A Wise Guy Eh?
One of my all-time favorite TV shows is "The Three Stooges." Curly, Larry and Moe are still the original and best of the comedic actors specializing in "physical comedy."
Funny? Yes! Hilarious!
Wise? Uh, no. They're called stooges for a reason folks!
When frustrated with one another, Curly or Moe would often utter the now famous line: "Oh, a wise guy eh?" What followed was usually a bash to the skull with a hammer, a finger to the eye, or a swift kick in the pants!
But all kidding aside, the world and the church desperately need more "wise guys." Men of wisdom. This month I invited the men of our church to join me in reading a Chapter in the Proverbs each day. 31 days of March. 31 Chapters in Proverbs, God's book of wisdom. What's not to love? So, at least once a week this month I will pull out a nugget from this book and expound on it briefly. May we all grow wiser by the word and grace of God.
"My son, if sinners entice you, do not consent" (Prov 1:10).
My son - we first note that the Book of Proverbs is written from a Dad to a son (see 1:8; 2:1; 3:1; 4:1, 10, 20; 5:1; 6:20; 7:1). The church has suffered long in our land from a lack of father-to-son discipleship. Men have too often abandoned their sons / children, either literally or functionally. Workaholism and video-gamitis are taking a toll.
What a blessing it was for one of the men in our church to tell me he was reading these chapters with his sons every night this month! That's the spirit! Rise up O men of God! Have done with lesser things. Open your Bibles and read and delight and discuss with your sons / children. The Church is surely an important partner with you in this task. But you dare not leave it to the Church alone. There is no surrogate, no substitute for Dad teaching his family the Word of God. You work so hard, men, to put food on the tables. I commend you. Praise God for your work ethic. But please, please, work just as hard to set before your families each day The Bread of Life.
If sinners entice you - we dare not add to God's Word, but here we might just add a side-comment that we might as well say, "When sinners entice you." And that's really the sense of the wording here anyway, isn't it? Solomon knows the enticement is coming. He just wants his son to be armed, sober, on alert.
How desperately we need to warn our sons of all the enticements of this world! Dads, we must push past our comfort zones to talk transparently, boldly, and often with our sons / children concerning sexual temptations, perversions, pornography, relationships / friendships, drugs, music, movies, corruption in business and government, and the list goes on and on. This world and Satan will never stop their enticements until Jesus makes all things new. Sin so often looks alluring (remember Genesis 3:6). The Bible even says sin is pleasurable for a season. We had better be up front about the allurements assaulting us day-by-day. People, places, things. They can all become sinful enticements, because our flesh is weak and fallen and set on sin (Rom 8:5-8).
Do not consent - wisdom speaking here! Do you and your sons know how to fight sin God's way? Is your son /child saved? Is he in Christ? A lover of Jesus and His Word? A hungry learner and follower of Jesus? A son who embraces the critical sanctifying role of the church family in his life? If not, get busy saturating that boy in the Gospel of Jesus Christ as often as humanly possible! Stop wasting time on lesser things! His soul is at stake and he will never be able to "not consent" to sin until he is first found in Christ.
Now, if by God's glorious grace, your son is in Christ, let me return to my original question: Do you and your sons / children know how to fight sin God's way? Are you fighting God's way? If your answer to either question is "no," please contact a pastor or elder brother in Christ right away and ask that man to teach you the way of holiness and to walk alongside you in the way everlasting (Psalm 139:24). Soon enough we'll come to Proverbs 27:17. Might as well get started now brothers!
Be a wise guy. For your family. For your church. For your world. For the glory of God alone.
by Keith McWhorter