Avoid These Common Pitfalls! Biblical Wisdom for Everyday Life | Proverbs 26:1-28

You're listening to the Bible Guys, a podcast where a couple of friends talk about the Bible in fun, in practical ways. Hey, everybody, welcome to the Bible Guys. We are the Bible Guys the Bible. And by the way, we would love for you a Bible guy. Oh wow, deep growy voice, right, Oh, I'm Batman. I'm Batman. Yeah. Yeah. By the way, you know that was made popular by Michael Keaton in nineteen eighty nine. Yes, yes, anyway, uh la la la la la. I was gonna say, please do us a favor and share share the Bible Guys link. Yeah, you know with somebody. Hey, I found this link. I found this Bible study, this Baba podcast. I'm gonna invite you to it. We would love that. Yeah, yeah, that'd be cool. And uh, it's always amazing that you listen. And if you like it, maybe your friends will like it too. Yeah for sure. And help us out a lot, right, because we. Want to reach more people. Yes, and you know, we're all about helping people up. It's not just one way street, right, they help us, We want to help them and we want to give them the best advice we can give. And so we're scouring the internet, yes, for the best news and the best suggestions, and so today we have a life hack. You know, life hacks are super helpful. Yeah right, because you get the right life hack and you can just it gives you an advantage that just makes life better. Yeah. You know what, Jeff, you are building this thing up. Yeah. So people are dying, so they're on the edge of the yea. So the Babylon b is one of the best sources of information on the internet. Right, it's a satire website. And here it is, right here, here's a life hack for you, and we're bringing it to you a couple of pastors. You can trust it right here. Life hack. Volunteer for parking Lot Ministry and you'll never have to hear another sermon for the rest of your days. There it is. That is a brilliant life ack. Okay, check out this suite life I hacked my church, brethren, or should I say faith hack. Yes, it's true. If you volunteer for the parking lot Ministry at your local church, then you'll never have to hear another sermon. Again, let's break down how the hack works. First, you sign up for the parking lot ministry. Then you go to church on Sunday, but instead of sitting through a sermon, you get to stand outside. There are no sermons outside, we checked. All you have to do is help people park and then walk old ladies to the church entrance. And you get to wear a vest. Cool, that's cool, bonus vest. But wait, aren't sermons good? Sure? But they're also long and boring sometimes. Plus it's so pretty outside right now you can get out in the fresh air and serve the Lord and get out. I have and to sit through the sermon all in one fell stroke. What a deal. So go outside, get some sunshine, and get those traffic batons waving. Then, when the church elders explain that you're supposed to only volunteer to be in the parking lot once per month and otherwise be inside church, just pretend to be deaf and run away. You're welcome. That is so funny, isn't it great? Just pretend to be death and so there you go, people, we're helping you out. That's what we're all about. We are about elevating people's experience. Well, you know what, for for all the life hacks, just come right here and we'll get them from Babylon B and pass them on to you with gladness. And you know who else wrote lots of life hacks. Uh, Solvent? Solomon? So did, yes, and we have we have spent a bunch of time in proverbs before. That's actually a great transition because they are life. They're all life hacks everywhere. All like ways to if we implemented all the wisdom of proverbs, that's right, we would live a pretty darn good life. Pretty good life, that's right. So Solomon wrote all these things. He was the wisest king that ever lived. And person ever lived or will ever live. That's right, I think apart from Jesus. Well, I said person, I didn't say man. God, Well he was a person, so anyways, but other than Jesus, yeah, he's the wisest man that lived. And so he wrote down all these little things, and you can put them on posters, a lot of them. They're like just slogans, good ideas. And Hezekiah when he was cleaning out the temple, he finds a bunch more of these things, apparently that were unpublished or something. And so yesterday we read in chapter twenty five, and it's twenty five twenty six, twenty seven, twenty eight, and twenty nine are the ones that has a kaiaphund, So in chapter twenty six we'll just read some of these. He says, honor is no more associated with fools than snow with summer or rain with harvest. Like a fluttering sparrow or a darting swallow, an undeserved curse will not land on its intended victim. Guide a horse with a whip, a donkey with a bridle, and a fool with a rod to his back. Wowoo, Solomon, he messing around. No, don't answer the foolish arguments of fools, or you'll become as foolish as they are. Be sure to answer the foolish arguments of fools, or they'll become wise in their own estimation. Salmon goes hey, it's kind of situational here. Trusting a fool to convey a message is like cutting off one's feet or drinking poison. A proverb in the mouth of a fool is as useless as a paralyzed leg. Honoring a fool is as foolish as tying a stone to a slingshot. A proverb in the mouth of a fool is like a thorny branch brandished by a drunk. An employer who hires a fool or a bystander is like an archer who shoots at random. As a dog returns to his vomit. So a fool repeats his foolishness. Oh, there's more hope for fools than for people who think they are wise. The lazy person claims there's a lion in the road. Yes, I'm sure there's a lion out there. I quote that sometimes. Yeah, oh yeah, yeah. My wife, I grew up the proverbs. My wife would be like, oh, we should probably go and get those toys done in the backyard. I'm like, oh, I think there's a lion in the streets. I'm positive there's a lion in the streets. That's so funny. It's a little bit of Bible humor there in my house, says let me see, as the door swings back and forth on its hinges. So the lazy person turns over in bed. Lazy people take food in their hand but don't even lift it to their mouth. Lazy people consider themselves smarter than seven wise Counselorsing interfering in someone else's argument is as foolish as yanking a dog's ears, just as damaging as a madman shooting a deadly weapon. Is someone who lies to a friend and then says I was only joking. Woo oooh. Fire goes out without wood, and corals disappear. When gossip stops a quarrelsome person starts fights as easily as hot embers like charcoal or firelights. Wood rumors are dainty morsels that sink deep into one's heart. Smooth words may hide a wicked heart, just as a pretty gaze covers a pretty glaze covers a claypot. People may cover their hatred with pleasant words, but they're deceiving you. They pretend to be kind, but don't believe them. Their hearts are full of many evils. While their hatred may be concealed by trickery, they're wrongdoing will be exposed in public. If you set a trap for others, you'll get caught in it yourself. If you roll a boulder down on others, it'll crush you instead. A lying tongue hates its victims, and flattering words cause ruin. Man, there's some there's some good ones in there. I'll tell you what I wouldn't want to be a fool in someone's eyes. Taking shots of fools, isn't he? Yeah? I remember going them. I remember going to church one time. You remember the old court gestures, you know they have those funny hats. Yes, yeah, court gesture the five. I went to this large church for this conference and I remember pulling in and they were doing a series on a Sunday. We stayed for the Sunday and it was called fool Proof, right, and it was all about the fools of the the you know, in proverbs. And but here's the best part. Everybody in the parking lot, speaking of our opening segment, all the volunteers were wearing court jester hats. And I remember thinking to myself, like, what is this. Why are they wearing court gester hats? And it was because they call it like a fool. They were actually called fools, right, that's for the king. And and so then you finally got in and you're like, what is with all these court juster hats? And then the logo said fool proof And it was a court Juster hat was the logo. It was brilliant and it was it was it a series on proverbs. Yes, oh, man, that's great. It was a series on every every totally want to rip that off. I know, right, that's great. Yeah, it's really good. God gave you eyes to plagiaries. Oh wow, I've never even heard that. You've never heard that? No? Oh yeah? Ed Young says that, yeah, yeah, gives the pleasure eyes. That's really funny. Solomon says, there's no new idea under the sun. That's right, that's right. So I love the I love that there's a bunch of them. But you know, when he's taking shots at these at fools, he's so frustrated with fools, clearly. And then you know there's there's rarely ever a time that the Bible calls followers of God fools. So it's possible for us to be foolish, right, and so this is always the warning to us not to act like fools. But he says, you know, they got guide a horse with a whip, and a donkey with a bridle, and a fool with a ride to his back. You know, he's he's feeling like, hey, these people, they're a fool, a foolish person who refuses to be taught. You find out he feels like fools are they're not willing to learn. They're prideful in what they think they already know. They just stir up trouble. They spout off stuff that they don't know what they're talking about. You know. He kind of he spells out throughout his writings what fools are like. They waste their money, they waste they're not trustworthy, right, all those things. And he's like, the only way you can do it, the only way you can manage them is the same way you have to manage a horse or a donkey. Right, you're cracking with a whip, you put a bridle in his mouth. You have controlling. A fool has to be controlled because he can't be trusted. Yeah, and that's that's really rough. But then the next one is the one that always used to confuse me, and my dad explain this to me. It says, don't answer the foolish arguments of fools, or you'll become as foolish as they are. Be sure to answer the foolish arguments of fools, or they'll become wise in their own estimation. And because the one says don't answer, and the very next verse says answering, it feels like a like it's disagreeing with itself, right, And my dad said, well, what's the one constant whether you're answer or you don't answer, And there's still fools, right, right, there's still fools. So it's really usually about what's at stake there. So if you jump in and you just decide you're going to try to argue with a fool, most of the time, there's no upside to it, right, But then he says, the only real upside would be if you can put that fool in his place. Yeah, then he realizes he's not as you know that you're sending a message. Listen, you don't know what you're talking about, right, So there is that one piece, but for the most part, he's still a fool. It means your argument's not going to change him, so you're just wasting your time. Yeah, yeah, I almost wonder. I almost wonder if, like, when I read it, do you know how I read it? Don't answer the foolish arguments of fools, or else you'll become as foolish as they are. I was I was reading that as the word arguments, the operative word being arguments, meaning like, don't get involved in the minutia of the arguments, because it's not going to make a difference, right, You're going to just get caught up in the foolishness. Right. But then when it says be sure to answer the foolish arguments of fools, or else they become as will become wise in their own estimation, I almost wonder if that is saying, hey, don't get caught up in the minutia of the arguments, but make sure to give them at least an answer to let them know that they're being foolish. Right. So, now it doesn't say that, right, but that's that's actually how I read it. I read it like, don't get too caught up in it because it's it's pointless, but make sure to let them know that they're being foolish or else though, walk away from the conversation somehow in your silence, thinking that they've won or that they're superior in some way, right, right, So in other words, hey, you're gonna ramble online, I'm gonna look at you. I'm just gonna say, wow, you've got a lot to learn, right, yep. And they walk away and they'll be like okay, and those standing around and say, well, he's a fool yep, so maybe maybe it didn't mean that, but it. Could be part of that. Yeah, I also think that it's it's funny. So the two things that just seem almost intolerable to Solomon is foolish people and lazy people. Yes, yeah, the lazy there's a lot there. There's as much about lazy here, right. The lazy person claims there's a lion in the street as the door swings back and forth, and it's just a lazy person turns over. Yeah. Right. Lazy people take food in their hand, they don't even lift it to their mouth, and. They lift it to their mouth. They consider themselves smarter than seven wise counselors. You know, I think I think that people. You know, all you gotta do is watch the internet for ten minutes and you're going to find somebody who thinks they're like, you know, they don't have a lot of credibility. How about that? Is that a polite way to say it? Right? They don't have credibility at all, and yet they're just speaking as if they have so much wisdom and they're like just average Joe person who wants a platform on the internet. And then the other thing that Solomon talks about all the time is just words, yep, how we use our words, the things we say. And then I love how rumors are like dainty morsels. Right. People love spilling the tea, don't they. They love them to do something I didn't know. Look at all these rumors. Smooth words he's talking about. They're like just a pretty glaze over at clay pot. And there's that word picture again. If you ever been involved in pottery where you can take a clay pot and it's just it's rough, it's coarse, it'll chip, and then you cover it with a glaze and it looks it looks smooth and shiny and slick. And what he's saying is and by the way, you can't almost you can't even peel it off. You can't chip it off. I mean, it sticks to that clay pot, and you know, and it's really really hard to even chip that glaze off. And uh, And he says, that's exactly what smooth words are. They can hide a wicked heart in the same way you'd never know. And then fire goes out without wood. Yeah, and corals disappear when gossip stops. And by the way, I've experienced that I've experienced staff. You know, I'm not just talking about one single church i've worked at. I'm talking about I've worked at four different churches, and I think three of those four I've experienced when a staff member who is not very good with their mouth, you know, they have rumors, they cause strife. You know, they're just the kind of people who complain or they're negative. When that person leaves, it's like taking a log off the fire. Yeah, It's like it's like all of a sudden, it's like, wow, all the fuel has gone, it has left the building. Yep, because this one person has left the staff. Yeah, you've experienced that. Right, yes, yeah, yeah, And it's true. When you decide that you're gonna gonna, you know, execute the gossip. It's amazing how quickly the fire goes out the heat. It just dials back the temperature all the time, and you know the gossip. A lot of times gossip comes from people trying to guess the meaning of a thing, or trying to guess that there's something behind a thing. Right, you say good morning, and somebody who's just naturally a gossip is like, what did he mean by good morning? Right? Right, and you're just saying, I'm just saying good morning. But there's a gossip loves to try to find secondary meanings and then they love to try to point that out to other people, or a gossip loves to find a little nugget of information somebody doesn't have and knowing that it's going to hurt some people and say, hey, listen, I'm not trying to hurt you, but you should know, right, that kind of thing, and it just keeps the fire going and it just increases the temperature and makes everything harder. Everything's harder. So yeah, there's that. You know what's so funny is I can't even I can't even recall when's the last time besides on last Sunday, when's the last time you heard a sermon exclusively on gossip? Sometimes you can go years. Well, and the spirit of transparency. I wasn't even really listening to the last weekend's message. I'm joking. It was a really good message. I was going to say, you're kidding, because because you actually wrote feedback. Yeah, yeah, it was. It was good. I wrote feedback, I delivered and you actually get feedback. But yeah, not very often. You don't hear, don't hear a lot of much. And yet and you're people mad about gossip. Right, But the Bible does talk a lot about gossip specifically. Right. It's not just the power of your tongue and the power of your words, which that was all so a portion of the message, but gossip specifically, right, And those things that you're talking about in any work culture and any family culture, right, there's gonna be people like that in there. And what we said at the very beginning of the message is we said that gossip could damage your reputation as much as it can damage the person that you're spreading it about. Right, That gossip actually ruins relationships, That gossip actually grieves your heavenly father. That's what the Bible says, That it will actually hurt your relationship with your heavenly father, you know. And yeah, there's just a lot of things that the Bible warns about gossip. And it doesn't seem dangerous on the surface, but it really is if you pay attention to what the Bible says about it. You know, it feels good to you know, exchange gossip, to deal with the currency of gossip for all people that love it. But the Bible actually says that's sinful and it's hurtful. Yeah, yeah, it doesn't do any good, It only hurts. Right, So I think that there's two of them I want to talk about. But verse seventeen, Interfering in someone else's argument is as foolish as yanking of dogs years right, And you know I've read that some hundreds of times. I know that passage. I've told other people, Oh, don't get involved in that. You know, somebody say, hey, this person's arguing with this person. I know the answer I should, and I'll say, it's just like you're gonna grab ahold of dog's ears, and it's the fastest way to get bit. Right, you grab a dog's ears, try to control, and I'll bite you. So just don't do it. It's gonna hurt you, it's not gonna help them. But I had some people that I deeply cared about, some friends that were not doing good to each other, and they were constantly kind of undercutting the other, okay, and they were my friends. Well, then the one realized the other was doing it, they started button heads pretty hard. So I thought, here's a moment I'll step in. I'll offer some help, it winds up blowing up in my face. It gets so bad they both turn on me, and now they are dear friends and neither one of them can stand me. Wow. I wasn't even involved in any of it, right, but suddenly their argument and they're undercutting each other seemed so little. Yeah, and there they were mad at me, and they still are. Like one of them won't talk to me on occasion. The other one won't talk to me at all, won't won't just at all. And I'm like, what did I do? Right? Well, you know what I did. I grabbed a dog by its ears. That's that's what I did. It was so dumb, and so sometimes it's just worth it to stay out of it. It's none of my business. I'm gonna stay out of it, Okay. Movie quote from where I come from. Nothing brings people together like giving them a good common enemy. Oh, I don't know, it's wicked, wicked, Okay. Jeff Goldblum said it the Wizard of Us. Oh okay, Yeah, And. That's actually sort of like a foreshadowing of them creating the wicked witch. Right blah blah blah. And then and then the other one that really jumps out at me. Is that verse eighteen just as damaging as a mad man shooting a deadly weapon as someone who lies to a friend and then says I was only joking. I don't think it's saying like a madman bursting in and shooting up a place, right. I think it's talking about the drunken town walks out of the saloon and he's just shooting off in the air, right. It's it's reckless, is the is the madman here not insane? I don't think it's talking about some kind of insanity of you know, I'm trying to go hurt people. I think it's it's a recklessness. Well, it doesn't talk about the intent here, right, right. It just says like somebody who's not altogether shouldn't have a gun. That's all I'm saying. But that that crazy man going in and trying to shoot up a place, he's not gonna say I was only joking, right, right. But the madman, you know, the drunk stumbling out of the saloon and the Cowboy movie shooting off in the sky. He's like, I'm just having a little bit of fun, share, right, that's what he's doing. That's what right, that's you know, that's what he's gonna do. And and I think it's the same. I at one time was not paying attention. I don't know if you knew this, but I haven't always been as attentive and focused as I am now, and so sometimes, you know, accidents, I've I've always been pretty accident prone in my life, and as I've gotten older, I've become particularly focused when it comes to fire I like to hunt. I'm a hunter someone it comes to firearms, or when I have my bow, or I'm with somebody with the crossbow or something very very focused on that. I'm always high level, you know, trying to make hey, don't point the gun. You know, is that loaded? Unloaded? Whatever? Become your dad, right, yeah, the parent, the grandparent, yep. But I did accidentally one time have a gun go off. Yeah. Yeah, and back when I was substantially younger, and I had forgotten that the gun was loaded, and it was I was out hunting and all I was doing was moving it from one place to another. But I was reckless in that moment, and the firearm went off, and it wasn't in the direction anybody there wasn't anybody around it wasn't. But I remember in that moment, there's a life changing moment for me that recklessness and overconfidence could have gotten somebody killed. Right, And it's kind of the same thing when we're just going around with difficult words and then thinking we can patch it up with I was just joking kind of thing. It's that foolish, it's that reckless, it's that potentially it's not a guarantee it's going to do harm, but the potential for harm is pretty high, right, And so I read that. It always reminds me again, I was only joking. Is not a legitimate excuse to hurt people. Hey, this I'm just going to show. This is just for fun. But have you ever seen fireworks? And I don't know if you bought or played with fireworks or mess round firewers, but have you ever seen a smoke bomb? It's a round thing, so you light it and you throw it somewhere and it just starts smoking, right, And it's always round. It's colorful, right, you know, it's also round and colorful. A cherry bomb, oh no. And so I was holding one and I said, hey, this is a smoke bomb. I go watch this, and I held it in my hand. A tree bomb is half half the strength of an M eighty oh no, right, yeah, and so it's like it's designed to blow stuff up, blow stuff up. So I'm holding a cherry bomb thinking it's a smoke bomb, and thank goodness, thank God, actually thank god that I actually was holding it because I didn't want to smoke to get on me. So I was just holding it, like balancing it like this, right. And so I said, I'll watch this, and and I lit it. And if I would have if I held it or even probably placed it on my palm right, but I was holding on my fingertips, and I said, I said, watch, just lit it and just held it like this right this course to my face. It was a smoke bomb, and it blew up right in my face, and there was a piece that actually flew and it hit my eyelid and it scalded my eyelid and it was burned shut and it was it was really bad. But my fingers were all intact. And it was probably one of the most foolish things I've ever done. It's really right same, it's the same thing a madman shooting a deadly weapon, right, a mad man lighting deadly cherry bomb. Right, So that's really it is. We need to not be we need to be more intentional and not thinking that we can just rely on our excuses of I was just joking. That's great. Well, there's a lot of wisdom in there. Hey, don't be lazy and don't be foolish. And watch your words and watch your words. That's a great place to end and we will see you tomorrow on the bibble Gush