How to Deal with Sinners – from the “Book of Hezekiah”

(Above is not a misprint – I’ll explain.) In Chapters 25-29, Solomon gave a lot of advice about dealing with other people who either lack the goodness or the wisdom that he gave in the other parts of the book. Let us take a look at some of these words from Solomon. Note that this compilation was done probably by the order of King Hezekiah, a good king who greatly revived the worship of God (see 2 Chronicles 29-32): keep this in mind and see whether the emphasis of this section is different than the other sections of Proverbs.

Below, I will list groups of verses that discuss dealing with certain groups of unsavory people; please look up these verses and see which groups of people they refer to.

Do not trust unfaithful people 25:14, 25:19, 26:6

Do not give ground to evil people 25:26, 28:4, 28:18

Do not give honors to those undue 26:1, 26:8

26:7, 26:9, 29:9

Avoid quarrelsome people 25:24, 26:21

Avoid flattering people 26:25, 26:28, 27:14, 29:5

Above, it might seem as if these words from Solomon are all very harsh as far as dealing with people who are … less than perfect. However, see 25:20-21, 25:25, and 28:27. Do you think that these verses are out of place in this section? If not, what message do they convey?

The first groups of verses that we studied dealt with what to do with people whom we should not associate with – and that’s the main point of this lesson. However, by comparison, we should look at how Solomon tells us to treat people whom we should associate with:

25:12, 27:5, 27:9, 27:17

Be faithful to friends 25:13, 27:10

Be willing to use discipline 29:15, 29:17, 29:21

(This scenario is loosely based on the early life of Jiang Xiaobai, the Duke of Chi in the Spring-Autumn Period of Chinese history and partially inspired by the novel Kane and Abel.)

You’re an executive for a large bank who had been mothballed as the head of the Alaska division for the last three years, but finally it appears that your “exile” is over; the Board of Directors is extremely impressed with how well you handled that division, and has named you the president. Your first immediate task is to look for an executive vice president. The Executive VP is to run the daily affairs of the bank and to report to you important matters that require your attention. The man you had in mind for the job is a faithful friend and colleague, Abe Loney, who three years ago volunteered to go with you on the Alaska assignment and who helped you greatly there. When you summoned him to your office to offer him the position, to your surprise, he declined – and recommended instead Jeff Flutie, a good friend of his and one of the VPs. Flutie is highly intelligent and experienced; you have also, however, come to greatly resent the man. Three years ago, Flutie used all of his resources to make sure that you were sent to Alaska and that the man that he had served under for years becomes president of the bank. Even as the Board became dissatisfied with him and wanted to replace him with you, Flutie apparently spread rumors about you that swayed some directors but weren’t enough to prevent your election. Knowing your resentment, Flutie had tendered a resignation.

1. Abe argued that Flutie’s tactics in fact showed faithfulness to his former boss, and that you can use his high intelligence and experience if he will become faithful to you – which Abe thinks that he will if you treat him well. Are these arguments at all persuasive to you?

2. Are there certain kinds of tactics that Flutie might have used that would cause you to reject him (and throw him out) regardless of Abe’s arguments? Say, if Flutie spread rumors about your wife? If he insulted your Christian beliefs? If he spread falsities about your achievements in Alaska? Anything else?

3. Despite Abe’s arguments, do you find it troubling that Flutie appeared to be personally loyal to his former boss rather than the bank? To whom should he owe his allegiance? Both? Either?

4. What about Abe? He’s certainly given his all to you, but he felt that he’s not suitable to be anything more than a division vice president; in fact, he has requested a transfer to Mongolia. Do you try to get him a better position despite his lack of comfort with it, or do you grant his wishes knowing that Mongolia is a rather harsh place to work in (even for a bank executive)?

5. Have you, in your real life, ever encountered a situation where you are forced to work with people whom you don’t like and who don’t like you? How is a Christian supposed to face this situation?

(This scenario is very loosely based on Les Miserables but also partially inspired by a recent story about a candidate for the mayor of Baltimore and also a member of the Symbionese Liberation Army.)

You are an FBI investigator who is in charge of an old investigation of a woman who, 15 years ago, seduced a number of men in North Carolina and cheated them out of their wealth (worth about $250,000 in current value), and then disappeared. The FBI has been investigating for this long but nothing has come up. Recently, however, a tip came up; she is now the mayor of Truth or Consequences, New Mexico.[1] Apparently, soon after she cheated the men out of their money, she assumed another identity, moved to New Mexico, and started her own business. Most people in the community indicate that she has done a lot of good in the community, donating to charitable causes, helping the city government become efficient, &c., and that’s why they elected her mayor. She is married and has four children, the oldest of whom is 12. Essentially, you are pretty sure that if you do not pursue her case, no one will realize that the mayor was actually a seductress and a swindler.

1. Do you feel that, as a Christian, you still have the duty to pursue her at this stage? Is she an “enemy” who should nevertheless be forgiven?

2. Does the nature and degree of her crime affect you one way or the other? What if she were a serial killer? What if she tried to assassinate a brutal dictator who was visiting the United States? What if she cheated the men out of $200 million? What if she cheated churches out of $200 million? What if she stole a single loaf of bread?

3. Does her status as an honored member of society affect your thought? Does it affect your decision if you find out that a lot of acclaim she received was actually undeserved?

4. Does it affect your decision if she were not the mayor of Truth or Consequences but in fact a trusted friend of yours? What if she were an elder at your church who had given you a lot of (what you thought was) good spiritual advice and whom you’ve always considered a friend?

5. Does it matter whether if you find it likely that she would repeat the crime that she committed?

(This scenario is a composite of situations faced by some doctors and psychologists who hosted or participated in call-in shows and a few baseball analysts who were asked to work for baseball teams.)

You are a psychologist with a booming practice. One day, you received an intriguing phone call from a local TV station; they are starting a show on which people with psychological problems or distress would appear on the show, and then you will try to counsel them on what to do, and also educate the viewers about basic principles of counseling. After some further discussions with the station, you agree to become the host of the show for the next two years.

After the show started, though, you were quickly disappointed in a number of ways. First, the station appeared to be more interested in the people whose problems have shock value rather than those whom you felt that you could help the most. (“Mothers who make walnut and chocolate sandwiches!” “Lawyers who write readable legal papers!” “People who drink octuple cappuccinos!” &c.) Second, you feel that a lot of people who appear on the show are frauds – those people do need help, of course, in a way, but who want to show off on TV rather than receive actual counseling from you. People who watch the show generally give it high reviews even despite your personal disappointment, and many people acclaim you as the greatest psychologist in the city, and in a way it feels very good – even though you feel it untrue.

1. Do you consider trying to quit the show, assuming that money is not a problem? By doing so, you would be reneging on a contract that you signed, but by continuing the show you feel that you are being professionally dishonest in a way.

2. Most people who appear on the show don’t appear to heed your counsel at all. However, a handful of people do keep in contact with you and do appear to try to follow your advice. How would this affect your decision to whether to continue working on the show? What if the percentage of people helped was 10%? 5%? 1%? 0.5%?

3. On one show, you simply suggested that a woman who goes into a rampage after eating hamburgers that she should stop eating them. After the show, the station asked you to refrain from such advice in the future in that a big sponsor of the show is Burger Duke (BD) and that they are displeased with any negative references to hamburgers. Do you heed the warning of the station, assuming that the station doesn’t actually threaten you with anything?

4. Are there certain types of guests that you would simply refuse to interview? If so, how far are you willing to go to prevent the station from scheduling these guests?

[1] I didn’t make this name up – there really is a city named Truth or Consequences.