WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.899 Well, if you could keep your Bible open to Proverbs 00:00:02.899 --> 00:00:07.639 26 and let's pray, let's ask God for help as 00:00:07.639 --> 00:00:16.960 we look at His Word now. Gracious Heavenly Father, 00:00:16.980 --> 00:00:21.100 we thank you that you give us wisdom and we pray, 00:00:21.320 --> 00:00:23.440 Father, that you would help us to see what true 00:00:23.440 --> 00:00:27.300 wisdom looks like. Guard us against the distortions 00:00:27.300 --> 00:00:32.609 that exist in this world. That we may live joyful, 00:00:32.969 --> 00:00:36.850 godly lives, trusting you until Jesus returns. 00:00:37.670 --> 00:00:42.850 And we ask this in his name. Amen. Well, as a 00:00:42.850 --> 00:00:46.710 kid I grew up in Sydney and occasionally we'd 00:00:46.710 --> 00:00:50.960 go to Luna Park. and at Luna Park you've got 00:00:50.960 --> 00:00:54.060 the Big Dipper, or they used to back then, there 00:00:54.060 --> 00:00:56.899 was the merry -go -round, the showbags, which 00:00:56.899 --> 00:00:59.039 was just a genius idea to find another way to 00:00:59.039 --> 00:01:01.460 make you part with more of your money once you'd 00:01:01.460 --> 00:01:04.519 already paid for a ticket. But one of the fun 00:01:04.519 --> 00:01:08.439 attractions I remember was Coney Island, a old 00:01:08.439 --> 00:01:12.219 school fun house, and in there they had those 00:01:12.219 --> 00:01:15.879 special mirrors. You know those ones? They don't 00:01:15.879 --> 00:01:20.239 reflect reality. They distort it. And some were 00:01:20.239 --> 00:01:22.799 quite good. I really like the one that made me 00:01:22.799 --> 00:01:26.719 look taller and skinnier. But as nice as that 00:01:26.719 --> 00:01:30.659 was, and as nice as it was to imagine, it wasn't 00:01:30.659 --> 00:01:35.599 real. It was a distortion. Now, it's a bit of 00:01:35.599 --> 00:01:37.680 fun going to the fun house and looking at the 00:01:37.680 --> 00:01:40.400 mirrors, but if you used those sort of mirrors 00:01:40.400 --> 00:01:44.099 in regular life, that could be incredibly dangerous, 00:01:44.260 --> 00:01:48.200 couldn't it? Imagine your rear view mirror was 00:01:48.200 --> 00:01:51.620 one of those distorted mirrors, or your reverse 00:01:51.620 --> 00:01:53.879 camera, you know, if you're that way inclined. 00:01:55.299 --> 00:01:59.319 It would lead to a praying, wouldn't it? Or if 00:01:59.319 --> 00:02:02.620 you're here and you've got glasses, you know 00:02:02.620 --> 00:02:06.120 what it's like, how much... How much better it 00:02:06.120 --> 00:02:09.340 is living in a world with glasses on, because 00:02:09.340 --> 00:02:11.439 your vision is naturally distorted. So having 00:02:11.439 --> 00:02:14.960 it corrected makes life so much better and safer, 00:02:14.960 --> 00:02:22.300 doesn't it? Seeing reality as it really is, is 00:02:22.300 --> 00:02:27.400 important. And that's what wisdom is meant to 00:02:27.400 --> 00:02:32.000 do. Wisdom is meant to help us see reality as 00:02:32.000 --> 00:02:35.569 it really is. It's meant to be like a reality 00:02:35.569 --> 00:02:37.990 mirror, but like the good kind in the bathroom 00:02:37.990 --> 00:02:40.849 or in your walk -in wardrobe, you know, it's 00:02:40.849 --> 00:02:43.650 there to reflect to you what is actually going 00:02:43.650 --> 00:02:48.969 on. But there are forms of wisdom today that 00:02:48.969 --> 00:02:53.110 are like those distorted mirrors. They don't 00:02:53.110 --> 00:02:57.210 reflect reality, they warp it, they twist it. 00:02:57.949 --> 00:03:00.770 They're distortions that masquerade as wisdom. 00:03:01.319 --> 00:03:04.219 But they're actually made up of mirages and half 00:03:04.219 --> 00:03:09.060 -truths and lies. And they cause great harm and 00:03:09.060 --> 00:03:16.159 hurt. Are you aware of them? What distortions 00:03:16.159 --> 00:03:20.520 would you likely be caught out by? Are there 00:03:20.520 --> 00:03:25.479 any that have got a hold on you now? Well, Proverbs 00:03:25.479 --> 00:03:30.490 26 makes us wiser by exposing that distorted 00:03:30.490 --> 00:03:33.990 wisdom of the world. And there's going to be 00:03:33.990 --> 00:03:36.389 one big thing that we see today as we look at 00:03:36.389 --> 00:03:41.650 Proverbs 26. Don't be fooled by folly when it 00:03:41.650 --> 00:03:45.949 masquerades as wisdom. What's Proverbs 26 saying 00:03:45.949 --> 00:03:50.050 to you today? Don't be fooled by folly when it 00:03:50.050 --> 00:03:54.389 masquerades as wisdom. And there's four types 00:03:54.389 --> 00:03:57.250 of folly, four of these distortions that we're 00:03:57.250 --> 00:04:02.210 going to look at. Do not honour the fool. Do 00:04:02.210 --> 00:04:06.569 not envy the sluggard. Do not ignore the agitator. 00:04:07.509 --> 00:04:11.090 And do not trust the flatterer. Do not honour 00:04:11.090 --> 00:04:13.930 the fool. Do not envy the sluggard. Do not ignore 00:04:13.930 --> 00:04:17.490 the agitator. And do not trust the flatterer. 00:04:18.290 --> 00:04:21.290 So let's look at the first one. Do not honour 00:04:21.290 --> 00:04:26.930 the fool. See, folly looks so good today. The 00:04:26.930 --> 00:04:32.110 fool rejects God and his wisdom, he does whatever 00:04:32.110 --> 00:04:35.790 he wants or whatever she wants. And it looks 00:04:35.790 --> 00:04:39.769 like freedom. I get to do whatever I want, how 00:04:39.769 --> 00:04:44.449 good's that? But it's not freedom, it's actually 00:04:44.449 --> 00:04:49.209 a damaging distortion. And so to honour someone 00:04:49.209 --> 00:04:51.790 who's doing that is actually a really unhelpful 00:04:51.790 --> 00:04:55.910 thing. Have a look at these verses. Like snow 00:04:55.910 --> 00:05:00.810 in summer, or rain in harvest, honour is not 00:05:00.810 --> 00:05:05.069 fitting for a fool. Or like tying a stone in 00:05:05.069 --> 00:05:10.389 a sling is the giving of honour to a fool. How 00:05:10.389 --> 00:05:14.250 good is that imagery? Snow in summer, rain in 00:05:14.250 --> 00:05:16.930 harvest. It's saying it's not good for the crops. 00:05:17.550 --> 00:05:20.569 It's actually really damaging when you have things 00:05:20.569 --> 00:05:23.350 not fitting for when they're meant to be. And 00:05:23.350 --> 00:05:25.870 when you've got a fool... who's getting honoured, 00:05:25.910 --> 00:05:27.949 that's not fitting. The fool should not be honoured. 00:05:28.170 --> 00:05:30.129 They should be restrained. They should be corrected. 00:05:30.230 --> 00:05:35.850 They should be told to quieten down. But when 00:05:35.850 --> 00:05:39.829 you have fools honoured in a community, it's 00:05:39.829 --> 00:05:43.290 actually really bad. It gives the impression 00:05:43.290 --> 00:05:46.550 to people that rejecting God and his wisdom is 00:05:46.550 --> 00:05:51.430 good. Or tying a stone to a sling. So you've 00:05:51.430 --> 00:05:54.600 got your sling. You know, you're spinning it 00:05:54.600 --> 00:05:57.139 around above your head, but you've tied the stone 00:05:57.139 --> 00:06:01.360 to it. Think about, you know, the physics of 00:06:01.360 --> 00:06:04.759 that. How's that gonna go? The sling won't work. 00:06:04.819 --> 00:06:07.540 The sling's meant to cast the stone at someone 00:06:07.540 --> 00:06:12.600 else. But if you've tied the stone... ..boonk! 00:06:12.660 --> 00:06:15.339 ..on your own head, it won't work and you'll 00:06:15.339 --> 00:06:19.300 hit yourself. That's the picture. Honouring a 00:06:19.300 --> 00:06:22.350 fool... undermines your goals, undermines what 00:06:22.350 --> 00:06:25.110 you're trying to achieve and will likely harm 00:06:25.110 --> 00:06:30.329 you. See, honour is meant for the honourable, 00:06:30.810 --> 00:06:34.949 meant for the wise and the just. Because honour 00:06:34.949 --> 00:06:37.509 shows us who to admire, who to value and who 00:06:37.509 --> 00:06:42.730 to copy. But if fools are on it, people think 00:06:42.730 --> 00:06:45.509 folly is not damaging and harmful. They start 00:06:45.509 --> 00:06:51.639 to think it's actually wise. Think of Johnny 00:06:51.639 --> 00:06:55.180 Knoxville and the Jackass franchise. Have you 00:06:55.180 --> 00:06:59.560 ever come across that? It was a TV show in 2000 00:06:59.560 --> 00:07:04.740 that spawned three seasons of TV shows and a 00:07:04.740 --> 00:07:07.459 bunch of movies. I think they even made a video 00:07:07.459 --> 00:07:11.800 game. And it's all about painful, ridiculous 00:07:11.800 --> 00:07:15.319 stunts and pranks. They'd get people in a shopping 00:07:15.319 --> 00:07:18.160 trolley and push it down a massive hill and see 00:07:18.160 --> 00:07:20.779 how hurt they can get. It was all sorts of stupid 00:07:20.779 --> 00:07:26.879 stuff like that. It's absolute folly, yet it's 00:07:26.879 --> 00:07:31.060 on it. Watched by many, it made millions and 00:07:31.060 --> 00:07:34.920 millions of dollars. And actually many people 00:07:34.920 --> 00:07:39.139 were severely injured and some even died copying 00:07:39.139 --> 00:07:43.540 some of the stuff in it. Here's something that 00:07:43.540 --> 00:07:47.000 masquerades as wisdom. Oh, it's freeing, it's 00:07:47.000 --> 00:07:48.360 fun, you know, you're hanging out with your mates, 00:07:48.500 --> 00:07:51.279 having a good time doing stupid stuff, but it's 00:07:51.279 --> 00:07:55.519 actually harmful. And it happens all the time 00:07:55.519 --> 00:07:58.439 in our society, whether it's adultery, whether 00:07:58.439 --> 00:08:00.779 it's violence, whether it's greed, whether it's 00:08:00.779 --> 00:08:03.420 some other thing. All sorts of folly gets on 00:08:03.420 --> 00:08:08.300 it in the media, on it by people. And so it's 00:08:08.300 --> 00:08:10.639 so easy for us to go... Oh yeah, that's actually 00:08:10.639 --> 00:08:12.399 pretty good. If I want to get ahead in life, 00:08:12.519 --> 00:08:17.540 I've got to be like them. No. No. Folly should 00:08:17.540 --> 00:08:22.800 not be honoured. It distorts reality. Be on guard 00:08:22.800 --> 00:08:26.819 against it. So if we don't honour it, what do 00:08:26.819 --> 00:08:32.059 we do instead? Well then, folly should be restrained 00:08:32.059 --> 00:08:37.039 and corrected. Have a look at these verses. A 00:08:37.039 --> 00:08:40.720 whip for the horse. a bridle for the donkey and 00:08:40.720 --> 00:08:45.059 a rod for the back of fools. Do not answer a 00:08:45.059 --> 00:08:48.000 fool according to his folly or you yourself will 00:08:48.000 --> 00:08:51.179 be just like him. Answer a fool according to 00:08:51.179 --> 00:08:54.679 his folly or he will be wise in his own eyes. 00:08:56.080 --> 00:08:58.179 So it's saying fools, rather than being honoured, 00:08:58.299 --> 00:09:02.000 they need to be restrained and managed. Give 00:09:02.000 --> 00:09:06.409 them a short leash, not a platform. And then 00:09:06.409 --> 00:09:08.889 you get this funny little one here where it seems 00:09:08.889 --> 00:09:11.629 like it's contradictory, doesn't it? You know, 00:09:11.730 --> 00:09:13.610 don't answer a fool according to his folly. Oh, 00:09:13.610 --> 00:09:16.549 answer a fool according to his folly. It's not 00:09:16.549 --> 00:09:20.269 contradictory, it's a contextual response. So 00:09:20.269 --> 00:09:22.210 it's a bit like, you know, when you say, too 00:09:22.210 --> 00:09:26.070 many cooks boil the broth. You know, in a context 00:09:26.070 --> 00:09:29.950 having too many people trying to lead it and 00:09:29.950 --> 00:09:32.230 control it, it just, it ruins it, doesn't it? 00:09:32.490 --> 00:09:34.769 But then you have other proverbs like many hands 00:09:34.769 --> 00:09:37.970 make light work. And we go, oh, that's a good 00:09:37.970 --> 00:09:39.669 bit of wisdom. Not in the Bible, but good bit 00:09:39.669 --> 00:09:42.889 of wisdom, isn't it? They're not contradictory, 00:09:43.409 --> 00:09:46.750 but you've got to know when to appropriate each 00:09:46.750 --> 00:09:49.210 one into life, don't you? Sometimes too many 00:09:49.210 --> 00:09:50.970 cooks, come on, let's get less people on this 00:09:50.970 --> 00:09:53.190 one. Sometimes it's like, let's get more people 00:09:53.190 --> 00:09:56.970 on that helping out. Well, it's like that here. 00:09:57.590 --> 00:09:59.889 The first one, do not answer a fool according 00:09:59.889 --> 00:10:04.799 to his folly, is saying, Avoid the fool or you 00:10:04.799 --> 00:10:08.139 yourself will be just like him. Avoid them. If 00:10:08.139 --> 00:10:10.799 you go in and do what they're doing and engage 00:10:10.799 --> 00:10:13.019 with them and get into, you're gonna sink to 00:10:13.019 --> 00:10:16.639 their level. They're gonna bring you down. So 00:10:16.639 --> 00:10:21.039 don't engage. But then the second one saying 00:10:21.039 --> 00:10:24.539 there are times in life where the fool needs 00:10:24.539 --> 00:10:27.210 to be corrected. Because otherwise they're going 00:10:27.210 --> 00:10:29.289 to be wise in their own eyes. You know, not only 00:10:29.289 --> 00:10:31.529 a fool rejecting God, but they're going to be 00:10:31.529 --> 00:10:34.269 so stubborn and hard -hearted in it. That's what 00:10:34.269 --> 00:10:37.549 wise in their own eyes is about. That they're 00:10:37.549 --> 00:10:40.190 going to be so stuck. They're going to be like 00:10:40.190 --> 00:10:43.169 a cancer to the community and dangerous to themselves. 00:10:43.429 --> 00:10:46.490 So call it out. Sometimes the right thing to 00:10:46.490 --> 00:10:52.250 do is to talk to them and rebuke them. Now how 00:10:52.250 --> 00:10:56.009 does this play out in our lives? Well, I think 00:10:56.009 --> 00:10:59.090 this is telling us we've got to be thoughtful 00:10:59.090 --> 00:11:03.230 and careful about how we choose to respond to 00:11:03.230 --> 00:11:07.409 folly, and it's a warning to not be foolish ourselves. 00:11:08.990 --> 00:11:12.549 But especially how we respond to folly. We don't 00:11:12.549 --> 00:11:15.169 want to honour fools. We want to see through 00:11:15.169 --> 00:11:17.549 that. We want to see actually there's a different 00:11:17.549 --> 00:11:21.850 way we approach them. So let me give you some 00:11:21.850 --> 00:11:25.039 examples how this might play out. your spouse 00:11:25.039 --> 00:11:28.879 might be raging at you. They're just angry and 00:11:28.879 --> 00:11:32.519 upset and they're yelling at you and it's folly, 00:11:32.700 --> 00:11:37.700 right? It's folly. And so the temptation is that 00:11:37.700 --> 00:11:43.480 you want to yell back. What would that be? Be 00:11:43.480 --> 00:11:46.279 sinking to their level, wouldn't it? It would 00:11:46.279 --> 00:11:49.539 be being just like them. Do not answer a fool 00:11:49.539 --> 00:11:51.940 according to his folly. So the best thing to 00:11:51.940 --> 00:11:56.990 do is to Walk away. Say, we can talk about this 00:11:56.990 --> 00:11:59.590 in 20 minutes, but once everyone's calmed down. 00:12:01.809 --> 00:12:06.230 Walk away. Or maybe you're there on Bookface, 00:12:06.509 --> 00:12:09.289 you know, on the internet. What is it? Bookface? 00:12:09.490 --> 00:12:13.710 Something else. And someone says something rude, 00:12:14.649 --> 00:12:18.809 and you feel your keyboard warrior -ness rising 00:12:18.809 --> 00:12:23.179 up within you. No, don't answer a fool according 00:12:23.179 --> 00:12:25.940 to their folly. Give a thoughtful measured response 00:12:25.940 --> 00:12:31.799 or say nothing at all. Or maybe you see a growth 00:12:31.799 --> 00:12:34.720 group member drifting away into the things of 00:12:34.720 --> 00:12:40.159 this world and you give them a phone call and 00:12:40.159 --> 00:12:42.779 you lovingly rebuke them. There's a time to call 00:12:42.779 --> 00:12:44.840 it out, isn't there? There's a time to avoid 00:12:44.840 --> 00:12:48.159 a time to call it out. Or maybe sometimes we 00:12:48.159 --> 00:12:51.259 restrain. You know, maybe your kids are watching 00:12:51.259 --> 00:12:56.179 some famous influencer on the telly or on YouTube 00:12:56.179 --> 00:12:58.860 or something and they're pushing some selfish 00:12:58.860 --> 00:13:01.700 ideology, you know, look out for number one and, 00:13:01.700 --> 00:13:04.399 you know, all this sort of stuff and you sit 00:13:04.399 --> 00:13:06.559 down with them and you question it and you go, 00:13:06.639 --> 00:13:09.600 oh yeah, what do you think about that? And you 00:13:09.600 --> 00:13:11.899 say, maybe we need to watch a little bit less 00:13:11.899 --> 00:13:14.779 of them. You know, there's all sorts of things 00:13:14.779 --> 00:13:18.039 you can do, tools that we've got to use depending 00:13:18.039 --> 00:13:22.230 on how we're going to deal with this folly. But 00:13:22.230 --> 00:13:25.009 we don't honour the fool. They're distorting 00:13:25.009 --> 00:13:27.769 reality. They're trying to drag us into their 00:13:27.769 --> 00:13:30.769 distortion. So instead, we've got to thoughtfully, 00:13:31.029 --> 00:13:35.230 carefully think about how to restrain and correct 00:13:35.230 --> 00:13:41.190 folly when we see it. But folly is not the only 00:13:41.190 --> 00:13:44.429 distortion to watch out for. There's another 00:13:44.429 --> 00:13:47.570 one that we need to address. Do not honor the 00:13:47.570 --> 00:13:53.090 fool, but also do not envy the sluggard. The 00:13:53.090 --> 00:13:57.029 life of a sluggard or a lazy leech can appear 00:13:57.029 --> 00:14:00.950 really wise. I mean, think about our world. Our 00:14:00.950 --> 00:14:06.149 world is stressful and dangerous. How good would 00:14:06.149 --> 00:14:11.610 it be to just stay home, sleep in, binge Netflix? 00:14:12.289 --> 00:14:17.330 Oh, so good. So it would be easy to envy the 00:14:17.330 --> 00:14:23.289 sluggard and copy them. But the slug life isn't 00:14:23.289 --> 00:14:27.750 as sweet as it first appears. It's a warped wisdom. 00:14:27.809 --> 00:14:29.929 It's a distortion of reality. Have a look at 00:14:29.929 --> 00:14:34.769 these verses. A sluggard says, there's a lion 00:14:34.769 --> 00:14:38.009 in the road, a fierce lion roaming the streets. 00:14:38.889 --> 00:14:41.450 And as a door turns on its hinges, so a sluggard 00:14:41.450 --> 00:14:44.720 turns on his bed. A slugger buries his hand in 00:14:44.720 --> 00:14:47.039 the dish, he's too lazy to bring it back to his 00:14:47.039 --> 00:14:51.600 mouth. A slugger is wiser in his own eyes than 00:14:51.600 --> 00:14:55.419 seven people who answer discreetly or sensibly 00:14:55.419 --> 00:14:59.419 as some other translations have it. So notice 00:14:59.419 --> 00:15:01.639 how things get worse and worse for the slugger. 00:15:03.100 --> 00:15:05.500 Their irrational fears keep them from leaving 00:15:05.500 --> 00:15:09.559 the house. But then they can't even leave their 00:15:09.559 --> 00:15:13.039 bed or they get so worn out they can't even bring 00:15:13.039 --> 00:15:16.820 food back to their mouth. The picture here is 00:15:16.820 --> 00:15:21.019 of someone whose world becomes smaller and smaller 00:15:21.019 --> 00:15:26.919 and smaller. They lose capacity to function. 00:15:28.639 --> 00:15:32.919 But they think they're being wise. Because they're 00:15:32.919 --> 00:15:36.159 going, I'm keeping myself safe. I'm nice and 00:15:36.159 --> 00:15:38.360 comfortable. You know, nothing's going to get 00:15:38.360 --> 00:15:42.789 me if I'm in here. Do you know, it reminds me 00:15:42.789 --> 00:15:46.509 a bit of the dystopian humanity in that Disney 00:15:46.509 --> 00:15:52.330 movie, WALL -E. Remember that? They're floating 00:15:52.330 --> 00:15:54.710 around in little chairs all over the spaceship. 00:15:54.830 --> 00:15:56.909 They won't leave their chairs. They won't look 00:15:56.909 --> 00:16:00.049 past their screens. Lunch is given to them in 00:16:00.049 --> 00:16:03.029 a cup because it's more convenient. So you don't 00:16:03.029 --> 00:16:05.190 get your burger as a burger. You get your burger 00:16:05.190 --> 00:16:10.350 in a cup. They miss and stop experiencing the 00:16:10.350 --> 00:16:14.789 world because it's safer and comfier and easier 00:16:14.789 --> 00:16:19.509 not to. And when you see what they've become, 00:16:20.409 --> 00:16:24.110 it's not enviable, is it? It's actually sad. 00:16:26.110 --> 00:16:28.850 But what's worse is I reckon this is like a bit 00:16:28.850 --> 00:16:33.789 of a mirror to us today, isn't it? Modern technology 00:16:33.789 --> 00:16:38.600 more and more is conditioning us to be sluggards. 00:16:40.179 --> 00:16:43.399 I mean, it feels so convenient and helpful having 00:16:43.399 --> 00:16:45.980 your phone there all the time, doing so much 00:16:45.980 --> 00:16:49.080 for us, but our phones and our screens and so 00:16:49.080 --> 00:16:51.080 many of these other things, they're changing 00:16:51.080 --> 00:16:55.139 us. I mean, with AI, one of the things they say 00:16:55.139 --> 00:16:58.559 about AI is that, yes, it's such a great tool, 00:16:58.580 --> 00:17:01.320 but it's actually causing people to stop thinking 00:17:01.320 --> 00:17:06.900 for themselves. All our tech, we've got to be 00:17:06.900 --> 00:17:09.059 careful with it, don't we? There's a distorted 00:17:09.059 --> 00:17:13.720 wisdom where we rely so much on it that we actually 00:17:13.720 --> 00:17:18.000 lose who we are. Maybe for some of us this is 00:17:18.000 --> 00:17:20.640 a little reminder, now and again it might be 00:17:20.640 --> 00:17:23.259 good to reduce the screens or even have a screen 00:17:23.259 --> 00:17:29.299 fast. But it's not just technology. Sometimes 00:17:29.299 --> 00:17:33.720 it's retirement that makes sluggards of us. You 00:17:33.720 --> 00:17:36.420 stop working, you retire, you get out of routine, 00:17:37.019 --> 00:17:40.220 and all of a sudden your world starts to shrink 00:17:40.220 --> 00:17:45.319 more and more and more. That can be a real problem, 00:17:45.519 --> 00:17:49.599 can't it? Sometimes it's young folk who have 00:17:49.599 --> 00:17:50.940 the problem. I'm trying to be fair to everyone, 00:17:51.079 --> 00:17:54.200 you know. We've all got issues. But sometimes 00:17:54.200 --> 00:17:57.279 they're allergic to work. They just want to party. 00:17:59.480 --> 00:18:02.390 That's not good either. And now you can just 00:18:02.390 --> 00:18:04.170 party from home all the time because everything's 00:18:04.170 --> 00:18:08.950 on demand, isn't it? Now, in many situations, 00:18:09.430 --> 00:18:13.609 a firm line or rebuke is needed. And that's what 00:18:13.609 --> 00:18:16.930 Paul does in 2 Thessalonians 3. 2 Thessalonians 00:18:16.930 --> 00:18:19.329 3 .10, he says if someone's not going to work, 00:18:19.349 --> 00:18:21.630 they're not going to eat. You know? There's a 00:18:21.630 --> 00:18:24.670 helpful rule there, going sometimes boundaries 00:18:24.670 --> 00:18:27.349 just need to be drawn so that people learn you 00:18:27.349 --> 00:18:31.640 can't keep living like that. But at the same 00:18:31.640 --> 00:18:36.660 time, we need to be careful. Because we can go 00:18:36.660 --> 00:18:40.680 too far the other way. Some people look like 00:18:40.680 --> 00:18:44.859 sluggards, but aren't. Some people have health 00:18:44.859 --> 00:18:47.180 conditions, you know, chronic fatigue or burnout 00:18:47.180 --> 00:18:51.599 or something like that. My wonderful wife Laura 00:18:51.599 --> 00:18:55.359 has struggled with chronic fatigue. And I can 00:18:55.359 --> 00:18:57.779 tell you, after being married for 16 years, she 00:18:57.779 --> 00:19:02.140 is the hardest worker I know. She is no sluggard. 00:19:04.319 --> 00:19:06.160 There are people like that who struggle and they 00:19:06.160 --> 00:19:10.940 don't need shame and pressure, they need compassion 00:19:10.940 --> 00:19:15.279 and support. Sometimes shame and pressure actually 00:19:15.279 --> 00:19:20.920 backfires and makes things worse. I think it's 00:19:20.920 --> 00:19:24.240 important that we discern who's who. Sometimes 00:19:24.240 --> 00:19:28.180 there are sluggards who don't want to work Their 00:19:28.180 --> 00:19:29.720 world's getting smaller and smaller. They've 00:19:29.720 --> 00:19:32.440 got irrational fears. That's a different kettle 00:19:32.440 --> 00:19:35.160 of fish to someone who really wants to work and 00:19:35.160 --> 00:19:38.859 their body's letting them down. We need to be 00:19:38.859 --> 00:19:43.000 discerning. But this is also a challenge to us 00:19:43.000 --> 00:19:47.359 to not envy. It's saying, let's wake up to the 00:19:47.359 --> 00:19:50.799 fact that modern life is trying to make us more 00:19:50.799 --> 00:19:54.279 and more comfy and lazy in a lot of ways. Let's 00:19:54.279 --> 00:19:58.519 not see that as a purely good thing. Let's see 00:19:58.519 --> 00:20:01.279 that there can be a distortion there that needs 00:20:01.279 --> 00:20:07.400 to be dealt with and avoided. But just as there 00:20:07.400 --> 00:20:11.480 are many mirrors in a fun house, there are many 00:20:11.480 --> 00:20:13.740 distortions of wisdom. And so we've got another 00:20:13.740 --> 00:20:17.480 that we need to deal with. Thirdly, do not ignore 00:20:17.480 --> 00:20:21.900 the agitator. Do not ignore the agitator. Have 00:20:21.900 --> 00:20:26.230 a look at these verses. Like one who grabs a 00:20:26.230 --> 00:20:30.230 stray dog by the ears is someone who rushes into 00:20:30.230 --> 00:20:33.569 a quarrel not their own. If you grab a dog by 00:20:33.569 --> 00:20:36.529 his ears, how's it gonna go? You got about a 00:20:36.529 --> 00:20:38.769 moment of safety until they turn and bite on 00:20:38.769 --> 00:20:42.769 you, don't they? Or like a maniac shooting flaming 00:20:42.769 --> 00:20:45.910 arrows of death is one who deceives their neighbour 00:20:45.910 --> 00:20:52.569 and says, oh, I was only joking. See, this is... 00:20:52.160 --> 00:20:56.380 talking to us about the agitator. Some folk insert 00:20:56.380 --> 00:20:59.140 themselves into arguments where they're uninvited. 00:21:00.079 --> 00:21:02.359 They think they're wise and helpful because, 00:21:02.680 --> 00:21:05.059 hey, I'm coming along and I'm sorting everything 00:21:05.059 --> 00:21:09.299 out. But it's a distortion. They're not sorting 00:21:09.299 --> 00:21:11.400 anything out. They're putting themselves in the 00:21:11.400 --> 00:21:15.240 crosshairs, aren't they? And some lie, which 00:21:15.240 --> 00:21:18.359 is already a distortion of reality. But if caught, 00:21:18.539 --> 00:21:20.779 They distort it further by just saying, oh, I 00:21:20.779 --> 00:21:24.240 was only joking when they really weren't. It's 00:21:24.240 --> 00:21:29.359 the same with gossip. Gossip seems wise. Oh, 00:21:29.359 --> 00:21:31.839 I've got my spies, and they're going to tell 00:21:31.839 --> 00:21:35.720 me all the juicy insider information. And you 00:21:35.720 --> 00:21:37.700 know what? Sometimes there might be wisdom in 00:21:37.700 --> 00:21:42.259 that. But if their words are unloving and untrue, 00:21:42.279 --> 00:21:46.839 or even half true, that's not helpful. It's harmful. 00:21:48.329 --> 00:21:51.970 Because often they cause more fights than they 00:21:51.970 --> 00:21:57.109 snuff out. Have a look at these verses. Without 00:21:57.109 --> 00:22:02.849 wood, a fire goes out. Without a gossip, a quarrel 00:22:02.849 --> 00:22:07.190 dies down. As charcoal to embers and as wood 00:22:07.190 --> 00:22:10.890 to fire, so is a quarrelsome person for kindling 00:22:10.890 --> 00:22:14.750 strife. They light it up wherever they go. The 00:22:14.750 --> 00:22:18.579 words of gossip are like choice morsels. They 00:22:18.579 --> 00:22:23.839 go down to the inmost parts. In Broken Hill, 00:22:23.839 --> 00:22:25.859 when we were living there, it would get really 00:22:25.859 --> 00:22:28.660 cold in winter. And so sometimes what we'd do 00:22:28.660 --> 00:22:30.660 is we'd have a fire pit in the backyard with 00:22:30.660 --> 00:22:34.059 the kids. And me and the kids, we'd go and collect 00:22:34.059 --> 00:22:38.480 wood and kindling from a nearby bush area. And 00:22:38.480 --> 00:22:41.640 we needed it to get the fire going. And we'd 00:22:41.640 --> 00:22:44.759 keep it going. We'd just add more wood and cook 00:22:44.759 --> 00:22:47.839 up some of those delicious s'mores. You know, 00:22:47.859 --> 00:22:50.559 with the digestives and the marshmallow. It's 00:22:50.559 --> 00:22:57.039 good. But that fire pit scene sums up what gossips 00:22:57.039 --> 00:23:01.940 and agitators are like. See, some people are 00:23:01.940 --> 00:23:06.819 like kindling. They like fires. They just light 00:23:06.819 --> 00:23:09.420 fires all the time. As soon as they go anywhere, 00:23:09.700 --> 00:23:11.480 it seems like another fire is about to set off, 00:23:11.539 --> 00:23:15.349 isn't it? Some people are like gossips. They're 00:23:15.349 --> 00:23:19.230 like logs. They fuel fire all the time. They 00:23:19.230 --> 00:23:23.670 fuel quarrels. And some are like my kids with 00:23:23.670 --> 00:23:27.910 smores. Anytime there's a juicy word of gossip, 00:23:28.069 --> 00:23:34.890 we go, yum, I can't wait to hear it. And people 00:23:34.890 --> 00:23:37.470 who do this, no one's there thinking, well, I'm 00:23:37.470 --> 00:23:42.000 being really foolish right now. They think, I'm 00:23:42.000 --> 00:23:47.880 being really wise. I'm raising issues. I'm sharing 00:23:47.880 --> 00:23:51.779 what I'm feeling. I'm, you know, I'm keeping 00:23:51.779 --> 00:23:56.299 alert to what's going on, all of it. But actually 00:23:56.299 --> 00:24:00.900 it fuels conflict. Now what makes this so hard 00:24:00.900 --> 00:24:02.680 is that there is a time to intervene. There is 00:24:02.680 --> 00:24:05.259 a time to speak up. There is even a time to pick 00:24:05.259 --> 00:24:08.640 a fight. Think of Jesus turning the tables in 00:24:08.640 --> 00:24:13.799 the temple. There is a time to do it. But if 00:24:13.799 --> 00:24:17.819 that's a constant pattern, if you're always asking 00:24:17.819 --> 00:24:22.220 to see the manager, if you're always going, I 00:24:22.220 --> 00:24:24.660 can't wait to hear another tidbit of what's going 00:24:24.660 --> 00:24:27.619 on, it's okay, we'll just call it prayer points. 00:24:30.059 --> 00:24:34.440 If these are your patterns, that's not wise. 00:24:36.500 --> 00:24:39.529 Now I see some of these patterns, occasionally 00:24:39.529 --> 00:24:43.230 popping up in me. I don't know, do you see any 00:24:43.230 --> 00:24:49.369 in yourself? We mustn't ignore it. If it's in 00:24:49.369 --> 00:24:51.390 us, we've got to do that hard work and work out, 00:24:51.670 --> 00:24:53.990 what's driving it? What's making me want to do 00:24:53.990 --> 00:24:58.369 this? And if it's happening in others, we need 00:24:58.369 --> 00:25:00.470 to call it out and go, hey, I don't want to be 00:25:00.470 --> 00:25:04.829 part of that. You're there at work and someone, 00:25:05.130 --> 00:25:08.039 you're standing at the water cooler. if you've 00:25:08.039 --> 00:25:10.799 got a water cooler. You're standing at the water 00:25:10.799 --> 00:25:13.440 cooler and, you know, someone comes over, oh, 00:25:13.440 --> 00:25:15.619 did you hear what happened with Smith the other 00:25:15.619 --> 00:25:19.880 day? Da -da -da -da -da. And what do you do? 00:25:20.940 --> 00:25:23.039 You can go, oh, yeah, look, I don't really want 00:25:23.039 --> 00:25:24.819 to be part of that. I'm just going to stay out 00:25:24.819 --> 00:25:30.880 of it. And you walk away. There's so many options, 00:25:30.980 --> 00:25:32.940 isn't there? You could say, oh, actually, I think 00:25:32.940 --> 00:25:36.250 Smith's a pretty good guy. There's all sorts 00:25:36.250 --> 00:25:39.109 of things you can do that stop you from engaging 00:25:39.109 --> 00:25:44.609 in that sort of agitating behaviour. What are 00:25:44.609 --> 00:25:47.890 you going to do when that sort of thing crops 00:25:47.890 --> 00:25:52.529 up? But that's not all the distortions. We've 00:25:52.529 --> 00:25:57.589 got one more. Our final one is do not trust the 00:25:57.589 --> 00:26:03.009 flatterer. Do not trust the flatterer. See, flatterers 00:26:03.009 --> 00:26:07.650 have a warped wisdom. They want to tear someone 00:26:07.650 --> 00:26:11.670 down. Rather than sorting out the hate in their 00:26:11.670 --> 00:26:13.369 hearts and what's going on within them, which 00:26:13.369 --> 00:26:16.170 would be wise, they just want to tear people 00:26:16.170 --> 00:26:19.970 down. And if they were open about it, at least 00:26:19.970 --> 00:26:21.990 you could try and work out some reconciliation 00:26:21.990 --> 00:26:25.769 or something. But they hide it under charm and 00:26:25.769 --> 00:26:29.849 smooth talk and flattery. And it looks really 00:26:29.849 --> 00:26:34.839 strategic. I'll hide it. I'll just say nice things 00:26:34.839 --> 00:26:41.400 until I can get to them. It's patient and calculating. 00:26:42.779 --> 00:26:44.279 I mean, those are the sort of things that we 00:26:44.279 --> 00:26:47.359 think, yeah, that sounds pretty wise, but it's 00:26:47.359 --> 00:26:50.740 not wisdom, it's a distortion. Have a look at 00:26:50.740 --> 00:26:54.700 what Proverbs says. Like a coating of silver 00:26:54.700 --> 00:26:58.299 dross on earthenware, a fervent or smooth lips 00:26:58.299 --> 00:27:02.460 with an evil heart. Enemies disguise themselves 00:27:02.460 --> 00:27:05.099 with their lips, but in their hearts they harbour 00:27:05.099 --> 00:27:08.559 deceit. Though their speech is charming, do not 00:27:08.559 --> 00:27:10.859 believe them. For seven, which is like complete, 00:27:11.359 --> 00:27:13.799 you know, the full amount, seven abominations 00:27:13.799 --> 00:27:17.380 fills their heart. Their malice may be concealed 00:27:17.380 --> 00:27:19.799 by deception, but their wickedness will be exposed 00:27:19.799 --> 00:27:22.940 in the assembly. Whoever digs a pit will fall 00:27:22.940 --> 00:27:25.519 into it. If someone rolls a stone, it will roll 00:27:25.519 --> 00:27:29.009 back on them. A lying tongue hates those it hurts, 00:27:29.289 --> 00:27:33.470 and a flattering mouth works ruin. Now I reckon 00:27:33.470 --> 00:27:37.349 verse 27 is pretty key there. Whoever digs a 00:27:37.349 --> 00:27:40.089 pit will fall into it, and if someone rolls a 00:27:40.089 --> 00:27:43.809 stone, it will roll back on them. And when I 00:27:43.809 --> 00:27:47.250 read that, I couldn't help but think of one person. 00:27:49.250 --> 00:27:55.799 Wally Coyote. It's saying that hateful flatterers 00:27:55.799 --> 00:27:59.660 are like Wally Coyote. Remember how he's there, 00:27:59.839 --> 00:28:02.140 he's always trying to catch the road runner and 00:28:02.140 --> 00:28:04.700 he sets up these elaborate traps and, you know, 00:28:04.799 --> 00:28:06.960 he gets it from ACME and he sets up this trap 00:28:06.960 --> 00:28:11.700 and it always backfires on him. There's always 00:28:11.700 --> 00:28:14.579 this poetic justice, you know, he tries to get 00:28:14.579 --> 00:28:16.559 him off the cliff and he falls off the cliff 00:28:16.559 --> 00:28:19.339 or whatever it might be. He's always caught in 00:28:19.339 --> 00:28:24.849 his own traps. And Proverbs is saying, what happens 00:28:24.849 --> 00:28:29.950 to those that hate the godly is that they fall 00:28:29.950 --> 00:28:34.509 into their own trap. God won't always let it 00:28:34.509 --> 00:28:36.890 stand. Whether it's now, whether it's in eternity, 00:28:37.170 --> 00:28:42.509 he will deal with it eventually. But with that 00:28:42.509 --> 00:28:46.230 said, in this life, the wise still need to be 00:28:46.230 --> 00:28:49.150 on the lookout for such hate -filled flattery. 00:28:50.159 --> 00:28:52.000 They need to be the sort of people who don't 00:28:52.000 --> 00:28:56.119 practice it as well. But they need to be wary 00:28:56.119 --> 00:29:02.220 of such deceit toward them. And part of being 00:29:02.220 --> 00:29:04.099 wary is working out what's going on within me 00:29:04.099 --> 00:29:07.640 that makes me want to believe it. That makes 00:29:07.640 --> 00:29:09.380 me believe that someone's on my side when they're 00:29:09.380 --> 00:29:13.619 not. I mean, I've been burned by flatterers plenty 00:29:13.619 --> 00:29:16.339 in my life. And you'd think I would have wised 00:29:16.339 --> 00:29:20.730 up by now, but no. I don't. I think part of it's 00:29:20.730 --> 00:29:23.210 because I wear my heart on my sleeve and I often 00:29:23.210 --> 00:29:26.829 assume that others do the same. So I take people 00:29:26.829 --> 00:29:29.470 at face value, especially when they're complementary. 00:29:31.750 --> 00:29:34.089 But as I get a little older and a little wiser, 00:29:34.130 --> 00:29:38.670 I start to spot the vague praise. I start to 00:29:38.670 --> 00:29:42.190 spot the strings attached. I start to spot the 00:29:42.190 --> 00:29:45.960 words that don't match the actions. The way that 00:29:45.960 --> 00:29:48.519 they compartmentalise what they say to me, but 00:29:48.519 --> 00:29:50.819 then say something different to someone else. 00:29:51.880 --> 00:29:55.059 And I go, I need to be a bit more careful. I 00:29:55.059 --> 00:29:59.000 need to be a bit more discerning. Actually, that's 00:29:59.000 --> 00:30:01.440 something we all need to do, isn't it? There 00:30:01.440 --> 00:30:04.619 are plenty of people out there who will talk 00:30:04.619 --> 00:30:07.420 nice to your face, but stab you in the back. 00:30:09.460 --> 00:30:12.420 It's a challenge. It's a challenge to try and... 00:30:12.460 --> 00:30:15.319 Be discerning and then do what Jesus did and 00:30:15.319 --> 00:30:17.559 love your enemies even if they treat you like 00:30:17.559 --> 00:30:26.279 that. So let's wrap up. We asked, what does distorted, 00:30:26.539 --> 00:30:29.559 warped wisdom look like? And we saw today four 00:30:29.559 --> 00:30:33.819 things. Do not honour the fool. I don't think 00:30:33.819 --> 00:30:37.640 the fool's got it made, they don't. Do not envy 00:30:37.640 --> 00:30:40.980 the sluggard. The sluggard's not living the good 00:30:40.980 --> 00:30:45.089 life. They're actually getting worse and worse. 00:30:46.309 --> 00:30:48.670 Do not ignore the agitator. We shouldn't put 00:30:48.670 --> 00:30:50.630 up with that sort of thing, gossip and things 00:30:50.630 --> 00:30:52.109 like that, and we don't want to be doing that 00:30:52.109 --> 00:30:57.250 ourselves. And do not trust the flatterer. Don't 00:30:57.250 --> 00:31:01.609 buy into people's smooth talk. I mean, hey, there's 00:31:01.609 --> 00:31:04.549 a place for encouragement. Let's not go so far 00:31:04.549 --> 00:31:10.279 the other way, but be wary, be discerning. See, 00:31:10.380 --> 00:31:13.559 Proverbs is teaching us to be wary of these things 00:31:13.559 --> 00:31:17.339 in others because folk like this who do these 00:31:17.339 --> 00:31:19.839 things, these distorted wisdoms, will bring you 00:31:19.839 --> 00:31:23.839 down. But it's also saying to be wary of it in 00:31:23.839 --> 00:31:29.500 ourselves. Yet no matter how well on guard we 00:31:29.500 --> 00:31:33.339 are, we all struggle with these things and fall 00:31:33.339 --> 00:31:38.000 short, don't we? We all still get seduced and 00:31:38.000 --> 00:31:40.720 hurt by these distortions of wisdom. We often 00:31:40.720 --> 00:31:45.000 look at them and think yeah, that is wise. We 00:31:45.000 --> 00:31:52.299 think folly is wisdom. And I could spend an eternity 00:31:52.299 --> 00:31:55.440 trying on my own and I would still make the same 00:31:55.440 --> 00:32:00.599 mistakes again and again and again. But that's 00:32:00.599 --> 00:32:06.400 why Jesus came. He came to save us from our folly 00:32:06.400 --> 00:32:10.599 From the warped and distorted wisdom on of this 00:32:10.599 --> 00:32:14.579 world and we see this in his life and his teaching 00:32:14.579 --> 00:32:18.519 To have a look at those four things Do not honor 00:32:18.519 --> 00:32:22.720 the fool. Well, Jesus didn't honor the fool he 00:32:22.720 --> 00:32:25.940 exposed the folly of the religious leaders in 00:32:25.940 --> 00:32:29.759 his day and that was a pretty gutsy thing to 00:32:29.759 --> 00:32:32.500 do because in his day the religious leaders were 00:32:32.500 --> 00:32:36.359 the honoured ones weren't they but he challenged 00:32:36.359 --> 00:32:39.420 them oh Jesus you're you're going to heal this 00:32:39.420 --> 00:32:46.960 guy on the sabbath yep yep no i'm going to because 00:32:46.960 --> 00:32:50.599 shouldn't we save life that that's that's what 00:32:50.599 --> 00:32:54.319 we're here to do isn't it oh you do that with 00:32:54.319 --> 00:32:55.579 your animals but you're not going to do that 00:32:55.579 --> 00:33:00.859 with a person He exposed the folly of the religious 00:33:00.859 --> 00:33:03.599 leaders. He went, I'm not going to honour that, 00:33:03.599 --> 00:33:08.420 I'm going to expose it. He wouldn't envy the 00:33:08.420 --> 00:33:12.359 sluggard. He actually warned about the envy of 00:33:12.359 --> 00:33:14.839 the rich and the comfortable. He warned about 00:33:14.839 --> 00:33:17.099 spiritual sluggishness. Do you remember in Matthew 00:33:17.099 --> 00:33:22.019 25, you know, there's a lazy servant, Jesus, 00:33:22.140 --> 00:33:26.259 they're saying, don't be spiritually lazy. take 00:33:26.259 --> 00:33:31.559 seriously the things of eternity. Or he wouldn't 00:33:31.559 --> 00:33:33.619 ignore the agitator. I mean, just think about 00:33:33.619 --> 00:33:36.180 the number of quarrels Jesus had to sort out. 00:33:36.319 --> 00:33:41.799 And who with? Usually his disciples. Oh, who's 00:33:41.799 --> 00:33:45.140 greatest? Well, no, I'm great. And there he is. 00:33:45.380 --> 00:33:48.319 And hey, guys, actually, greatness is completely 00:33:48.319 --> 00:33:50.599 different to how you think. It's about serving 00:33:50.599 --> 00:33:55.180 others. Oh, yeah. Jesus comes in and he sorts 00:33:55.180 --> 00:33:58.680 it out. And sometimes, though, he'd withdraw. 00:33:59.359 --> 00:34:01.599 When the Pharisees and the religious leaders 00:34:01.599 --> 00:34:04.819 are trying to agitate him, he'd sometimes give 00:34:04.819 --> 00:34:07.480 an answer, he'd sometimes withdraw into the desolate 00:34:07.480 --> 00:34:11.039 places. He did what Proverbs was telling us to 00:34:11.039 --> 00:34:15.340 do. He was very thoughtful about how he approached 00:34:15.340 --> 00:34:19.460 those sort of things. And he wouldn't trust the 00:34:19.460 --> 00:34:22.869 flatterer. There's so many times where the religious 00:34:22.869 --> 00:34:25.429 leaders would come to Jesus and they'd say, oh, 00:34:25.469 --> 00:34:27.849 you're such a brilliant teacher, Jesus. Oh, you're 00:34:27.849 --> 00:34:30.230 the best teacher around. And he'd go, no, no, 00:34:30.230 --> 00:34:31.969 no, I see through what you're doing. You're trying 00:34:31.969 --> 00:34:37.230 to trap me. See, Jesus did these things, but 00:34:37.230 --> 00:34:43.809 why? Because he was doing it to save us. We see 00:34:43.809 --> 00:34:47.570 his wisdom ultimately in his death and resurrection. 00:34:48.650 --> 00:34:51.369 Because it's there he saves us from the ruin 00:34:51.369 --> 00:34:55.489 of our folly By experiencing God's judgment for 00:34:55.489 --> 00:34:59.469 us poured down onto him for our sin for our folly 00:34:59.469 --> 00:35:03.750 You know what Jesus was like at the cross? It 00:35:03.750 --> 00:35:07.309 would be like the roadrunner Springing the trap 00:35:07.309 --> 00:35:13.050 on himself to spare Wiley Coyote But that's what 00:35:13.050 --> 00:35:18.500 Jesus did And he proves that fools and flatterers 00:35:18.500 --> 00:35:22.260 won't triumph because he rises again in glorious 00:35:22.260 --> 00:35:28.019 majesty, showing that the way of God's wisdom 00:35:28.019 --> 00:35:33.579 truly is the right way. So what's this mean for 00:35:33.579 --> 00:35:37.659 us? It means don't be fooled by folly when it 00:35:37.659 --> 00:35:42.980 masquerades as wisdom. Now if you're here today 00:35:42.980 --> 00:35:45.539 and you're not yet a Christian, Can I suggest 00:35:45.539 --> 00:35:48.860 to you the wisest thing you can do if what I'm 00:35:48.860 --> 00:35:53.800 saying is true is submit to the Lord Jesus? And 00:35:53.800 --> 00:35:57.380 if you're not sure if Jesus really is Lord, can 00:35:57.380 --> 00:36:01.659 I suggest you get curious? Read Mark's Gospel. 00:36:01.679 --> 00:36:04.900 We've got copies up the back. Grab one of these. 00:36:05.360 --> 00:36:07.599 Read it. Come have a chat with me. I'd love to 00:36:07.599 --> 00:36:12.000 talk to you about it. And find out. if the wisdom 00:36:12.000 --> 00:36:14.780 of this world truly is distorted, if it really 00:36:14.780 --> 00:36:19.340 is folly. But if you're here today and you're 00:36:19.340 --> 00:36:21.940 a Christian, I hope the challenge for you today 00:36:21.940 --> 00:36:26.780 is to expose and guard yourself against the warped 00:36:26.780 --> 00:36:33.840 wisdom of this world. We need to. Distorted wisdom 00:36:33.840 --> 00:36:39.000 is bombarding us all the time. Whether it's... 00:36:38.590 --> 00:36:41.030 The people we talk to and interact with, whether 00:36:41.030 --> 00:36:43.309 it's the media, whether it's our technology, 00:36:43.530 --> 00:36:46.289 whatever it might be, it's everywhere. All sorts 00:36:46.289 --> 00:36:50.250 of distortions. And I'm not saying, hey, let's 00:36:50.250 --> 00:36:55.309 become Amish. Don't mishear me. But I'm saying 00:36:55.309 --> 00:36:59.429 there are distortions everywhere. And we're sinful. 00:37:00.510 --> 00:37:04.309 Distortions are appealing, aren't they? And we 00:37:04.309 --> 00:37:07.239 need to expose them. We need to see them. Make 00:37:07.239 --> 00:37:10.539 sure you do things that will help you with that. 00:37:11.440 --> 00:37:13.880 Get in a growth group so that if you're not already, 00:37:14.159 --> 00:37:16.260 so that you've got that support, that encouragement, 00:37:16.420 --> 00:37:21.679 that accountability. Or maybe try this, maybe 00:37:21.679 --> 00:37:24.900 each Sunday, what do you do when you leave church? 00:37:25.539 --> 00:37:28.380 When you get home, just have a little notebook 00:37:28.380 --> 00:37:31.460 where you write down one thing that you learnt 00:37:31.460 --> 00:37:33.159 from today's sermon that you're going to try 00:37:33.159 --> 00:37:37.530 and do in the week. That can be really helpful, 00:37:37.849 --> 00:37:40.690 just so it doesn't get lost into the ether of 00:37:40.690 --> 00:37:43.789 20 ,000 sermons that you've heard, so that you 00:37:43.789 --> 00:37:47.969 can actually put things into practice. But we 00:37:47.969 --> 00:37:52.429 need to find ways to expose the distortions and 00:37:52.429 --> 00:37:56.510 guard ourselves against them. How are you going 00:37:56.510 --> 00:38:02.590 to do that? See, if we do, if we guard ourselves, 00:38:02.650 --> 00:38:07.019 we won't fall for the world's distortions. will 00:38:07.019 --> 00:38:12.219 actually become like a regular mirror reflecting 00:38:12.219 --> 00:38:17.860 reality back to the world showing them how glorious 00:38:17.860 --> 00:38:24.300 life with Jesus is. Let's pray that we do that. 00:38:26.619 --> 00:38:32.940 Heavenly Father, please help us to see the distortions 00:38:32.940 --> 00:38:37.900 of wisdom for what they are. Please open our 00:38:37.900 --> 00:38:43.800 eyes, expose them, and help us to live according 00:38:43.800 --> 00:38:48.400 to your wisdom. Help us to be discerning and 00:38:48.400 --> 00:38:51.559 thoughtful as we try to navigate the folly of 00:38:51.559 --> 00:38:56.300 this world. And Father, when we do fail, when 00:38:56.300 --> 00:39:01.059 we fall into folly, help us to run back to Jesus 00:39:01.059 --> 00:39:06.150 and find forgiveness and grace. And we ask this 00:39:06.150 --> 00:39:08.230 in His name. Amen.