Cherry picking

One thing I hate more than almost anything else about Bible reading is cherry picking - choosing to read only some passages in order to justify a position, or in order to make YOUR point, or in order to simply ignore something uncomfortable that you don't want to acknowledge that comes before or afterward.  Proverbs 31 is a wonderful case in point.  Biblical scholars too often start with verse 10, as if verses 1-9 don't exist.  But they do, and they matter, and they are very important.

Today I meditated on verses 1-9, particularly on 8-9.  

Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves,

   for the rights of all who are destitute.

Speak up and judge fairly;

   defend the rights of the poor and needy.

These are the verses that preceed the impossible to live up to verses, the perfect woman verses, the idealized woman verses, the bar that cannot be reached verses.  The verses that a lot of women cringe whenever they come up because honestly?  Who needs it?  Life is hard enough these days without some impossible standard being set by someone 2000 years ago.

The verses that preceed them, though, talk about men with power.  And they are interesting.  And pertinent, espcially right now, but really, always.  Because that is a subject that should be on all our minds right now.  Men with power, men who have misused power, men who have abused their power, especially to misuse women and children.

Verses 1-9 are the quid pro quo for what comes after.  Lemuel was taught by his mother (what a rock star she must have been, especially for that time) what the ground rules are, how men are to be in order to deserve that woman in verses 10-31.  They are a partnership, a double act, a united set.  They care for each other, they both have obligations and rules, and together they reach outward to care for others.  Yes, her standards are set pretty high.  But that is not what I am interested in right now.  Because if you read this correctly, you need to understand that he is saying in order to deserve that woman of noble character, men need to be of even higher character.  They need to be even better.  The bar should be set even higher.  No cherry picking.  They must meet the standard and then some.

The job of men, in Lemuel's vision, is to care for those who cannot care for themselves.  Their character must be scrupulously clean.  They should be above reproach in every single way.  Why do we never seem to talk about this part of Proverbs 31?  Why do we skip on over this and go straight to verse 10, as if there were no obligation on the men?  It is stated right there.

Why is it that we so often do not talk about that job?  And why do we not honor that responsibility in the ways that we should?  Why do we fail to set the right expectations for our husbands, sons, fathers and men in our lives?  What are we modeling for our daughters when we accept less than we should?  I have thought about that a lot over the years.  I should have paid more attention to Proverbs 31, the early verses, I guess.

Jesus came to care for those who were disenfranchised.  To love those whom God loves.  Which is everyone.  We are here on this earth to serve as he served.  We are not called to be in control but to be servants.  I need find a way to serve someone today.