Half the Battle
A whip for a horse, a bridle for a donkey, and a rod for the back of fools. Proverbs 26:3
Rod – It is all over the news – again. Another celebrity enters rehab for continual illegal actions. Did you reflect on the implication? She is sick, not sinful. She needs counseling, not consequences. She is not responsible. After all, it’s a psychological disorder, not a moral mistake. When a culture eliminates sin from its vocabulary, the ability to transform lives evaporates. We are left with drug therapy. Better go buy stock in the pharmaceuticals.
Proverbs takes a very different approach, one that is now almost legislated out of our society. Proverbs does not recommend rehab. It recommends the rod. Misbehavior must have consequences, and at times, quite severe ones. In fact, the Hebrew word here (shevet) is not only an instrument of punishment, it is also the symbol of authority, and is also translated “scepter,” indicating the power of the king to correct behavior. Why use a rod on a fool (remember, please, that the word for fool does not mean stupid; it means morally corrupt)? The answer is found in the biblical view of the nature of man. The Bible does not treat man as a victim of psychological or social illness. The Bible treats man as morally responsible and disobedient. From the biblical perspective, I am culpable for my actions. When I choose to act irresponsibly, I incur a debt – to society and to God. And in the moral government of the universe, debts must be paid.
To forgive is not to excuse the consequence. To forgive is to take the guilt of someone else on myself. There is still a consequence, but forgiveness transfers the guilt from the one who deserves correction to someone who acts as a substitute. When God forgives, He accepts the necessary payment of the debt. When you and I forgive, we must do the same thing. The act is never excused. It is simply paid for by another. Guilt is removed through forgiveness – but that does not mean that the consequences are removed. Consequences are an integral part of the disobedient act itself. That’s why the Bible often claims that a sinner will fall prey to his own actions.
Now you know why Proverbs says to use the rod. The fool is someone who claims that there is no debt to be paid. The fool believes that his or her actions have no consequences. This kind of thinking must be corrected if society and the individuals are to have any chance at life. If I don’t correct the behavior through consequence, I might as well sign the death warrant for that person. I doom them to living with a false view of the real world, the one that God has ordained. If I spare the rod, I doom the child. The same is true for adults (who are supposed to have already learned this lesson). Forgiveness covers my guilt, but it does not whitewash my behavior. If correction is required to get me back on the right path, neither God nor society is to relax that requirement. To do so spells disaster.
OK, you agree. I can see that. But you’re saying to yourself, “This feels like a police state – a culture of rules – legalism.” Yes, it does, until you look at the other half of the battle – compassion. There is never correction without compassion, as we shall see, tomorrow.
