Doug Van Pelt

The crucible for silver...

...and the furnace for gold,
but the Lord tests the heart."

This reminds me of another Proverb -- 27:21, which states:

"The crucible for silver,
and the furnace for gold,
but a man is tested by the praise accorded him."

To me this means that the examining lights of heaven go on when someone pays us a compliment. Do we "fail" the test and say, "Yeah, you're right. I'm cool." Or do we "pass" the test and respond in humility? One of the things I've trained myself to do is always let someone pay a compliment. Whether you're on stage or publishing a magazine or cooking some killer BBQ for your friends, when someone pays you a compliment, they usually do it from a sincere heart. It's their way of encouraging you or saying "thanks" for something they've received or seen. Being gracious in the context of praise is important. I usually thank people for the "encouragement," because that's probably the purest form of what it is. "Flattery" is a good label for the wrong direction, as in being prideful and puffed up. Encouragement has just a slightly different "flavor" than "flattery," because it reminds us of "building up," where as flattery seems closer to "puffing up." Sometimes Christian rock musicians want to be obedient to the Word and not be prideful, so they cut off an adoring fan's praise by giving the flat answer, "Praise the Lord. He gave me the talent," etc. This is fine on the surface, but by stating it and even sometimes cutting off the compliment, they are not allowing someone to simply offer encouragement. Performers need to take a bow and accept praise from the stage. It's a tactful and graceful way of responding to an audience (by letting the audience respond to their performance), and a graceful performer knows the fleeting nature of an audience's praise, and they will take the praise and the criticism with a grain of salt. Some say being humble is being "no more, nor no less than what God created." That is a good definition, because it guards against false humility or debasement (which may have good intentions, but is not necessary or God's will).

But, alas, Proverbs 17 doesn't address all this. It just reminded me of Proverbs 27:21 with its phrasing. This chapter addresses many different things, including "good bribery" and "bad bribery." I would venture a guess that "good bribery" would be an extravagant giver, who shares with his friends and employees or associates. They will often return such actions with similar, positive reaction. "Bad bribery" would be the most common definition of bribery (which we think of whenever we hear the word); and that is when someone tries to bribe an official of authority so as to thwart justice. Like giving a cop a hundred dollar bill to get out of a traffic stop; or to give a judge a lot of money in order to get a ruling that allows this person to take advantage of the poor. I'm curious if the Hebrew words for bribery in verse 8 is the same as the one used in verse 23.

8:
"A bribe is a charm to the one who gives it;
wherever he turns, he succeeds."

23:
"A wicked man accepts a bribe in secret
to pervert the course of justice."

Interesting, huh?
What do ya'll think?

Posted by Doug Van Pelt at June 13, 2005 10:05 AM