In an article at Relevant magazine, a competent and articulate writer named Lauren Oquist challenges readers of her article to stop obsessing over the Proverbs 31 woman. The point of this post is not to be critical of the author of the post quoted (though I will be critical of her post), the point is to demonstrate how a fuller reading of a Biblical book might help it yield its treasures.
In all toil there is profit, but mere talk tends only to poverty.
(Proverbs 14:23 ESV)
The proverb above is one I have always associated with one particular type of talk: talking about what you're going to do instead of doing it.
I think that this aspect is true, but incomplete. I have overly limited the meaning of talk.
Everybody has a self-theory, some hypothesis or doctrine about what/who they are. Some of these theories are simple sentences like, "I'm an athlete." Others are more fundamental, like, "I'm worthless." According to Carol Dweck and Daniel Molden, our self-theories lead directly to our self-esteem maintenance/repair strategies after we fail at a task or to reach a goal. (Dweck, 130-131). They have distilled the various self-theories into two helpful categories.
Thou shalt not take up a false report: put not thy hand with the wicked to be an unrighteous witness. Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil; neither shalt thou speak in a cause to turn aside after a multitude to wrest justice: neither shalt thou favor a poor man in his cause. (Exodus 23:1-3 ASV)In ancient cultures, conformity to the majority was near the top of the hierarchy of values. In fact, the Old Testament takes great pains to enforce conformity to social norms through various and elaborate status rituals and harsh legal penalties. But, the Old Testament vision of social conformity is not conformity to society as such. Instead, the vision is of society conforming to the good, rather than the individual becoming a microcosm of society. The expectation of breaking rank when the rank and file turn to evil is an implicit demand to contemplate social norms and reason whether they be good or evil. This passage also calls for a rejection of social naivete which implies gaining some degree of contemplative virtue. And as a strange conclusion, the passage also proscribes allowing pity to substitute for truth. A conservative error is to equate poverty with vice. The liberal error is to equate poverty with virtue. The Biblical middle-ground is to pursue the good generally and legal justice particularly. The following passages from Proverbs illustrate the same principles in aphoristic format:
A faithful witness does not lie, but a false witness breathes out lies. (Proverbs 14:5)The wisdom of the prudent is to discern his way, but the folly of fools is deceiving. (Proverbs 14:8)
The pattern we typically set for people who wish to be more like Christ is this:
Start from the inside out.It's not unreasonable. Jesus says roughly that to the Pharisees:
Matthew 23:25-26 ESV “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. (26) You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and the plate, that the outside also may be clean.And I think the advice in generally sound. But, sometimes people's desire to be like Jesus is evidence that the Holy Spirit is already working on the inside and they need something to do to actualize the potential God is putting there.
First, a passage from Proverbs:
Often, advice from successful Christian men and women boils down to platitudes that sound spiritual, but reflect neither wisdom nor what those very people did to become successful.
Here are things I heard in sermons to college students when I was in college or that I heard when I asked for advice:
I call foul.
Know well the condition of your flocks, and give attention to your herds, for riches do not last forever; and does a crown endure to all generations? When the grass is gone and the new growth appears and the vegetation of the mountains is gathered, the lambs will provide your clothing, and the goats the price of a field. There will be enough goats' milk for your food, for the food of your household and maintenance for your girls. (Pro 27:23-27)When I was younger I'd hear things like, "You should try to have multiple streams of income." I would think, "That's stupid and materialistic.
Anyway, the Bible teaches that it’s simple wisdom to have a backup plan for money and food. Ignore it at your peril. Or luck out and never need it.
Pro 3:1-5 My son, do not forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commandments, (2) for length of days and years of life and peace they will add to you. (3) Let not steadfast love and faithfulness forsake you; bind them around your neck; write them on the tablet of your heart. (4) So you will find favor and good success in the sight of God and man. (5) Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.I've written about this passage before asking whether or not it was promoting a form on non-deliberative mysticism.
Another question to ask is this: is the author saying that the young man, “my son,” should never lean on his own understanding?
Pro 22:9 Whoever has a good eye will be blessed, for he shares his bread with the poor.
Pro 28:22 He who hastens after wealth has an evil eye and does not know that poverty will come upon him.
In the ancient world, particularly in the culture that influences the writers of the Bible, the eye was in a metaphorical and literal sense thought ot be connected to the inner life of man. By inner life, I mean the world of thought, emotions, and intentions: the heart and soul.
Pro 24:27 Prepare your work outside; get everything ready for yourself in the field, and after that build your house.
I suppose you could shorten this Proverb to “put first things first.”
Of course, to do that we’ve got to think things through.
In the case of buying property in the ancient world, you’d want to make sure it could produce wealth before building a house on it.
Similarly, one might want to find a good source or several sources of income before buying a house.