Peripatetics: The Art of Walking
Monday, June 13, 2005
This summer, we're allowing our student ministry staff as well as selected alumni to give us insights into sections of Scripture that they wish they'd actually applied while they were in high school. I figured that I'd be the first one to start.
And my story starts with credibility.
You know...that idea that people have to have credibility to be heard. Nobody likes a hypocrite, right?
There's no question in my mind that the high school baseball coach at my high school had credibility. He'd won state championships. In the years he didn't the teams still made the playoffs and gave good showings even in defeat. He definitely had credibility. The team BELIEVED in what he was doing.
What he was "doing" was awfully demanding on the personal level. It started out with long workouts during the fall and winter in which players worked out harder then than during the spring season. It filtered into a two-week session over spring break, prior to the start of the season, in which the team would go to south Florida and work on drills from 8AM to 5PM every day...afterward the team would study film of the earlier day. By the team started, every possible situation had been practiced, and minute details were given the strictest attention. We even had a practice in which he taught us how to put on the uniforms the same way so our team looked exactly alike. No detail was overlooked. Ever.
He had credibility because we KNEW that the coach KNEW what he was talking about.
It's the same way with Solomon.
See, in Proverbs 1, it begins with these words in verses 1--4.
"The proverbs of Solomon, the son of David, king of Israel. To know wisdom and instruction, to discern the sayings of understanding, to recieve instruction in wise behavior, righteousness, justice and equity; To give prudence to the naive, To the youth knowledge nad discretion."
The author is going to give us some proverbs. Some sayings from everyday life designed to give insight into practical living.
Well, what makes the author credible?
First of all, we find out this Solomon was the son of David. He grew up in the palace, with access to the finest education. He was aware of his father's incredible successes in unifying a divided nation and expanding it's borders to unprecedented levels. He was also there for the horrible excesses that success brought to his family...and the bloodshed and civil war that resulted in. He was an experienced man.
He was king of Israel. That alone was a magnificent undertaking...and one that would give him the opportunity to observe the human condition and apply it to his life.
In addition, Solomon had a unique place in history. See, he had an incredible even take place not long after his installation as king. Turns out, that God, in a dream, told Solomon to ask Him for whatever he wanted...and God would give it to him. Think about that.
What would you ask for if God Himself did that for you?
And he asked for wisdom (see 1 Kings 3: 3--9).
God told him that because he didn't ask for selfish results or harm for others that he would be the wisest man on the face of the earth. No one was wiser before him, and no one else in history would ever be wiser than he was.
So, not only does Solomon have the resume for being credible when he says he's going to give words of wisdom, but no one after him would ever be as wise.
Wouldn't it make sense that if the wisest man who ever lived would write a book about the things he's learned over time, well...wouldn't you want to listen?
I do.
And that's the beginning of my story on what advice I wish I'd applied when I was in high school. I wish I'd been more wise.
More on that tomorrow.
For today, who are some people who have credibility in your eyes when they give you advice on how to live? What makes them credible, and how have they influenced you?
Brent 4:25 AM
Comments:
I think credibility has a lot to do with wisdom in itself. A person has credibility, at least in my eyes, if they use wisdom in their actions and decisions. I think the two go hand-in-hand.
i think joshua rudd would be one, at least in my eyes, who has shown credibility when giving advice. he is transparent and honest whenever he talks. i remember being drawn to that early on in high school when he would help out with our guys bible study. he never put himself above the person he was offering advice to but he did it as humbly as he knew how. he made himself approachable. to me this deserves credibility
my brother has a lot of credibility in my life--i don't think he has ever given me bad advice...the only times things have gone wrong are the times when i didn't follow his advice. so, yeah, he's most def had a big influence on my life.
Post a Comment