11 September 2023
The Old Testament Wisdom Literature paints the picture of God's man. He cares like a shepherd, willing to sacrifice a lot for others, particularly those who just don't understand, any better than sheep understand the shepherd's motives and all the stuff he has to juggle to keep them safe.
The wise man is marked by a cheerful aplomb. In a social situation, he rarely speaks first unless it is simply his duty. He says little until those teachable moments. He waits a long time for them to come, keeping the answers to himself until ears are willing to hear. Nothing surprises him about human folly or wretchedness. He could see it coming a long way off.
At the same time, he doesn't take crap from anybody regarding his own domain. He knows who his superiors are, the people to whom he's accountable on human terms, but otherwise he is accountable to God alone. Nor does he use that as an excuse for neglecting his shepherd's duty.
He'll tolerate a lot of whining and drama from his flock. He is aware of their lack of perspective on things. He helps them keep their lives simple, when possible, at a cost they'll never understand until they take his place. Rather early, he identifies those who are worthy of training. He gets them to start taking up various parts of the load of care, encouraging them and making them see their own strengths and weaknesses.
He'd rather be doing something else, but he knows God has appointed him to lead. Having ditched his human ambitions, he's willing to fail at some things because he knows it's unavoidable. He demonstrates how to heal from wounds and bear the scars. He leads mostly by example. He is always looking for an excuse to lighten any load of sorrow on others. He is quite indulgent with those who sincerely try. It's not that he's lazy, but he measures carefully what consequences best match the need of the moment.
He maximizes whatever charisma God gave him, and does his best to engage with an eye to the needs he can sense. He always puts the Covenant first; it's how he measures human needs.
The women in his household never forget that their most important public duty is to boost his reputation. His reputation is theirs; all the good things they seek in this life depend on that one thing. He talks about being spoiled rotten, and then tolerates the most austere deprivation as if it were just a pleasant adventure.
Folks, it's far more important that you have a vision of what being an adult means in Christ than it is that you should swallow my description whole. It's not possible to declare the whole matter in words. Rather, it's a living image of our Savior when He walked this earth.
Comments
Fun and Prophet
Considering what impedes my "being an adult," in the hope others join in, what occurs to me are two red-flag typical modern characteristics of immaturity:
•neediness
and
•entitlement.
The remedy for both is in Lamentations 3. It's a miracle and mercy I even live (v. 22); and [only] the Lord is my portion (v. 24). Otherwise, like Flannery O'Connor's Misfit, "It's no real pleasure in life."
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