Wisdom: Developing Good Character. Selected Scriptures
We live in a world that is the devilÕs world, and the
devilÕs world is characterized by arrogance and deception. It should not be any
surprise to us when we look at the way the politicians and leaders of the
devilÕs world deal with the problems that are surrounding us. In the last 15-20
years we have become used to the hyperbole of politicians always speaking about
what I believe are pseudo crises. We have a healthcare crisis. We do but it is
not the one they identify. It is because of their ÔsolutionsÕ we are destroying
our entire healthcare industry. We have a global warming crisis, a climate
crisis. It is a climate crisis but it is not the one they identify because
global warming is just another hoax based on the fraudulent hypotheses of
scientists who are for the most part are operating on evolutionary
presuppositions in relation to their interpretations of meteorological
phenomena. We have an economic crisis, a crisis in the Middle East, and we
could go on and on. We have all these crises that politicians want to focus on
and emphasize so that they can reach their hands further and further into our
pockets to take more and more of our money.
So we have one crisis after another, and unfortunately
they are all pseudo crises. The real crises are crises that are foundational
and fundamental and are the real threat to our whole civilization and life. One
of those is a character crisis. It is no new thing for politicians and business
leaders and others to succumb to the baser drives of their sin nature to get
involved in everything from sexually immoral affairs to financial mismanagement
and embezzlement and things of that nature. Because we are all sinners; we all
have this problem with an internal enemy known in Scripture as the sin nature,
the flesh, and when people do not have the spiritual tools or are not willing
to use the spiritual skills to master and control their sin nature, and they
yield to the drives or the lust patterns of their sin nature, then these are
the things that are going to be manifest.
But when a culture is in spiritual ascendency as
western civilization was for centuries, and especially as the English-speaking
peoples were over the last 300 years, you see less and less of these kinds of
scandals and problems. It is till there; there is no perfect society and you
canÕt make a perfect society. But once you get into spiritual revolt, and
western civilization has been in revolt in one form or another for
approximately 200 years with the influence of rationalism and empiricism and 19th
century liberal scepticism and liberal theology, we see the poisonous fruit of
that way of thinking manifest itself in the character of the nation—which
is simply a manifestation of the character of the people in the nation. We are
living in a time when we have a serious and significant character crisis. And
what makes this character crisis so bad is that many, many people—not just
atheists, secularists, humanist liberals, but many conservatives,
Christians—have compromised so much of their ethical values that they
seek to somehow gloss over the serious consequences of sinful behavior.
Just look at what has happened recently in the whole
debate over same-sex marriage and the legitimization of sodomy. On the one hand
many Christians have gone way too far in trying to treat homosexuality as some
sort of extreme perverse sin that is somehow worse than any other sin. It may
be worse in some of its consequences but it is always listed in Scripture with
numerous other sins—sins of the tongue, mental attitude sins, other sins
of sexual immorality. All of these sexual sins and sins of immorality are evil
and destructive to a culture because they attack two of the foundational
institutions that are designed by God to provide stability to any culture and
any nation—marriage and the family. That is why the issue of homosexual
marriage is bad. But it is not a unique sin that is somehow unforgiveable.
Today we see political conservatives and Christian
conservatives somehow wanting to ameliorate the issue, glossing over it,
somehow trying to validate the homosexual lifestyle. That is just one example.
There are other examples—politicians, businessmen and pastors who have
gotten involved in various sins related to sexual immorality and character
flaws—and we have this crisis in our country today. We see everyone from
the president of the US to presidents and CEOs
of corporations and down to the every-day janitor and worker who believes that
his ethical standards can vary from day-to-day; they are based on pure
relativism. They often lie, employees steal from the corporation, people claim
credit for someone elseÕs work and lie about their own credentials, misrepresent
their expenses on expense reports; the list goes on and on. In many cases these
things are just normal, they have become accepted as the normative practice in
many sub-cultures in this country. The problem is that we have a nation now
that has lost its moral compass and people donÕt emphasize or understand
character.
The writer of Proverbs emphasizes character as part of
many things that are emphasized in this book. We have looked at things such as diligence,
hard work versus laziness and irresponsibility, righteousness versus
wickedness. This time we want to look at the issue of character, both the bad
points of character prohibited and warned against as well as the positive
character, and just help us think about the importance of developing good
character.
To begin this it is helpful to go to something that
has traditionally been called biblical psychology, a biblical understanding of
the immaterial nature of man. There is a difference between biblical psychology
and humanistic psychology. Biblical psychology is the study of what the Bible
teaches about the nature of man as a fallen creature and sinner. The makeup of
man as being composed of a physical body, a soul—which is comprised of his
mentality, his volition, his conscience, his self-consciousness—and a
spirit (for a regenerate person). The human spirit is that immaterial element
of his nature that enables the elements of the soul to have a relationship with
God. The enemy of the spiritual life, the enemy of every human being, is really
the sin nature. At the very core the Scripture teaches that at the very core
our sin nature, our desires that drive in our life—
even humanistic
psychologists realize that we have certain needs and certain drives and they
pervert that and put it in a false framework. This is why we always have to be
careful when reading any form of humanistic psychology. There is going to be
some truth there but it is not any different from the truth that a stopped
watch is right twice each day. They live in GodÕs creation and certain things
they must recognize and must admit to be true. But how they interpret it and
fit it within their framework for understanding life is where it gets all
confused
—lust patterns, of which there are different
kinds. But the basic orientation of lust is all about me. Every one of us believes that; that
is the orientation of our sin nature. We understand that, and scripturally we
just go back and read through Isaiah 14:12-14 where we have the reflection
LuciferÕs initial sin expressed through 5 ÒI wills.Ó It is that I that is at
the foundation of all sin and the sin nature. The lust patterns all have an
arrogant disposition. Arrogance is all about the self. We have self-absorption
and from the time we are born we are focused on what is going to make me feel
better. Whether it is food at the very beginning or sleep at the very
beginning, or whether it is more sophisticated things that we develop a taste
for as we go through life, it is all about making me feel good and making me feel
happy. That in its worst form has become known as narcissism, and we live in a
narcissistic culture that feeds and provides a rationale to justify that.
Whenever we have self-absorption it always leads to
self-justification. Self-justification isnÕt based on truth; it is based on
deception. Self-justification leads to self-deception. Self-deception leads to
a complete self-worship, self-deification. And so we have this pattern that
drives us forward.
There are two ways in which lust can manifest itself
and we talk about these in terms of human good and personal sins. Human good is
a difficult concept. It is a difficult thing for a lot of people to comprehend,
especially unbelievers. A good example is the Pharisees in the Bible. They are
doing everything right. We tend to look at them through the grid of hypocrisy
as they challenge Jesus. They reject His messiahship. But the fact is that if
you were going to portray someone who was doing everything right ethically,
morally that emphasized all of the great values of character it would be a
Pharisee. That is why Jesus said, ÒUnless your righteousness exceeds that of
the scribes and the PhariseesÉÓ He is not saying those were just a bunch of
hypocrite liars. They were that but so is everybody else. He is saying that
externally they look like they are doing it better than anybody else and your
righteousness has to be better than that. People would say they couldnÕt be as
good as a Pharisee, so how am I going to ever have the kind of righteousness
God expects?
And that was the whole point. All of our
righteousness, the Scripture says, is as filthy rags; it is never good enough
to acquire GodÕs favor. The righteousness God requires can only be ours if it
is given to us by God. That is called imputation in the Scriptures. And it is
imputed to us at the instant of faith alone in Christ alone. But while the
unbeliever and the believer out of fellowship cannot produce that quality of
righteousness they can live a moral and ethical life. Just look at a lot of the
religious groups and cults out there that emphasize a works based salvation.
The unbeliever can live a good life. It is just not good with a capital G; it
is just relative good. They can have a measure of character. Matthew 7:11 NASB ÒIf you then, being evil, know
how to give good gifts to your children ÉÓ That is a recognition that the sin
nature can produced relative good. And that is in the area where we are not so
easily tempted to sin.
The area of weakness is identified as
an area of weakness because that is where we easily succumb to temptation to
personal sin—mental attitude sins of worry, fear, anxiety, defeatism;
sins of the tongue—gossip, maligning; and overt sins. That is the basic
production level that comes out of the sin nature.
We all tend to trend in one of two
directions, and sometimes if you are really complex you can go in both
directions at the same time, and you are a bundle of contradictions. If you are
like the Pharisee and your trend is toward legalism then this produces moral
degeneracy. That is an odd term, because most people think of degeneracy as
something immoral or perverted. But morality can be perverted. Just go to a
church that emphasizes a works salvation. There are churches and cults that emphasize
works salvation and they are moral degenerates. That is the problem that the
Pharisees had when they were on the earth; they were moral degenerates. That
emphasis on morality in that culture ultimately led to such a divisiveness that
the Jews, when Judea revolted against Rome, had fragmented into so many
different sub-groups that when the Roman armies were attacking Jerusalem these
Jewish groups inside the walls were just as busy killing and fighting one
another as the Romans. It was a complete collapse. That is moral degeneracy.
They were all people who held to a high level of morality but it led to such a
high level of self-righteousness it divided the culture and led to a complete
collapse.
On the other side are people who just
want to party all the time. This leads to immoral degeneracy. Licentiousness
simply means that it is a license to sin. Lasciviousness means that it gives
rein to our baser sexual lusts and antinomianism, a Greek word meaning a
rejection of any kind of laws or standards or rules of behavior.
This is a problem that we have because
this is the default position of every human being: sin nature control. None of
us gets away from this. Until we are saved there is no other option. We are
going to sin because that is the only nature that we have. If you are born
without parents who provide discipline and training and teaching as a young
child then the only character that is developed is bad character. It is
character that gives rein and expression to the baser elements and values of a
sin nature. This is seen in Proverbs 18:1 NASB ÒHe who separates
himself ÉÓ That is, isolates himself from the values of Scripture or the
society. ÒÉ seeks {his own} desire [self-absorption], He quarrels against all
sound wisdom [wise judgment].Ó
There is so much that can be said about
this proverb. In the first line it talks about the basic orientation of anyone
who is giving rein to their sin nature. If they are living in pure narcissism
and self-absorption then what is going to happen when they are confronted with
truth? This is just an Old Testament version of Romans 1:18ff which talks about
the unbeliever who rejects and suppresses the truth in unrighteousness. This is
the self-absorbed person in the first part of Proverbs 18. What happens when
they are confronted with wisdom? First of all they probably donÕt understand it
objectively as you intend it to be understood. They just take it as this is
somebody telling me I canÕt do what I want to do. And whenever we have somebody
preventing us from doing what we want to do the automatic response to that is
always anger. When we donÕt get our way we get angry.
So Proverbs 18:1 emphasizes this, that
self-absorption that is given free rein leads to a foundational emotional
orientation of the sin nature of rage and anger. We live in a culture today
that as we see paganism reign in the culture—a pagan culture give more
and more reign to moral relativism and the reign of the sin nature, part of
what happens is that all the values get reversed and everyone is going what is
right in his own eyes, and eventually that leads to total cultural
fragmentation. What this produces is a culture of wrath, which manifests itself
in a culture of abuse. Whether it is verbal abuse, emotional abuse, sexual
abuse, or any other kind of abuse it goes off the charts because there is no
character control from self-discipline on the sin nature.
The Scripture emphasizes the value of
wisdom and the value of character. This always runs against this base
narcissistic value of the sin nature.
Proverbs 26:12 NASB ÒDo you
see a man wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.Ó A
fool is hopeless. So this is an exaggeration here that if somebody thinks that
they have all of the answers and they are truly self-absorbed, then there is no
hope for them. They are so locked into their own self-absorption and
self-deception that they will never come out of it, apart from the grace of
God.
Proverbs 26:16 NASB ÒThe
sluggard is wiser in his own eyes Than seven men who can give a discreet
answer.Ó The writer is using hyperbole or exaggeration here in order to point
out the dangers of thinking you are wise in your own eyes.
Proverbs 28:11 NASB ÒThe rich
man is wise in his own eyes ÉÓ You would think that somebody who had
accumulated a lot of wealth through hard work would have developed a sense of
humility. But when there is a culture that promotes narcissism and
self-absorption and gives free rein to this people get to a point of success
and think they know it all and donÕt need to listen to anyone. ÒÉ But the poor
who has understanding sees through him.Ó It is not your economic circumstances,
it is your humility. The poor person can have understanding and a grasp of
reality that gives him discernment in all things. That is the point of the
second line.
Proverbs 25:27 NASB ÒIt is
not good to eat much honey ÉÓ In other words, donÕt be self-indulgent. ÒÉ Nor
is it glory to search out oneÕs own glory.Ó To seek oneÕs glory is not glory.
DonÕt be self-absorbed.
Proverbs 30:12 NASB ÒThere
is a kind [generation] who is pure in his own eyes, Yet is not washed from his
filthiness.Ó We live in a culture and are part of three generation that think
that they are above the law, above ethical standards for the most part. That
doesnÕt apply to everybody but that is a general characteristic that holds
true. In other words, what the writer is saying is they think they are right
but they are so wrong. They are so blinded by their self-absorption and
self-deception that they canÕt see how wrong that they are. That is the problem
with pride. It blinds us to the reality of our own flaws and our own faults.
A correction. How do you learn
character? Character has to be learned from the crib. Character isnÕt something
that is apparent that you start teaching when that child is old enough to
understand everything you are trying to teach it. Some parents might wait a
little too long to teach things like good manners, self-discipline and
self-control. If you wait until they can understand it you are not instilling
it early enough. The role of parents is to start instilling right behavior, to
teach these core values of integrity, honesty and hard work from the cradle,
not just when they get a little older.
This involves correction. Proverbs
22:15 NASB ÒFoolishness is bound up in the heart of a child ÉÓ That
is because their sin nature reigns supreme. ÒÉ The rod of discipline will
remove it far from him.Ó This is not an authorization for beating children
within an inch of their life. Harsh correction, corporal punishment is the last
resort. There are a lot of other ways to teach up to that point, but what the
Scripture is saying is emphasizing the stubbornness of self-absorption. That is
our base orientation. A baby is nothing more than a sin nature wrapped up in
the flesh. It is up to parents to train them to be wonderful productive mature
adults. And it takes energy and diligence and patience. It demands a real
understanding of the role that a parent has in training that child.
When we look at Scripture it not only
emphasizes the negative of self-absorption but also what the correction is.
These are seen in a number of other proverbs.
Proverbs 29:23 NASB ÒA manÕs
pride will bring him low ÉÓ If you want your childrenÕs pride and arrogance to
destroy them then let them get away with everything they want to get away with.
Otherwise you need to correct them and teach them genuine humility. ÒÉ But a
humble spirit [genuine humility] will obtain honor.Ó If we are living in a
self-absorbed narcissistic culture then the Scripture say that becomes a
dishonorable culture of dishonorable people. Which is what we have. And our
government is loaded with these kinds of people and the leadership in the
business world is loaded with this kind of people, and the only correction that
we have in this country is not just getting people saved but you have to get
people to deal with their sins and their sin nature. It is not enough just to
get them regenerate.
Proverbs 11:2 NASB ÒWhen
pride comes, then comes dishonor, But with the humble is wisdom.Ó Humility has
to do with submitting our thinking to the authority of GodÕs thinking. Jesus
humbled Himself in obedience by going to the cross. Philippians 2:5-11
emphasizes that He is God, created in the likeness of humanity, but He was
obedient in the things that He suffered, by going to the cross.
Proverbs 17:27 NASB ÒHe who
restrains his words has knowledge, And he who has a cool [calm] spirit is a man
of understanding.Ó Self-control. There can be self-control and self-discipline
on the part of an unbeliever or a carnal believer but it is also a fruit of the
Spirit. God the Holy Spirit produces self-control as part of the fruit of the
Spirit. There is this emphasis on self-control. Parents need to establish some
boundaries and some goals in terms of self-discipline to teach children these
things.
Proverbs 25:28 NASB Ò{Like}
a city that is broken into {and} without walls Is a man who has no control over
his spirit.Ó In other words, there is no defense. AnyoneÕs defense against the
baser drives of the sin nature is self-discipline, learning to say no to the
things you should say no to.
Proverbs 29:11 NASB ÒA fool
always loses his temper, But a wise man holds it back.Ó Character involves
self-discipline, being able to postpone gratification, deny gratification in
certain areas or ways.
In Proverbs we are talking about ethics
and values and virtues that are related to the Old Testament system of spirituality
where the Holy Spirit was not involved. The believers and the unbelievers were
basically just in a system of self-discipline. But when we come into the New
Testament we learn that for Christians we move from character values that can
be emulated by anyone to specific Christian values and virtues. These are
identified in passages like Galatians 5:22, 23 NASB ÒBut the fruit
of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.Ó
God the Holy Spirit enhances those
moral or ethical values and virtues that we can develop and makes them
spiritual virtues and values. This is the result of a previous verse: the
command to walk by means of the Spirit, Galatians 5:16. If we donÕt walk by the
Spirit then these Christian virtues are not developed in us. But the Christian
life is a life of character transformation. God the Holy Spirit is focused on
transforming our character from the fallen character that has been the
manifestation of the sin nature to the character is Christ. He is conforming us
to the image of Jesus Christ. When we walk by the Spirit God the Holy Spirit is
constantly working, using His Word to challenge us, to remind us of the truth,
to rebuke us, to direct us in terms of development of these character
qualifications.
It involves volition. There is always
that two-fold relationship: the work of the Holy Spirit in us and our own
decision to do what the Word says to do.
Ephesians 4:31 NASB ÒLet all
bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you,
along with all malice.Ó The verb is an aorist passive imperative. It is a
command but it is a passive voice, meaning that we receive the action from
outside of us. That is the work of the Holy Spirit. We are letting the Holy
Spirit transform us and remove these things from our life. So we have to be
responsive to Him.
Colossians 3:8 NASB ÒBut now
you also, put them all aside: anger, wrath, malice, slander, {and} abusive
speech from your mouth.Ó There is a slightly different emphasis here. The ÒyouÓ
means you yourself. The Holy Spirit doesnÕt decide for us. He will help in
making the decision, but we have to make the decision. We are to put off all of
these things—middle imperative. The middle imperative emphasizes that the
person who receives the action also performs the action for his own benefit. So
it doesnÕt let us off the hook. We are to put off these things. We do it under
the power of the Holy Spirit while we are walking by the Spirit. That is how
character is developed. We have to study the Word and understand what the Holy
Spirit is doing.