“17 Pay attention and turn your ear to the sayings of the wise;
apply your heart to what I teach,
18 for it is pleasing when you keep them in your heart
and have all of them ready on your lips.
19 So that your trust may be in the Lord,
I teach you today, even you.
20 Have I not written thirty sayings for you,
sayings of counsel and knowledge,
21 teaching you to be honest and to speak the truth,
so that you bring back truthful reports
to those you serve?
”
As I’ve been working through these daily Proverbs I have been looking for themes that tie them all together. I keep trying to get into the heart and mind of Solomon, to understand his perspective. What does he see when he looks out at the world around him? What are the guiding principles or values that shape his worldview and inform his words?
In chapter 22, Solomon begins to give his son a list of thirty wise sayings, the first of which is I have highlighted here. This first saying is packed with some of the themes I have seen through the first 21 chapters and finishes with guidance for us as leaders.
Here are the themes I see: pay attention to those who are wise, keep wisdom in your heart and ready to share if asked, trust in the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, speak truthfully. These four ideas have been communicated in many forms throughout the book so far and Solomon wraps them together here and adds a purpose with the words, so that…
It makes sense to me when I see these two words in a father’s instruction to his son. I find I use these two words as a father continuously; they are the beginning of any answer to the most popular question of all time, especially from children – WHY?
My kids ask “why” a lot. Simon Sinek would be proud of them, I’m beginning to hate the question! My son Jude has evolved the question to sound like this, “why, and don’t say because I said so.” Fair enough, as stated earlier in this chapter my role is to provide him with instruction so that when he grows up he will not stray from it. Blind obedience is not going to accomplish this, my role is to teach him to see the world through the correct lens. Instructing children in the “why’s” of the world is intimately connected to teaching the “what’s” of the world.
So, what then is Solomon’s “why” for the instruction of his son here? So that …you may bring truth to those you serve. This wisdom in not simply for you – it is to serve those you lead.
Leadership is service!
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
What themes have you seen through the first 22 chapters of Proverbs? How do you see the integration of wisdom and service in leadership? Share your thoughts below.