Proverbs 16:7 When a man's ways please the Lord, he makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.There are several things to note about this verse. Most important is that it is a proverb, not a law. This is wisdom that is wise when it is applied correctly in the right situations, but it is not a law that governs all situations regardless of context. Scripture is the best commentary on itself, and we know this proverb doesn't teach that any time your enemy is against you that you are clearly not pleasing the Lord. Cain and Abel are the first example. Abel's sacrifice clearly was pleasing to the Lord, yet Cain killed him. Jesus and Paul teach us of the reality of persecution as well. “Blessed are those who are persecuted for My Name's sake,” Jesus says.
Nevertheless, this is a wise proverb. And I've felt the Spirit pressing me into the truth of this proverb and moving me to wrestle with Him on how to apply it in ways that are actually wise.
First, this is about pleasing the Lord. These are our actions and responses that He finds pleasing, acceptable, or delightful. And what does He find pleasing, acceptable, and delightful? Those things that reflect Him. It's our first and most important task – bearing His image in His creation. I'm reminded of God's words of David whom He called a man after God's own heart. Something about how David thought reflected how God thought. “Let the words of my mouth and meditations of my heart be acceptable in Your sight ….” A great verse on which to meditate is Romans 12:1-2. There, it's not conformity to the world but transformity which results in discernment in terms of the will of God – those things He finds good, acceptable, and perfect.
12 I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. 2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.It's interesting to have this wisdom in Proverbs that links such transformation that leads us to pursue God's loves and desires with a surprising peace with even our enemies. I've run with a lot of different denominations and independent churches of various backgrounds. I don't remember a time growing up in any of these churches when their teaching linked obedience to God with peace with our enemies.
Yet that is the wisdom from Proverbs. He makes EVEN his enemies at peace with him. The word even indicates that he has expansive peaceful relationship. It's not just his enemies, but this peace in relationships extends from those closest to him out. It's shalom—that amazing, sometimes nebulous state that dominates instructions in Scripture. It's the ultimate manifestation of human flourishing. Peace.
I think whether we realize it individually or not, our denomination or independent church's view of the end times affects how we respond in days of persecution. I used to hang with the independent baptists who held a fairly strict Jenkins/LaHaye view of how the end times would play out. Now I hang with the presbyterians who lean toward viewing most of Matthew 24 as fulfilled during the brutal fall of Jerusalem when the temple was destroyed. For a thorough exploration of Scripture on this topic, I enjoyed The Last Days According to Jesus by R. C. Sproul. He surveys the issues well though he doesn't draw many conclusions.
All that to say, Proverbs 16:7 gives us valuable wisdom that isn't to be thrown out even if you believe that we are now in the last days heading down a road of increasing persecution until Christians are marginalized in the corner trying to beat off persecutors. If you tend more to believe that His kingdom has come and is coming more and more, that He ushered in something at His death and resurrection that is transforming the whole of the world, it's probably easier to envision how Proverbs 16:7's wisdom applies today.
Proverbs 16:7 gives us wisdom that guards us against the Us v. Them mentality that has characterized mankind since Cain v. Abel. Despite repeated instructions by Jesus and Paul on a correct view of, love for, and response to our perceived enemies, Christians still to this day default back into an Us v. Them mentality every time a major issue comes up. I can't control the mass tendencies of those who call themselves Christians, but I can, as the Holy Spirit applies Scripture to myself, make a difference in my own response. Christ Himself is the great example of what it looks like to please the Lord. If you struggle today envisioning this for yourself, the Gospels are always a good place to start. When I ask myself what is pleasing to God in this moment, always, the first rule that comes to mind is LOVING GOD with all my heart and LOVING MY NEIGHBOR as myself. If you, like me, then wonder next, “Well, what does loving my neighbor look like in this context,” I'll leave you with Paul's clear definition of this love from I Corinthians 13, which for me usually removes any doubt whatsoever of what I need to do next.
4 Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant 5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; 6 it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. 7 Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. 8 Love never ends.
7 comments:
Thank you for this post.. This morning these same thoughts were on my mind and your post has confirmed what the Lord was already speaking to me!
thank you for putting so clearly and eloquently what i have been thinking about in light of what has been going on recently. i always appreciate your wisdom and insight.
Another Proverb comes to my mind--a soft answer turns away wrath. Jesus would tell them the truth and then discern if a person was willing to turn away from their sin. Then He would say "go and sin no more." We must love others enough so that we would be willing to tell them the truth. I was listening to the Bible Answer Man on the radio the other day and he said that we won't change the minds of the homosexual activists by arguing with them. I'm praying that God will turn their eyes from darkness to light, from the power of Satan to the power of God. We can ask questions to get them thinking. I would hope they could see that same sex people are not built to have sex with each other. It's common sense.
Thank you, thank you, thank you. AND AMEN!
This concept not only applies to our political neighbors, it also applies to our differing religious neighbors, and our neighbors inside the church. If I could only take my eyes off what "they" are doing wrong and how "they" are unloving, then I would free myself to keep my eyes on Jesus. He takes care of me, and He is responsible for what "they" are doing.
Thank you! This really put into words what I've been wrestling with and trying to figure out lately in response to all the vitrole online.
Thank you, Wendy, and others in your comments, for this timely and encouraging reminder to look to Jesus as our Standard.
Don’t know if you have any Chick-fil-a’s in your neck of the woods, Wendy. Can’t imagine they would do well in Seattle. Ya’ll eat fried chicken there? I imagine your family back South are in the midst of this controversy. Even so, it was probably hard not to get engulfed in this conversation of what support en masse for CFA means.
I love CFA, almost everything about it, from its food that I've eaten since my college days in the 70s to its CEO’s Biblical stands on positions. YetI have been under conviction to step back and think more carefully about what Christians are trying to accomplish in this en masse gathering to eat chicken together. Is it about First Amendment rights? Is that a Kingdom issue? Is it about “in your face, I don’t like your lifestyle” statement, Us versus Them that you mention? Is it about supporting a business of a godly man, and if we do that, do we need to do it en masse to make a statement?
No surprise what the world says about this, but it has been grievous to me hearing some of the harsh things people professing the name of Jesus have been saying to fellow Christians in this public debate. Jesus was about the Father’s business while here, and should we be as well. One thought that occurred to me on the Us versus Them mentality: unless we were reborn in Christ in our mother’s womb or at a very young age, we should remember that Us used to be Them. BUT by the grace of God go I.
A verse came to me this morning that seems to have a bearing on these conversations, from Psalm 44, “…we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.” Do we as Christians today in America believe this? Is this verse about the “rights” of Christians or about His righteousness and our usefulness to God? Might we in Christ be still and discern what the will of God is for us, what is good and acceptable and perfect, as you reminded us from God's word, to be a living sacrifice in whatever form that takes that God wants of us. And may we be prepared to be His sheep, possibly being slaughtered, whether that be in body or in reputation or loss of job or even possibly in loss of rights, and all for the glory of God.
I doubt anyone who knows the Lord Jesus would disagree that God and the Kingdom come first, eternal issues take priority, and while something like personal rights (right to speech) is not unimportant issue, it should be somewhere down the list of our priorities. Was this about God's glory or man's? Did the crowd at CFA on Wednesday convey, "don't like your lifestyle"? Perception is rather reality to some people, particularly those in darkness with no spiritual eyes to see the truth.
Was thinking today about the crowd that cried out, “crucify Jesus!” The Jews most likely thought they were doing the right thing, led by the religious leaders of the day, drawing “courage” from the masses, doing things they would probably not have done individually. We need to be careful when we gather with a crowd, including to "break bread" at CFA, that we know with whom we are hanging, and that a BIG crowd will make a BIG statement, and that statement needs to be clearly God-pleasing.
For those in Christ Jesus, we can rest in the finished work of our precious Savior on our behalf at the cross to remove the wrath of God on us for our sins as He satisfied the law that we could not. He overlooks our sins while we languish in darkness and brings us to His marvelous light. Should we overlook the sins of others in darkness as He brings them to His light? And maybe a more excellent reason to gather en masse is to pray and to celebrate the Risen Lord as it is VERY GOOD news indeed, that the wrath of God is removed at the cross, news we need to share with others, news we need to remind ourselves of every day that we might surrender our wills and our lives moment to moment to the Savior Who died for us!
Here's another verse I don't know if I've ever noticed before -- a friend raised my attention to it.
Exodus 23:4-5 If you come across your enemy's ox or donkey wandering off, be sure to take it back to him. If you see the donkey of someone who hates you fallen down under its load, do not leave it there; be sure you help him with it.
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