Today's Supreme Court Decision

by Jon Benzinger

For anyone paying attention, the Supreme Court -- what an arrogant name! -- decision today was not a surprise. Our culture has been trending in this direction for some time now.

Like many of you, I’ve wanted our laws to reflect the Judeo-Christian worldview because I think it’s true and because I think it makes for human happiness and flourishing (see Deut 6:24, 10:12-13; Jer 32:29; James 1:25). However, today has helped me see that underneath that desire has been another, stronger desire: I’ve wanted to be comfortable in the world.

Today has made it clear to me that I’ve wanted to hold on to what many homosexuals have been fighting for, for my ideas and my lifestyle to have acceptance from a majority of people in this country.

Cultural acceptance has slipped from my hands and into theirs, and I’m kind of glad it has. Why? My idol is being smashed. I’m not supposed to be comfortable here. I don’t belong here. This is not my home. I am a stranger and an alien here (John 17:16; 1 Pet 2:11).

For Christians, today should be another in a long line of reminders that we don’t fit in here, and we were never supposed to. There is a great chasm between the kingdoms of this world and the Kingdom of our God, for now. Events like this make the distinction between the world and the church clearer. The lines are becoming less blurry, at least for me.

I’m expecting the further compromise of Western evangelicals, especially as lawsuits begin to increase. I’m expecting more excuses and equivocation. I’m expecting more of us will start treating texts like Romans 1:24-32, 1 Corinthians 6:9-11, 1 Timothy 1:8-11 and 2 Peter 2:6-10 the same way some of the justices on the Supreme Court are treating the Constitution. This will be their attempt to try and be comfortable again in a world that we were meant to be uncomfortable in.

My concern is that today’s Supreme Court decision will cause Christians to retreat. I fear it’ll cause many to abandon the political process altogether when salt and light may be more needed now than ever before. I fear it’ll cause us to slink into our cultural ghettos where we feel comfortable and protected, surrounded by people and resources we agree with.

I fear today will cause us to say in our actions, and maybe even in our words, “to hell with them,” forgetting that God sent His Son into the same hostile world that we were rescued out of and that He now sends us back into the same hostile world to rescue more.

If anyone was uncomfortable and didn’t belong here, it was the sinless Jesus, but He came here anyway and He got what was expected, the world hated Him. Why did we start thinking it’d be any different for us when He told us it wouldn’t be (John 15:18-20)? Sheep don’t have much of a chance in the midst of wolves, do they (Matt 10:16)?

The world is going to be hostile towards us, so what! Jesus’ message remains our message. His mission remains our mission. His love for the lost should still push us towards those who may hate us.

The world is going to reject you, just like it did Him, but His rejection is still bringing eternal peace to millions of every tribe and language and people and nation. Who knows? Maybe God will use our cultural rejection to do the same.

After today, it may take more courage to be God’s people on God’s mission where we live, work, study and play, but instead of retreating, let’s see today as a call to advance into a culture that’s killing itself and rescue those who are perishing with the truth and love of Jesus.

Postings on Proverbs...13:6

"Righteousness guards him whose way is blameless, but sin overthrows the wicked" (ESV)

This one explains itself, does it not? What goes around, comes around, right? Your sin will take you down, and your goodness will protect you from harm. There's got to be more though.

Notice, "Righteousness" is personified. It's doing something. It's actively guarding the one "whose way is blameless." And notice, "sin" is also personified as it "overthrows the wicked," but where does this all lead?

The phrase "way...blameless" "refers to the context, conduct, and blessed destiny of people whose every step is oriented toward the Lord and the well-being of his universal kingdom" (Waltke I:556).

In other words, your destiny is built into your way of life before God -- one person is protected, the other is ruined. God built this tit-for-tat, boomerang into the fabric of reality.

So, where's your life headed? Don't be hasty in your answer. Remember that "The Christian, while 'walking in his integrity' (Ps 26:11), never loses his sense of sin, or forgets his need of mercy" (Bridges 154).

Perfection and righteousness in this context are not synonyms. We will always need mercy, until we die. So, don't answer that question by asking, Am I perfect?, but I ask again, where's your life headed?

You can tell which path, which "way" you're on. If you're wise, your steps are oriented towards the Lord. The fool's steps are oriented towards themselves.

Proverbs 13:1 should be on every page of the Bible: "A wise son hears his father's instruction, but a scoffer does not listen to rebuke."

God is constantly rebuking our thoughts and behavior, but what we do with that confrontation is key. How are you responding to His correction right now? Idiots refuse to listen; wise people change.

I'll leave you with this, the wise person refuses to consider his intentions, but rather examines his actions to determine which path he's currently on, God's or his own.

So, which one is it for you?

Prayer & The Sweetest Part of My Day

My son is 13 and a half months old. These days, he's like an army of ants, getting into everything.

If he's not grabbing my laptop, he's hitting balls and Little People with a mallet. If he's not pushing buttons on our entertainment center (I actually just disciplined him for doing this!), he's playing songs on his music table. If he's not pulling things off our shelves, he's hitting things with his drumsticks and tripping over everything as he's still learning how to walk.

He is a normal, active, energetic, always-on-the-move toddler.

These 13 months have gone by really fast (I know, everyone says that, but it really has), and it seems that the more energy he has the less he wants to snuggle. He wants to move. He wants to go, go, go. He has no time for slowing down.

He didn't sleep much last night (which means we didn't either) so he's more whiny and more snuggly than normal today. About 10 minutes ago, we were having a rare snuggle session. It was the sweetest part of my day. He was either resting his head on my chest or playing with my hat, taking it off my head and putting it on himself and giggling away as I'd cover his eyes the brim and then quickly pull it up and say "Boo!"

While we were snuggling on the couch, I reflected on how similar to Colin I am with God. Though it's summer, my life is filled with study, projects and fun. I'm active, running from project to stores to books to babysitting to cooking to meetings.

In the midst of being "always-on-the-move," I wonder if God actually enjoys it when I slow down and spend time with Him like I SO enjoy it with Colin. I know He is happy with my obedience. I know it pleases Him when I do what He wants, but would He call it "sweet"? I think so.

I wish Colin would slow down more because I love snuggling with him. If he knew I liked snuggling with him, would he want to do it more? Does my knowing it pleases God when I'm obedient to Him by praying to Him make me want to do it more? I can say it does :)

Postings on Proverbs...13:5

"The righteous hates falsehood, but the wicked brings shame and disgrace" (ESV)

Can we say we hate falsehood? How much do we shave off the hard edges of truth to make ourselves look good? We hate it when people lie to us (duh!), but do we hate it enough to tell the truth when it hurts us, embarrasses us, or makes us look incompetent or unkind?

Do we call ourselves "blunt," meaning we mask being a jerk behind "I'm just telling the truth," or "wounds from a friend can be trusted," forgetting that kindness is a fruit of the Spirit.

Do we regularly sacrifice the truth on the altar of "kindness," which is in quotes because it's really not kindness at all, but rather a deceptive form of pride that would so hate for you to see me in a bad light that I will lie to you to save my reputation.?

One of the most common ways I've seen this not hating falsehood among Christians in brown-nosing, kissing-up, flattering leaders to get ahead in organizations, and sadly, leaders eat it up and promote those who lie to them because it typically strokes their egos.

The righteous hate all of that falsehood and then some. Why? Ultimately, because God does:

"There are six things that the LORD hates, seven that are an abomination to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue..." (Prov 6:16-17; see 12:22)

So, the righteous hate what God hates. Loving truth is actually evidence of salvation:

"...those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved" (2 Thess 2:10)

This doesn't just mean listening to a lot of preaching, taking good notes on sermons or reading your Bible daily. It means not having a double life. It means telling the truth even when it will cause you problems. It means confessing lies to those you've lied to.

The couplet suggests that the shame and disgrace come because of the wicked were caught in their lies. Notice too, "hates" is parallel to "brings," which is not what I'd expect. I'd expect it to say "loves shame and disgrace," a sarcastic way of saying they're shamed and disgraced so much for their lives that they must "love" it. However, this "imprecise antithesis implies that a righteous person does not come to social and personal shame and that a wicked person does not hate what distorts reality" (Waltke I:555).

In the end, though it could have cost them their lives, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were right to "rather suffer by the truth than sin by lying" (Bridges 153), but are we?

Don't answer that question by looking at your intentions in this moment. Answer that questions by looking at your words this past week, to your friends, your spouse, your co-workers, your boss and your kids. Which group does the past week put you in, the righteous wise men who hate falsehood or the wicked fools who don't?

If that quote at the bottom is true, what do your lies say matters most to you? The opinions of others? Your job? Your self-image? Your grades? Your freedom? Lies tell us when something other than that one true God is a functional god in our lives.

No one should see themselves as free from the sting of this proverb, so just remember, "truth is in Jesus" (Eph 4:21). His perfect record of truth telling is now yours if you are a Christian. Let His grace motivate you to say No to all forms of ungodliness (Titus 2:11), including the sin of lying, and you'll be on the path to becoming wise.

Postings on Proverbs...13:4

"The soul of the sluggard craves and gets nothing, while the soul of the diligent is richly supplied" (ESV)

Who? Anyone
What? Craves and gets nothing vs. Being richly supplied
Why? The sluggard vs. The diligent

This proverb is convicting, isn't it? One of the worst things I can think of is looking back on my life and saying "I wasted it." The difference between those who say that and those who don't is laziness.

I think about this a lot as a young adults pastor and now a high school teacher. I've seen the future of the kids who blow off high school and barely pass. Most will end up becoming losers who are forced to settle for low paying jobs. Then, when faced with desires to make more money to try and dig themselves out of the hole their laziness put them in, they don't and they won't. Why? They're too lazy to change.

The lazy person "desires the gain of diligence, without the diligence that gains it" (Bridges 151). Is that you? Everyone, the lazy and the diligent, has desires, goals, dreams, but only those who work hard have their desires not just fulfilled, but "richly supplied," or "abundantly satisfied" (Waltke I:554).

I want that, don't you, especially if your desires are God's desires for you? I want to look at my life and see goals met. I never want to think I wasted it. Who wants to look at their lives and see unfinished projects and unfulfilled dreams? If something is worth wanting, then it's worth working for. There's nothing noble about wanting to be something, but never doing it.

Currently, I especially struggle in this area, so I end with this on religious laziness: "Oh! be industrious -- if anywhere -- in religion. ... Hours, days are lost. ... To expect the blessing without diligence is delusion. ... Child of God! shake off the dust of sloth. Take care that the bed of ease doth not [spoil] thine appetite, and hinder thee from seeking food for thy soul" (Bridges 152).

Postings on Proverbs...13:3

"Whoever guards his mouth preserves his life; he who opens wide his lips comes to ruin" (ESV)

Who? Wise vs. Fool
What? Preserves his life vs. Comes to Ruin
Why? Guards his mouth vs. Opens wide his lips

How does the world tell you to get wisdom? Make mistakes. Experience everything. Take chances. Live and learn along the way.

How does God tell you to get wisdom? Read Proverbs. Study it. Memorize it. Learn and live.

That's one of the reasons I'm doing this blog, so that I, now in my 30s, can take God seriously when He says "Study Proverbs to get the skills you need to live a good life" (see Proverbs 3:1-10)

I needed this proverb when I was a kid (not that I would've listened). My mouth always got me in trouble, but even writing that makes it sound like I'm disconnected from my mouth, when our mouths never say anything that's not already in our hearts.

The word translated "open wide" is only used one other time in the Old Testament: "At the head of every street you built your lofty place and made your beauty an abomination, offering yourself to any passerby and multiplying your whoring" (Ezekiel 16:25). The words "offering yourself" is the word, which more literally translated is "spreading your legs wide open."

So, like a prostitute who opens her legs to anyone who offers himself to her, so the fool opens his mouth to any thought that offers itself to him. His lips are unrestrained, uncontrolled, unbridled, undisciplined, which will often bring him discipline, ruin, disaster, violence and pain.

 However, we "enjoy good," not just when we say good things (13:2), but also when we keep ourselves from saying things that can ruin us. Our mouths can keep us, our families, our jobs, our lives safe and happy.

No one sets out to ruin their lives. We all want good lives, but few take the time to think through how to get there. The how question involves skill, and that's what Proverbs is for, giving us, as I see it, this piece of mouth-wisdom: recognize the influence your mouth has on the outcome of your life.

So, let's pray along with David, "Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth; keep watch over the door of my lips" (Psalm 141:3), and remember "But for the blood of Christ, the mass of guilt from the sins of the tongue would have condemned us for ever; and in proportion as the [tongue] is bridled, 'the peace of God rules in the heart'" (Bridges 151).

Postings on Proverbs...13:2

"From the fruit of his mount a man eats what is good, but the desire of the treacherous is for violence" (ESV)

Who? A (wise) man vs. "the treacherous"
What? Eats what is good vs. desires violence
Why? Because of what he says ("the fruit of his mouth") vs. Because he's treacherous
How? ???

What makes the first half of the proverb parallel to the the second half is not clear (Waltke I:553; Longman 284), meaning it's harder to find the wisdom in this one. Here's my best shot:

In Proverbs, "treacherous" people aren't comic book villains. They are men and women who are unfaithful to an already established relationship they've proclaimed loyalty to. They make promises and refuse to keep them. They abandon something or someone they've previously committed themselves to, as seen in Jeremiah: "Surely, as a treacherous wife leaves her husband, so have you been treacherous to me, O house of Israel, declares the Lord" (3:20).

The best explanation for this proverb, for me, is from a footnote in Waltke who said the word translated "desire" can also be translated "throat," meaning as the wise man words get him good things, so the words of the treacherous bring him harm, even violence.

I'm watching two shows with my wife right now, Quantum Leap (a favorite from high school for me) and Arrested Development. There couldn't be a bigger contrast between the two shows as Sam in QL is fixing everyone's lives, often times with what he says, while the characters in AD are the biggest bunch of treacherous fools I've ever seen on TV, only loyal to themselves.

So, can you look at your life and see any actual blessings your words have rewarded you with? What are they? See which side of 13:2 you're on. Or, do you find yourself in trouble a lot because of your mouth?

The wise person sees a need to change and indulges that need, the fool starves that need and stays dumb, so what's it going to be?

In the end, let us examine our tongues for wisdom, "that it be under the influence of Divine grace, restrained from evil, disciplined for usefulness, the fruitful instrument of our own happiness" (Bridges 151; underline mine).

Postings on Proverbs...13:1

"A wise son hears his father's instruction, but a scoffer does not listen to rebuke" (ESV)

There is nothing worse in Proverbs than the "scoffer" (Waltke, I:114), someone who hears truth, hears its benefits, hears its blessings and doesn't just reject it, but arrogantly determines that God's wisdom is absurd.

He is a "genius for invective and denigration...[wearing] a perpetual sneer...who supposes that it is his mission in life to promote the corrosion of the values by which individuals and society lives" (Walkte).

Few reading this would consider themselves a "scoffer," but you may be one regardless. The question you need to ask yourself is not "Am I a scoffer?" but "Do I rebel against being corrected by God's Word?" If yes, then you're probably a scoffer, whether you want to admit it or not.

Who? Wise vs. Scoffer
What? Hears = listens to his father's instruction vs. Does not listen to rebuke
Where? Anywhere
When? Anytime
Why? Doesn't say, but I think it's humility vs. pride
How? Doesn't say

The wise and the fool (here, the scoffer) are distinguished by his response to truth that confronts him. Someone shows him he's morally wrong (Waltke, I:551), that he's sinned, and immediately what he is -- wise or fool -- is revealed. The wise listen; the fool will not.

I think the reason for the difference boils down to humility. The scoffer is arrogant, so he despises correction and only listens to himself and those who agree with him.

The wise knows she's prone to mistake, has blind spots and doesn't have all the answers. She'll seek out advice and trust the correction of those who are smarter and have walked with God longer than she has.

This proverb hits home to me as a new dad. My son is 12 months old now, and I'm doing this blog because I want to be wise and I'm doing it for him (and any other kids God may graciously gift us with).

I trust this book, that we all start out naive, unskilled, foolish about life and how it works; therefore, success and failure is determined by the application of wisdom, the skill needed to live a good life.

This book is God's wisdom in written form, so I hope my kids want to be wise and will read Proverbs and this blog, but they might not. They might be fools and scoff at the God their mom and I love so much.

I pray almost nightly that that is not the case and when I bless him before he goes to bed that's one of the things I'm praying God blesses him with, wisdom, the skill to live a life that God considers beautiful, successful, blessed.

And, because we're naturally foolish, ignorant and in need of wisdom, the goal of achieving a good life starts with proverbs like this one, so, what's your response to being told you're wrong or in sin? Do you pout? Do you slander the person who corrects you, either out loud to others or in your own mind? Are you always right and no one better dare correct you? Do you think you know better than people who truly know more than you do?

Postings on Proverbs...12:28

"In the path of righteousness is life, and in its pathway there is no death" (ESV)

This can't be saying that those who live righteous lives never die, or that they're never killed for being righteous. Jesus was perfectly righteous, in every thought, word and action (1 Pet 2:22, 1 John 3:5), and He was killed for His righteousness. So, what does this proverb mean?

Who? Anyone

What? Life, and no death

Where? Anywhere

When? Anytime

Why? One's life ("path") is righteous

How? ???

This is what I call a summary proverb. It takes all the details of every individual proverb, which only give a slice of all the minute details of life, and bottom lines all proverbs with "Which path do your actions say you are on?" and then adds "Because your actions reveal the destination you're headed to." Waltke says this proverb "expresses in the most creative and intensive way that the righteous retain a relationship with God forever, clinical death does not separate them from a relationship with the Lord" (I: 543).

Many will disregard the statement about actions revealing our current destination and answer that question with "I'm on God's path," mainly because we don't think our sins are all that bad. We see ourselves in the best possible light and also evaluate ourselves based on our intentions, not our actions, something we then assume God will do too -- wrong!

Here's our logic: our intentions are good (another a lie we tell ourselves) so we're good. Sadly, this dooms us to self-blindness and self-deception, keeping us from ever seeing the truth, that we aren't even close to good so we will not get on God's path by being good. Jesus put it this way:

"Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death" (John 8:51).

"I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?" (John 11:25-26).

In other words, you receive the benefits of "there is no death" (Prov 12:28) and "shall never die" (John 11:26), not by being good, but by faith in the only One who was good:

"the righteousness of God [read, being right with God] has been manifested apart from the law [meaning, apart from good works to earn it], although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it [see Genesis 15:6 and Habakkuk 2:4 for instance]—the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe" (Romans 3:21-22).


We find the ultimate expression of the "righteousness" talked about here in Proverbs in the Good News of Jesus Christ, His righteousness, His perfect life of no sin, given to those who give their sin-filled lives to Him. At that point, they begin down the "path of righteousness," where they are becoming in their actions what they are, namely, righteous (see Romans 6:13).

The "path" metaphor compares everyone's lifestyle to a journey from wherever it is we start out to our final destination.

I leave you with the question Jesus asked Martha "Do you believe this?" Your answer to that question tells you which path you're on right now.