“Whoever pursues righteousness and kindness will find life and honor.”
Proverbs 21:21
I love the Proverbs. For me, they are encouraging. But there is a way of looking at them that can be discouraging.
Unfortunately, many people view the Proverbs as explicit promises and then feel betrayed when the ‘promises’ aren’t kept.
It may be better to think of them as principles that reflect the way God has ordered the world. At the same time, we need to keep the Psalms in mind and remember that our world is also broken.
There is tension between Proverbs saying that the wicked won’t prosper and the Psalms lamenting that the wicked are prospering. I do not think this means Scripture is wrong or contradictory, but that Scripture recognizes the inherent tensions in a world that God made good but is now fallen.
The important part is that Proverbs shows us the heart of God and how he wants humanity and culture to function. In a world that is perfectly molded to the character of God, a person who pursues righteousness and kindness will find life and honor. In our imperfect world, this remains a general principle, but there are times when it does not hold.
It can also be helpful to look more deeply at the words used to better understand this passage. The Hebrew word translated here as pursue can also mean “to chase” or “to hunt.” So, there is a seriousness and passion that does not always come across in our translation. Whoever hunts or chases after righteousness has a bit of a different ring to it.
Righteousness and kindness are good translations of the original language, but they can also be translated as ‘justice’ and ‘goodness’. The translation here reflects a more Protestant, individualistic ethic. However, the Old Testament has a communal ethic that might be better reflected by “justice and goodness.” Both are correct, but they convey different nuances in twenty-first-century English.
Life and honor are fine translations, but the original Hebrew repeats the word ‘righteousness’ or ‘justice’ here, and the word for life also conveys ‘abundance.’
So, one can look at this verse and learn that in God’s economy, chasing after justice and goodness leads to life-giving righteousness and abundance.
This isn’t a promise that those who fight for justice and goodness will be wealthy, but rather that they are echoing God’s heart. Even if they do not find abundance in this life, they are behaving as God desires and acting in a way that a world unmarred by sin would reward.
A Quote to Consider:
“It is only the Christian who refuses to compromise in matters of honesty, integrity, and morality that is bearing an effective witness for Christ.”
-Billy Graham
This quote hits hard. Not because Billy Graham was perfect and never compromised. He wasn’t and did. Just as we also fail. However, he points to an important truth.
It is easy to justify our compromises. We can argue that we should support a certain evil because it leads to a different good. A good, that in our eyes, is more important.
But there is a world full of people who question God or outright deny Him. When they see us compromising our honesty, integrity, and morality, they see a Church that is just as craven, callous, and transactional as the rest of the world.
If we truly believe in a good, loving God, we cannot bear witness to Him by compromising on central issues such as integrity and morality.
Christ is Good, True, and Beautiful. We cannot effectively point a world to Him through compromise. If our words or actions show malice, dishonesty, and ugliness, we affirm to the world that Jesus does not transform us; He is merely a tool we employ when convenient.
Prayer:
Lord Jesus,
Teach us to chase justice and goodness with courage and humility. Guard us from compromise, make our lives ring with integrity, and let our witness reflect Your goodness—true, beautiful, and just.
Amen.
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