Proverbs 23: Not-So-Common Sense

Many of the proverbs reinforce the common sense things that we already know - or, at least, the common sense things that we should know.

For instance, the dangers of alcohol abuse (and drug abuse) are well-known in our culture.  We have a legal drinking age of 21 and laws against selling alcohol on Sunday.  We have Alcoholics Anonymous.  We have Mothers Against Drunk Driving (although I understand they may now be against Destructive Decisions?)  We even had a period of constitutional Prohibition in this nation for a time.

And yet what else do we have?  An awful lot of heavy drinking going on.  Despite repeated warnings about the risks of overindulging in alcohol and the dangers of intoxication, it is a regular occurrence for many people.  Shouldn't they heed the well-known warning, "Wine is a mocker, strong drink a brawler, and whoever is led astray by it is not wise" (20:1)?  In chapter 23, verses 29-35 are an elegy for those who go in for heavy drinking.  And consider verses 20-21: "Do not be among the winebibbers, or among the gluttonous eaters of meat; for the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty, and drowsiness will clothe them with rags."

Alright, perhaps you are saying, "Pastor, I don't have any issues with alcohol, so I'm safe."  Fair enough, if you're telling the sober truth.  But how about that part about gluttony?  Something that is not heard as frequently as prohibitions against drinking - but it is just as biblical!  We may be tempted to skirt over those verses in the Bible that hit closer to home.  It's not a matter of information, but of formation.  Just like I may intellectually know that the key to losing weight is to eat less and exercise more...it doesn't really make a difference if I don't actually do that.

This chapter also includes the oft-repeated warnings against prostitution and adultery.  This is another common sense teaching that is commonly disregarded.  "For a prostitute is a deep pit; an adulteress is a narrow well.  She lies in wait like a robber and increases the number of the faithless" (vs. 27-28).  Why would the "world's oldest profession" still be doing so well (and increasingly decriminalized) if people were heeding what conventional wisdom tells us?

Want to be wise?  Do the common sense things!  Avoid drinking too much, eating too much, and sleeping around!  Common sense really isn't all that complicated - even if it isn't all that common!