WISDOM AND ENEMIES - Part I

Wisdom is something that will save your butt every time. If we take an honest look at the things that have caused us the most pain, and not stopped at the shallow level of blaming someone or something as the cause of the pain, we can get to the bottom line of truth: we didn’t use wisdom and our choices bit us in the butt at the very least and completely chewed it off in some cases.

I was recently asked about the relationship between wisdom and doing good to your enemies, prompted by a verse in the book of Proverbs in the Bible which is quoted by Jesus about doing good to those who hate or persecute you.

While it is true that Jesus wants us to love our enemies by doing good to them instead of repaying evil for evil, He also expects balance. Wisdom says you don’t walk more than once behind a horse that kicks. You can forgive the horse for kicking you (the well-known “70 times 7 Rule” that humbled Peter), but you don’t walk behind him again. To do so would be foolish. Shooting the horse for kicking you would be repaying evil for evil. Forgiving the horse for kicking you and purposely not walking behind him again is wisdom.

The catch seems to be somewhere in between. Most people who have been kicked by the proverbial horse will waste vast amounts of time and energy trying to teach the horse not to kick. This is insanity. When there are so many horses with a compliant and pleasant disposition, why would you waste time trying to change the very nature of the one that kicks? Many years of raising and training horses has taught me this: you can teach a horse not to kick but the amount of frustration and time it takes to accomplish it is not worth it. You will only change the behavior … you will never take his “want to” away. The end result is a horse that will give you the action you desire but will never give you his heart or trust. It will be a continuous battle of wills.

Why would you desire a constant fight rather than a peaceful, pleasant ride? Wisdom says, “Accept the horse as he is, knowing his faults, and work around them. Let him be useful for whatever purpose he was created, but don’t walk behind him.” If you are intent on getting the horse to behave as you think he should, that is not wisdom – that is a dual issue of pride and control. Pride says, “I’m not going to let that horse get the best of me! I’ll show him who’s boss!” Control says, “He just doesn’t understand that it’s in his best interest to (fill in the blank). I know what’s best and he needs to comply. If he would just do things my way, everything would be fine. If he doesn’t do what I want, I’ll make his life miserable until he complies.”

We all know there are times in life that people can seem to be our enemies. Horses are much easier to work with than people! It is especially difficult when a person continues to inflict pain on you despite your best efforts to do them good. This is where God expects us to use wisdom, the root of which is love.   

To be continued …

GOOD FRIDAY (Posted by request)

I wrote this last week on Good Friday. It was suggested I post it here.

Since yesterday I've been telling Jesus how much I appreciate what He had to endure at the hands of man and on the cross to pay for my sin and to redeem me from Hell. My mind cannot really wrap around how expansive, deep, and complete Christ's work is. I just know that the blood He shed was perfect and entire, obtaining salvation and forgiveness for all of us.

It may sound illogical but I really dislike Good Friday. Not because I don't want to celebrate Jesus' overcoming sin, Hell, and death - there is no greater thing to celebrate in this world or the next! - but because of the pain involved. It hurts me in a place I cannot even describe. Every one of those horrible blows Jesus took - every spit in his face, every hair of his beard pulled out, every lash that ripped open His back - rightfully belong to me. Knowing He took all that, plus the weight of every sin of every person of all generations past, present, and future, as He hung mutilated on that cross is more than I can bear at times. Keeping that reality at a safe distance intellectually is how I deal with it most of the time. But not on Good Friday.

This is the day when I force myself to look at the reality of how my Jesus suffered because of me. Because of MY sin. I have to own it, to let it fully sink in and break the Safe Distance Barrier so it transfers from my brain to my heart - to my very soul. After the nausea and heartsickness subsides, and pained prayers have stopped flowing, I realize that it was FOR my very soul that Jesus did what He did. It's personal. It's not a "for the masses" thing - even though it was. It's a very personal, intensely intimate, thing.

I love Him so much, and it hurts me beyond measure to know what He suffered. After all these years, I still can't comprehend that kind of love.

No Man Is An Island ... More Than Just a Simon & Garfunkle Song

Why is it everyone wants the freedom to do or say whatever they want, whenever they want, but don't want to be held personally accountable for their own actions, words or thoughts?

I'm all for freedom and I'll be the first to get my dander up if I feel one of our liberties, rights, or privileges are being infringed upon (yeah, I'm one of "those." I don't like big government, no matter what party it is, and I hold the Constitution of the United States as it was originally written and intended to be one of the most sacred - for lack of a better term - documents we have.) However, I'm not talking about political ideologies.

I post the question on a personal level. I want to challenge people to think about the ramifications of their words, actions, and thoughts because they DO affect all those around them - whether intended to or not. 

Why do we act with such bravado, then get angry when someone asks us to explain ourselves? Are we so distorted by pride that we feel we are above being questioned for our own actions or words? I pondered this thought and came to some conclusions for myself, whether or not anyone else agrees.

We know there are two kinds of pride. One type is the pride you feel in doing something well, or when your child or someone you love has accomplished something at which they have been working, or it is what you feel with the person you love or admire because they exemplify solid character, etc.

The other type of pride is the kind that warps reality. It blinds people to their real condition. Pride is the root cause of not being able to admit when we are wrong. Pride causes us to focus on the faults in others so we can feel better about ourselves. "At least I'm not like so-and-so!" Pride is false confidence, which is why some people get angry when they are questioned about their actions, words, or beliefs.

I would venture to say that anyone who is not willing to be held PERSONALLY accountable for their actions, words, thoughts, or beliefs is acting out of self-centeredness and pride rather than true confidence. When someone truly knows or believes something, they don't feel defensive about that thing. It just IS. Truth cannot be changed. You can disagree with it, dislike it, war against it, or pretend it doesn't exist ... but it cannot be changed.

This brings me back to my original point. Everything we do affects someone or something. We cannot act irresponsibly in the name of freedom, and we cannot refuse to give account for ourselves, for that would be anarchy. We are not demi-gods who have the self-appointed right to do or say whatever, whenever, to whomever, then dare anyone to say one word to the contrary.

This type of mindset and behavior requires no thinking. It stubbornly refuses true self-reflection because it doesn't want to see any personal faults. How do we grow if we don't take an honest self-assessment on occasion? You can't leave rotten fish in the refrigerator without it stinking up the whole kitchen! We are all mortal humans and we all have rotten fish that needs to be thrown out from time to time, and we are not above reproach or beyond question.

Intelligent people question until they find an answer. When they arrive at the truth, they can hold to it with pure confidence. They are not shaken by being questioned and are more than willing to be personally accountable. Truth is never intimidated.