Proverbs
Dear Champions,
The short excerpt is by Tim Keller of New York City, and the Scripture is Proverbs 1:1-3 The proverbs of Solomon son of David, king of Israel: for attaining wisdom and discipline; for understanding words of insight; for acquiring a disciplined and prudent life, doing what is right and just and fair;
Proverbs are not statutes or promises, but they are ways that things ordinarily work in this world. The Bible's understanding of reality is that there is a divine order, but it is a fallen order needing to be healed. If you don't understand both of those things, then Proverbs sometimes doesn't make sense to you.
Here is an example. Proverbs 22:6 says Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it. In general, yes, if you are consistent with your discipline of your child, then that is the best possible thing because there is a divine order. But the order is fallen, and that means that sometimes even if you do everything right with your kid, your kids can still grow up and go off the rails. Proverbs are God's best practices for life in a divinely ordered yet fallen world.
There is a divine order, so generally, work hard, tell the truth, be sexually faithful, and generally your life will go better. But it doesn't have to go better. After all, Jesus Christ did all of those things, and His life didn't go so well (He got crucified). He was confronted with the falleness of this place. If you believe that if you do everything right in life that your life will go well, you are a fool. You don't see the reality.
The promise of the gospel is that Jesus Christ was judged for you, and He has covered you. All of the deformities, all of the sins, everything that is wrong, it is covered and God sees an absolute beauty. He is the only one who counts, and He is the true lover of your soul.
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