Wisdom is highly valued in the kingdom of God. Proverbs is full of wisdom so it’s a good idea to spend time in the book of Proverbs on a regular basis. This morning I was scanning a section of Proverbs and a verse that I had thought about before caught my attention again.
The proverb says, “Under three things the earth trembles, under four it cannot bear up: a servant who becomes king, a fool who is full of food, an unloved woman who is married, and a maidservant who displaces her mistress (Prov. 30:21-23).
The part of the proverb that struck me this morning essentially declares that the earth trembles when a servant becomes king. In a related proverb, Solomon said, “An inheritance quickly gained at the beginning will not be blessed at the end” (Prov. 20:21).
Both of these proverbs speak about wealth and power being given before an individual has been groomed with character and understanding to manage the wealth and power well. A prime example is the recurring theme in newspapers and tabloids about celebrities and professional athletes who are making a wreck of their lives. Typically, these are young, talented men and women who have achieved fame and wealth quickly. In many cases these men and women seem to be totally out of control and feel that the rules of society – even the laws – should not apply to them. They seem to have no capacity to govern what has been given to them. Their fame and fortune arrived before their character could manage what had been entrusted to them.
Many of these young men and women have overcome the childhood adversities of poverty or abuse which is certainly something to be admired. However, when the praise and the money begin to flow in their direction they obviously cannot handle the perks and the temptations attached to those things.
When a slave becomes king, he suddenly wields wealth and power that he has not been trained to exercise with restraint and wisdom. When “trust fund babies” are granted immense wealth at age twenty one, they seem to have no capacity to appreciate the work that went into building the fortune they are spending nor do they seem to have any respect for those who do work. The “entitlement” mentality of those who have been given much without working for it is as destructive as drugs.
Wisdom tells us that those who will be entrusted with wealth, power, and influence must be mentored, trained, and given opportunities to develop character and a framework (worldview) for understanding and exercising the power and wealth entrusted to them. In essence, they must be taught to accomplish good rather than to simply satisfy the desires of the flesh. Some arrive at their “privileged stations” with good intentions but simply don’t know how the world operates in the circles in which they will be moving. In that case, good intentions are rarely accomplished.
In a culture that exalts youth, talent, and idealism over experience and wisdom, we will often see men and women in positions of power who have no idea how to operate in those positions effectively but who also will take no instruction because they feel entitled to that position. Our nation will require a cultural shift to overcome a future where many “slaves” will become kings and where many will inherit what they have not worked for. The earth will tremble.
The Lord reminded me this morning that this will also be true in the spiritual realm. In these last days God will be giving great gifts to young believers. Some of these will be the gift of generosity and perhaps the ability to create great wealth to go with that gift. Others will be given amazing gifts of leadership while others will be operating in healing, prophecy, miracles and knowledge. Some will be gifted with creative talents for worship and art. These gifts must be poured out on the church in these last days but those who receive them may be slaves who become kings or those who quickly gain a spiritual inheritance they have not worked for.
“Wrecked” lives, ministries, and churches can occur in the kingdom of God as well as in the world. God’s solution will be “spiritual mothers and fathers” who come along side these gifted men and women to provide a mature framework for the exercise of their gifts. My experience tells me that that church is full of twenty and thirty year old believers, gifted and full of world-changing potential, who are hungry for spiritual mentoring. The spiritually mature in the church who have weathered the storms of life and who have learned hard lessons must make themselves available to these men and women who will be the next leadership generation in the kingdom or who already are beginning to lead. Those who are developing gifts, beginning to excel in the market place, or who are moving into leadership roles in the kingdom must seek out mature men and women to mentor them as well.
Historically, great moves of God have died out in one generation because the leaders of that movement did not impart their gifts and experience to a younger generation. Perhaps, the younger generation did not ask those leaders for impartation or instruction. It has always been God’s desire for his ways to be passed from generation to generation – one teaching and the other being teachable. My hope is that in these last days, we will invest in the generations behind us and that those generations will receive. I hope you will be active in the process. Be blessed.
