February 29

Feb 29 - Today from Proverbs 29 we look at verse 9
"If a wise man goes to court with a fool, the fool rages and scoffs, and there is no peace."

In order to understand the principle contained in this bit of wisdom, we must contemplate all of the elements involved:
There is a wise man. This is a person of integrity who is confident of his convictions. His motives are pure, his conscience is clear, and his guide is moral truth objectively based in the Living God.
There is a fool. He doesn't necessarily have to be a social buffoon. What identifies him as a fool is that his chief interest is in 'self', and his chief guide is his own understanding of life and life's circumstances.
By only observing the surface of the characters, it is often difficult, if not impossible, to tell the difference between a wise man and a fool. To help us see beneath the surface, the writer adds a third element; conflict. Now enters an issue between the wise man and the fool. Conflict brings out the true nature of people. I don't know if there are any around anymore, but when I was growing up they marketed a product for children called 'scratch-n-sniff' stickers. The sticker could be a picture of almost anything. Sniffing it from the package, it had no odor. But if you took your fingernail, scratched the surface and then smelled it, you could immediately identify the smell. I remember one, which was a small picture of a carnival setting. When you scratched it, it smelled exactly like cotton candy. Another was a picture of a boy sitting at a small wooden stand. When scratched it smelled exactly like lemonade. I often think that this is a good analogy for conflict. People can present themselves to the public in any manner they wish. But when God takes His fingernail of conflict (or at least allows it to happen), there comes forth the odor of a person's true character. The odor is a much better indicator, and leaves a more lasting impression than the one dimension picture from which it emits.
Now we see the first three elements; the wise man, the fool, and a point of conflict. The fourth element is the court itself. The two characters are going to an authority to present their case. Here's an interesting observation; Proverbs chapters 25-31 were originally assembled and directed toward the king and those associated with the king. They are meant to be particularly helpful for those who are leaders or who aspire to become leaders. This verse is meant to help a leader learn to discern the deeper character of those who appear before them for the purpose of settling a conflict, and a warning not to give undue heed toward those who bluster and make the most threats and noise. A leader is to base his judgment on evidence pertaining to the issues of conflict and not to the emotional strengths of the plaintiffs. In fact, this proverb gives the leader a strong probability; the person in the wrong is likely to make the most commotion and noise. Because they have built their case on their own understanding rather than on Biblical principal, they will have to work hard to force their opinions and views on the magistrate in order to get satisfaction. They can use threats, anger, flattery, pity, or any number of emotions to attempt to make a smoke screen that might obscure the facts and evidence. The fool's hope is to get a magistrate who is more prone to judge on emotion rather than on Biblical principal (truth and justice). God's counsel to the magistrate is 'don't'.
Practical application: First, observe yourself in conflict. It is the best place to evaluate your own true character. If you are sure of the ground on which you stand, you don't have to rant, rave, threat or flatter to convince others. If you are basing your action on emotion, recheck the circumstances and get based on truth. Second, if you are in any position of leadership, don't be swayed by emotion, which would tend to cloud the real issue. Stay with the eternal and unchanging objective guidelines found in God's Word. Look for clear evidence. Look deeper into the character displayed by the plaintiffs. Make just decisions.