Skillful Living
Years ago, I was reading an article by journalist Peggy Noonan about culture and the changing values in American. At the end of that article she wrote, “What you applaud, you encourage. Be careful what you celebrate.”[i] I’ve thought about that a lot over the years. I believe it is true, we learn a lot about our culture by noticing what we applaud.
We cheer dysfunction. We applaud foolishness. We promote selfishness. A popular motto is you be you. The great sin is self-denial. Indulgence is the order of the day. All of this is ultimately grounded in our belief that we can be our own gods. We’ve convinced ourselves that we’re in charge and we can do as we please without consequence. This is the prevailing narrative, so this is what we applaud.
How does this not create a culture that will eventually consume itself? Look around, people’s lives are a mess. You don’t need statistics here. Just open your eyes, the carnage is everywhere you look. People today remind me of that kid in high school who on the outside wanted everyone to believe life is one big party but at night in bed—when no one else is around—cries himself to sleep because he’s so miserable. If life with us in charge is so grand, why all the addictions to numb the pain?
Here’s the inconvenient truth that people don’t want to hear, WE’RE NOT GOD! We are not free to live as we please without consequence. The late Dallas Willard used to say, “Reality is what you run into when you’re wrong.”[ii]Certainly, we can all agree there isn’t much flourishing going on these days. What do you know…the reality is that our way isn’t working.
Proverbs presents a better way. God offers us wisdom and instruction as a roadmap to life. So, let’s define some terms: What is wisdom? It’s one of those terms that we throw around but struggle to define. The Hebrew word translated wisdom often refers to the skill of a craftsman. For example, it was used to describe the craftsmen who were building the temple in the Old Testament. They built with great skill and artistry. You might say that wisdom is the art of living or as we’ve termed it skillful living.
The word translated instruction carries the idea of training, discipline, and correction. To me it speaks of a coach who is committed to making me better. In my younger days I played a lot of sports. One thing I learned is that if the coach ignores you that’s not a good sign. When a coach sees potential, he or she is going to do what is necessary to help you grow to reach your potential.
There are several benefits listed in this text for those who choose wisdom and instruction, for those who listen to the coach. I want to highlight three key terms that reoccur in Proverbs. We receive instruction or coaching in righteousness, justice and equity (v.3).
· Righteousness – The word translated righteousness is from the Hebrew tzedek. A tzedek is a righteous person who values the community more than himself. He is someone who will disadvantage himself in order to advantage the community. When the righteous have power the community flourishes. Contrary to that would be the wicked. The wicked in Proverbs are not just the murderers and robbers and evil people. The wicked are the selfish who disadvantage the community to advantage themselves. When the wicked are in charge, everyone loses. Skilled living requires we be counted amongst the righteous.
· Justice – The word translated justice is from the Hebrews mispat. It means to give someone their due–which includes both reward and punishment–without regard to race, socioeconomic status or sex. It’s a firm commitment to justice and fairness for all.
· Equity – This word is similar to mispat. It means to be true or level. Think about putting a carpenter’s level on something to see if the bubble is centered. Equity is about getting the bubble where it belongs in the center.
Skilled living requires a firm commitment to these three values. This is true whether we’re talking about at home, the marketplace, at school, in the neighborhood, at church or the larger community. We must be committed torighteousness, justice and equity. For any community to flourish these ideals must prevail.
Ask yourself, am I truly committed to righteousness? Are my decisions motivated by selfishness or for the benefit of the people around me? Am I primarily motivated to win or to serve those around me? When was the last time you disadvantaged yourself to advantage someone else? Is the bottom line at work about profit or are you motivated by a higher calling? Over the past year have you contributed to the flourishing of people around you or used them for personal gain?
Am I really committed to justice? Do I truly want fairness to all, or do I support an agenda to advantage some over others based on skin color or socioeconomic status? Am I really equally fair to those who hold political opinions differing from mine? Do I show them the same patience, the same compassion, the same benefit of the doubt as those I agree with? Perhaps the greatest divide we have in our culture these days is over political issues. Is that the basis for how I treat the people around me? Do you automatically cast judgment on someone simply based on their political affiliation? How is that fair?
For any community to thrive there must be a vision for equity. We must truly desire a level playing field. To be skillful you must be diligent to put the level on situations around you and admit there’s a problem when the bubble isn’t centered where it belongs. Wherever God gives you influence you need to apply the level and check for equity. Skillful living requires we do our part to correct what isn’t right around us. That doesn’t mean pay back, it’s a vision for equity.
What you applaud, you encourage. Skillful living requires that we celebrate righteousness, justice, and equity. Take some time this week to measure how you’re doing in each of these areas. Remember, instruction is like the coach who is here, not to condemn, but to encourage and challenge. For our sake and those around us, we all can grow and do better.
[i] Peggy Noonan, “You’d cry too if it happened to you,” Forbes, September 14, 1992, https://peggynoonan.com/47/
[ii] Dallas Willard, The Allure of Gentleness: Defending the Faith in the Manner of Jesus (Harper One, 2015).