There's an old joke that goes, "There's a farmer, outstanding in his field..." That's it. Of course, it's really "...out standing in his field..." Paul compliments the Corinthians in his second letter when he says, "I have the highest confidence in you, and I take great pride in you. You have greatly encouraged me and made me happy despite all our troubles" (2 Corinthians 7.4).
What the source of the encouragement? It comes from the knowledge that Paul and the Corinthians are in this faith journey together; they will "live or die together" (7.3). We see the same sentiment in Proverbs 30. Agur, the writer of that chapter, gives several lists of four things. For most of those lists, he prefaces them with the phrase "there are three things, no four...". God Himself mimics this phrasing through Amos (1.3ff) when He describes three, no four, transgressions for which nation-states cannot be forgiven. One way to think of this phrase is that three is a symbol of excellence. One is good; two is best and three is 'perfect': "holy, holy, holy"; a cord of three strands in Ecclesiastes, and so on. But a fourth thing throws this excellence or perfection out of balance. It's like hitting your perfect stride while running; you're at a personal-best pace. You're body is in perfect synchronization with the windmilling of the legs and the quick-pendulum swing of the arms. And then you think, "What if I push it just a bit more. I bet I can." And as you lean a little more into the pace, trying to make your legs go another beat per minute faster, you get off-balance, stumble and tumble face-first into the dirt. The lists of four things--the unsatiable, the unchartable, the usurping and the self-reliant.
Only one of the lists of four is not prefaced accordingly by Agur. It is a list of creatures that live in community, are relentless and ubiquitous.
It is Agur's last list of bad role models that intrigues me. At first, they seem like good role models: a lion who won't turn aside for anything; 'one who girts his loins'; a male goat; a king who faces no opposition or knows no resistance. ('One who girts his loins' is not familiar to any of the translators. In fact, Agur uses quite a few words that aren't used anywhere else. Translators have made this phrase into rooster, zebra, greyhound, and so on. The phrase itself, and the connection with pride, makes me think of modern examples like a gangsta rapper who grabs his crotch, and sumo wrestler.) One night in Kenya, we came across a male lion standing in the middle of the road. He didn't know if we had guns or if our Land Cruiser would even stop. He stood there: oblivious, apathetic, confident in anti-poaching laws, whatever. It was foolish. Lions don't turn aside unless there are overwhelming odds against them. Kings who don't have any forces opposing them, whether militarily or in terms of advice become over-confident. They begin to think they'll be successful in everything. They believe their opinions are above reproach. They begin to think they are gods. Humility is not a part of their world. I've seen this in business also. CEO's, presidents, chairpersons who are surrounded by sycophants will fail to see the folly of their strategies until it's too late. Nor will they ever hear about the impact their strategies have on others.
We have a clue to this list when we look at Agur's earlier words: "They are pure in their own eyes, but they are filthy and unwashed. They look proudly around, casting disdainful glances. They have teeth like swords and fangs like knives. They devour the poor [and weak] from the earth and the needy from among humanity." Sounds a lot like lions and arrogant kings. After this last list of four, Agur also says, "If you have been a fool by being proud or plotting evil, cover your mouth in shame."
We cannot go it alone. If we want to be outstanding, we have to be in community. We have to help each other, like ants that store up food for the winter. We have to stay together, like locusts that move in formation. We have to build a place to belong for each other, like hyraxes in the rocks. And like lizards or spiders we will find places to thrive in all areas of the world, even though we're vulnerable. This is weird but wonderful view of the kingdom of God. Wisdom--that is, following God's instructions perhaps as given through fathers and mothers (see Proverbs 1, 30 and 31)--comes from being together and staying together. Looking out for each other and building up one another (Proverbs 27.17). When we're isolated, we're vulnerable. Our enemy, like a prowling lion (1 Peter 5.8), will pick off the weak, the vulnerable and the alone. If you're going to be out standing in your field, make sure you have brothers and sisters with you.
