Today, I am amazed at how Proverbs 18 shines a light on the current situation in this country. Just turn on the news and you’ll find the truth of Proverbs 18:2 splattered all over your screen. Does this sound familiar?
Proverbs 18:2 – A fool (dull, stupid, arrogant) has no delight (pleasure, desire) in understanding, but in expressing (venting, revealing, disclosing) his own heart.
We watch these pundits shoot their mouth off about any and everything that comes into their minds as if it dropped from the lips of God. As if they, and they alone, had the keys to all truth. They consider themselves wise in this age because of the platform we’ve given them. That’s right, we’ve elevated them to where they are by giving heed and importance to the words that come out of their mouth. We, by our continued involvement in watching them vent the foolish bile that flows from their heart, have given credence and credibility to what they say. If we watch and listen to them, their platform inevitably grows. And if we turn away from their foolishness, they will soon be gone. We hold the power to their influence in our lives, not them. Maybe it’s time we began to use it.
This proverb sums up their life and motivation quite well. Their delight is not in understanding the issues of today or the truth of those issues. Their delight and pleasure come from venting what they think or feel or what seems right in their own eyes. They tirelessly promote their agenda and twist the facts to support their talking points. They assume that they alone are the standards of truth and we are too simple to understand the facts ourselves. We obviously need them to tell us what to think and what to do. Yet we forget the Proverbs call these type of people fools— dull, stupid, and arrogant.
As Forest Gump would say, “Stupid is as stupid does.” But is he talking about us? Or them?
Toxic Verbal Waste
The words that come out of a fool’s mouth are designed to stir up fights and foster controversy. There’s no value in speaking truth unless it pushes forward the agenda. Consider the following:
Proverbs 18:6 – A fool’s lips enter into (to go in, to bring) contention (strife, controversy, quarrels, disputes), and his mouth calls for blows (strikes, or a slap to correct insolent behavior).
That’s exactly what happens with the media today. They pour out the anger and hatefulness in their heart, criticizing everyone and everybody who does not think like they do, and create contention for the sake of stirring up controversy. But, as the Proverbs say, what they need is a punch in the mouth, a fist in their face, a belt in the chops. A classic John Wayne moment.
But maybe we need the same thing. Maybe we need a slap in the face for listening to the dribble that comes out of their mouth. Maybe we need a wake-up call. Maybe we need someone to slap us back to reality. Maybe we’ve become just as arrogant and stupid as they are by listening to the arrogant and stupid things that come out of their mouth. Maybe we also delight in contention, quarrels, and strife.
Maybe we’re no better than they are. Maybe we’ve got blood on our own hands.
Our Addiction to Gossip
Those who spend their life speaking ill of another become addicted to the sin of building themselves up by tearing someone else down. Proverbs 18 speaks to this also.
Proverbs 18:7 – A fool’s mouth is his destruction (ruin, terror, downfall), and his lips are the snare (bait, trap, lure) of his soul.
The more a man verbally tears down another, the more his entire being become enslaved to the sin of gossip. Having a bitter and quarrelsome attitude becomes part of their DNA. Words of praise and adoration are foreign to them. But mocking words of sarcasm and condemnation become second nature. They take over their being. They are now the fruit of their hearts. They possess their soul.
Do you know why a steady diet of gossip turns into an eating disorder? The Proverbs do.
Proverbs 18:8 – The words of a talebearer (liar, gossip, slanderer, one who murmurs and whispers about others to attack them verbally) are like tasty trifles (to gulp, swallow greedily), they go down into the inmost body.
Those who are honored and exalted by their ability to gossip and slander another, much like the media today, become addicted to that sin. They are in the limelight only because of their ability to verbally attack another, with false innuendos and half-truths. They gulp and swallow greedily for another tasty trifle, some shared falsehood, about someone else. And they hunger for some unsubstantiated rumor they can use to malign their character and murmur behind their back.
Welcome to Western Media in 2017
Come on, aren’t you tired of it? Haven’t you had enough?
Then no longer go to these fools for the facts. There are hundreds of alternative news sources that report truth, and not agenda. The problem is that they are not as well known and CBS, ABC, NBC, CNN, MSNBC, FOX, and the others. You may actually have to do some digging on your own and then practice biblical discernment. You may have to work for a change and not fall back on what is easy and spoon fed to you from your sofa. You may have to pay a price to know truth, and not the politically correct agenda that our culture is being indoctrinated with.
Remember the truth. Remember where the truth can be found. And cling, like a drowning man to a piece of driftwood, to the truth. The only truth.
Proverbs 18:10 – The name of the LORD is a strong tower (an elevated place of strength and truth); The righteous run to it and are safe (inaccessible high).
Do you realize the elevated place of strength where the name of the Lord is proclaimed and the righteous run to for safety, may be the pulpit? For the pulpit is to proclaim the truth, God’s truth, and cannot fall prey to the trappings and changing opinions of this world. And those who run to it are safe. Why? Because God’s truth never changes and never fails. And from the pulpit, God has ordained His truth to be proclaimed and His name magnified.
Something to think about, isn’t it?
