eye are responsible in leading other people, when we have committed sin, It’s hurtful to cover it up. What he’s talking about here is whenever you have this hatred for somebody else who has committed a sin or somehow you think has hurt you, have some love. Cover it up. It does not mean that when someone in office, in public life, is corrupt, that you can’t call them on it. I’ll be back with more in just a few moments.
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And tell us the call letters of this radio station.
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Solomon makes a statement that, well, it’s a little disconcerting because it kind of runs a little bit counter to what we have been told about the Christian way of life. He said, the rich man’s wealth is his strong city. The destruction of the poor is their poverty. Now, I don’t think Solomon intends to tell us here that this is the way it should be. I think what he is doing is telling us that it’s the way it is. And if you look around you in our society, take, for example, the court system, you’ve got a really good illustration of it. I have no question there are a lot more innocent poor people in jail than there are innocent rich people in jail. Wouldn’t you agree? From anything I’ve been able to see, people who have got money have a fortress. They have a strong position. And they can oftentimes go to court, hire the best lawyers, hire detectives, hire the best witnesses, expert witnesses, and they can often win. When a poor sucker doesn’t have any money and has to depend on a public defender, whoever happens to come up in the rotation, well, that poor guy is headed for jail. All of us know that that’s the way it works. So what Solomon is not necessarily saying is what should be. He is saying what is. And you know, it occurs to me as I read this that it’s smart for us to consider what is and to make allowance for it instead of sitting around wishing things were different. You can sit around and moan and groan about the system all you want to. And the system will come out and grab you by the collar and throw you in a slammer. And you can sit in there and groan and moan about the system if you want to. But it seems to me that it might be better to handle it a different way, to start a little earlier and to think, okay, this is the way it’s going to be. I need to try to stay out of trouble. And not only do I need to stay out of trouble, I need for me and my family, for my children, and for all of us to be strong enough to resist when the time comes. That’s what money’s for. It’s to take care of yourself and to take care of your family. And there are good, legitimate ways not to grow rich. I think the person that’s in a hurry to be rich, the book of Proverbs will tell us later, will not go unpunished. It’s a stupid thing to do, especially if you start cutting corners to get there. But to live a life with prudence, with wisdom… to exercise the principle of deferred gratification. What does that mean? It means you don’t buy something until you can pay for it. That’s all it means. Don’t borrow money for consumer goods. Don’t waste your money on interest when you don’t have to. Put that money in the bank. Save it for your children so that as your children grow up, they can be fairly well-to-do. Teach your children the fundamental principles of how money works. You say you don’t know? Find out. There’s more information out there than you can digest. But go get some of it. Learn it. Learn what you can. Teach your children. That’s what this stuff is all about. It’s about a father who’s telling his son, son, you better take care of your money. Because a rich man’s wealth makes a strong city. And if you’re poor, you’re going to be out of luck. How do you get the money? Verse 16, the labor of the righteous tends to life. The fruit of the wicked, well, he’s more involved in sin than he is in work. He is in the way of life, Solomon said in verse 17, who keeps instruction. But he that refuses reproof errs, makes a big mistake. Now, reproof is a form of instruction. Somebody comes along and says, don’t do it that way, do it this way. Now, there are people who learn readily and recall what they have learned. They keep instruction. And then there are people who just won’t listen. Well, I’ll bet you know some of them. Who knows? You may even be one of them. Well, how do people get into these two different mindsets? Is it a habit? Are these learned behaviors, or are they something we’re just born with? Well, one would think that these are habits and behaviors that can be learned, and if they can be learned, then they can be taught habits. And that means that the effort to instill these ideas in your children can work. And if it can work, you have to do it. Learning is a matter not only of acquiring knowledge, but also of acquiring discipline. Because it takes discipline to say to yourself, I’m not going to buy that stereo until I can afford to pay cash for it. For why should I pay for it twice? That’s what you do when you use your credit card to buy it. I worry that discipline is getting short shrift in the educational process these days, not only at school, but also at home. How hard is it to teach a child that he doesn’t have to have everything he wants when he wants it? How hard is it to teach a child to wait for something that they want? We teach them, for example, that they’ve got to eat their vegetables and peas and all that kind of stuff before they can have their dessert. It occurs to me that the nutritional benefit of this is secondary. And what may be even more important for them to learn is… that there are some duties that have to be performed before the reward comes. How hard is it to teach children that? But enough about learning. Let’s get back to hatred. Verse 18. He that hides hatred with lying lips and he that utters a slander is a fool. Now here’s hatred again. And you know, I think what we see here is true. Probably one of the most common manifestations of hatred is the uttering of a slander. Because we don’t slander people we like. We don’t even spread the truth, that is the negative truth, about people we like. Usually, when we spread this slander, it is presented alongside some verbiage that is designed to hide the venom. Well, he really is a nice man, but, or, well, I really like her, but. He that hides hatred with lying lips, and he that utters a slander is a fool. And, you know, fool is just another word for a loser. Until next time, this is Ronald Dart, and you were born to win.
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