“When a scoffer is punished, the simple becomes wise; when a wise man is instructed, he gains knowledge.”– Proverbs 21:11
There’s two countercultural gems in this proverb. The first is, there’s a place for punishment. The other is, you’re becoming wise as long as you’re willing to learn. These come as a package.
Part of the reason why “punishment” has become a dirty word is because we assume that everyone (including children) falls into the wise man category in the proverb above. All people need is a little teaching, a little more instruction, a better educational system. When little Johnny breaks down and throws a toy at another kid, it’s because he hasn’t been taught a better way.
That’s true so long as we are using the word “teach” in a broad sense. Most parents and teachers will “teach” Johnny to consider a better way next time by enacting consequences for what he did this time. This punishment is the teaching that can make even the simple wise.
In Proverbs, being “simple” doesn’t carry the same negative connotations as being a “fool.” Fools refuse to learn. Simple people simply lack teaching. Children fall into the simple group because they don’t yet have the mental categories to comprehend complex and nuanced moral reasoning. What they can comprehend is seeing someone receive a punishment or reward.
God has designed a world where there are usually punishments for bad choices and rewards for good choices, whether we use those terms or not. When people see a direct action-consequence chain of events, anyone can learn a life-altering lesson. “Ah,” they observe, “I see that persistently coming in late to work will get you fired!”
This sort of lesson is a perfectly legitimate basic building block of wise living. But the Bible doesn’t want us to stop there. “When a wise man is instructed, he gains knowledge.” He didn’t need to experience it. He didn’t need to physically witness someone else blowing up their life. He was willing to just receive instruction and learn from it.
Experience Is the Last Teacher You Want
I learned a lot of things the hard way. My mother used to tell me, “Experience is a sure teacher, but it’s the harshest one.” Experience will not flinch when it decides to teach you a lesson. This is where the gospel can save you a good deal of pain and help you grow by leaps, because it gets you past your biggest obstacle—pride. The gospel teaches that you and I are sinners whose judgment is prone to wander and self-destruct. We need Jesus’ salvation, a changed heart, a quickness to repent, the guidance of his Spirit, and the wisdom of other perspectives.
Jesus invites us to become wise by first admitting that we need instruction. The irony of wisdom is that the more you are continually aware of your own ignorance and deficiencies, the more likely you are to live wisely. As Christians, we should desire to be lifelong disciples—always learning, always receiving the instruction Jesus is eager to give:
“I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you. Be not like a horse or a mule, without understanding, which must be curbed with bit and bridle, or it will not stay near you” (Psalm 32: 8-9).
Pray that you would have the wisdom to listen to Jesus’ instructions today.
5 comments
Bill McIlvanie
Keep on writing, Justin. It’s good for the soul.
Some further thoughts:
First off, experience is generally the best teacher, unless hazards are involved. Being taught by an experienced teacher, we have a better chance of navigating the world without killing ourselves. That is the point of teaching. However book learning alone is no substitute for experience. We can more safely navigate the world if after learning about it we imagine ourselves functioning in it as taught, before we seek experience. I taught myself to drive a car this way, by sitting in one with my hands on the wheel, dry shifting through the gears and imagining myself steering around obstacles, stopping at stop signs, etc. I successfully drove my mother’s Chrysler sedan 2.5 miles home one evening without ever having actually driven a car before. The next day I took my driving test at the state patrol and was complemented on my vehicle handling skills by the officer. (This of course was before the days of Driver’s Ed.)
We owe our lives to those who have suffered through or witnessed bad experiences and lived to tell about them. We can’t experience life after death, however, not vicariously nor with a good imagination. We have God’s word that Christian’s will experience it, and Jesus hinted what it would be like in the Beatitudes. But the Kingdom to come is not semiotically available to us mortals. Means have been spelled out for those seeking salvation, but Jesus isn’t going to teach them how to drive a car. For many the “still small voice” of conscience is their guide to moral decision making, but their consciences have to be trained up rightly and none of us have perfected consciences. Fewer still have heard the startling disembodied voice that comes not from inside but from a location outside, a voice that tells us something true we could never have known otherwise.
Practically speaking, I find it best to practice the presence of our omniscient God, He who is over and above us and sits in judgment over everything we do and say. This is problematic for egos, but it isn’t that hard to do. We always have it in mind that we are superior to the other animals, so having someone be likewise superior to us seems like a no-brainer to me. As I am over an above the animals, so is God to me. One just has to get over the notion/feeling that this makes God a tyrant. He is rather like a loving father instead. If we can get past our adolescent desire to escape the demands of the earthly father, and allow our adolescent selves to be humbled by the perfect Father through our experience of the world He placed us in, all goes well in this respect with our souls.
Justin N. Poythress
Wow! Love the story about how you learned how to drive–that is something I’ve never heard of before!
I like your approach to experience vs book-learning. Experience really is vital, but there are certain things you can’t experience until you’ve been there. Other things you shouldn’t experience at all, and a balance between being prepared, and being stuck in preparation without doing! I also think you’re right in linking Christian experience with the “still small voice” of conscience–that is the experience of God’s Spirit.
I also appreciate your practical tip on practicing the presence of God as both father, judge and guide. That is a relational experience which is more important than anything else you can learn.
William Edgar
Homerun! The more I study proper wisdom, the more I realize it’s a beautiful complement (development) to the divine law. Keep up your wise insightfulness.
Bill
Justin N. Poythress
Thanks Bill. You stop growing in wisdom when you stop learning!
Nataly Martell Miranda
Que bueno es nuestro Padre Celestial al permitir que se nos otorgue la corrección con la disciplina y castigo y este de fruto en nosotros haciéndonos más nobles y sabios!!! Que sabiduría de Dios.