Bill Maher, meet Proverbs.....

....as funny as Bill Maher can be (the "New Rule" segment on his Real Time show last night was classic), he can also be as simplistic as those he says are, well, simplistic.

This exchange caught my ear at work the other evening with Chris Matthews, of Hardball (or Softball, or Loftball, or Beanball, depending upon the guest)....regarding (of course), the Iraq War and President Bush.

MATTHEWS: But you know, let‘s give President Bush credit. He‘s a conservative, and one thing you and I agree, conservatives tend to be pretty good when it comes to tribe. They understand tribal tendencies, ethnic prejudices, you know? He doesn‘t seem to understand why the Islamic people in that part of the world would have a problem with us landing 150,000 troops over there and building a permanent base in their world. He doesn‘t seem to understand the instinct they have to get us—the tissue rejection that they‘d feel toward us. He doesn‘t get it, it seems.

MAHER: Right, Chris, because he‘s not a reader. He didn‘t think he had to learn anything about Iraq before he invaded it because he prayed about it, and people who pray about something, Chris, don‘t need to learn. They don‘t need to talk to experts or Arabs or prime ministers or ambassadors. They talk directly to Jesus. Case closed.

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Hmmmmm.....so I don't need to learn because I pray. I got Jesus on the mainline, so screw the rest of you, eh?

A few nuggets of wisdom and advice from the guys who gave us Proverbs in the Old Testament suggest otherwise.....

First, easily the most quoted verses from Proverbs come from chapter 3, verses 5 and 6...

5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;

6 in all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make your paths straight.

Well; proves Bill's point, doesn't it? Shut down your brain and follow your sense of hearing God and you're home free. Sounds simple enough.

But, that theory is destroyed when I see two words in verse five:

"....your own...."

One's own means the understanding I alone have cultivated over time, whether I sought anyone else's advice or not, prayed or not, read the Word of God or not, read the Koran to figure out Islam or not, etc, etc, etc. It's all sifted through the "Rob" filter, and that's pretty dangerous.

So, therefore, to fully grasp the wisdom found in this oft-quoted passage, let's remember that, just like God gave people the wisdom to create medications which heal the body, God also provides wisdom in the form of messengers. You know, like your spouse; or your parents...how about your best friend, your accountability group, your minister or priest....heck, sometimes it comes from a complete stranger! Maybe a blog you stumble upon (or so you think) but wisdom given to that author provides what you needed at that moment. God in the box. Stop thinking that way, my friends.

So, back to some verses from Proverbs, which, when adhered to, show that not only does God NOT have to "speak to you" about what color socks to wear tomorrow, but also that the opinion of Maher, in this case, is woefully simplistic.

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Proverbs 13:10 "Pride only breeds quarrels,
but wisdom is found in those who take advice."

Proverbs 19:2 "It is not good to have zeal without knowledge,
nor to be hasty and miss the way."

19:8 "He who gets wisdom loves his own soul;
he who cherishes understanding prospers."

19:27 "Stop listening to instruction, my son,
and you will stray from the words of knowledge."

......and finally, backing up a few verses to these two:

19:20 "Listen to advice and accept instruction,
and in the end you will be wise.

21 Many are the plans in a man's heart,
but it is the LORD's purpose that prevails."

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Sounds like we can find wisdom in many ways. And certainly, it is when we allow God to lead us in the direction of wisdom that verses 20 and 21 become alive for us.

BUT, there's the caveat of the Maher argument. "SEE, all that "wisdom" you're talking about has to come from JESUS." You do speak truth there.

BUT, as mentioned earlier, I'm not a "drone for Christ"; existing with no brain, charged to find an enemy and smite them for the apparent evidence of disobedience.

I've got enough smarts (I HOPE) in my brain to know things like, wear clothing in public or get arrested (as well as make hundreds sick to their stomachs). Wash your hair regularly to avoid, like, bugs. Find a tick after playing in the field all day? Ask God to take it and watch it fall off? Eh, normally I get a cotton ball and some rubbing alcohol, and woozy the poor leach to his/her death. And I cannot begin to tell you how many hours I've saved by not having to ask God each day to intercede for me as to whether I put my left shoe on first, or my right.

That way, when I do use the prayer time, I can work on being transparent on more important matters.

Bill, my case isn't "closed" when I pray to Jesus; because prayer is a 24/7 conversation in a lifelong journey. Christians who will be brutally honest with you would tell you that we miss the mark MANY times when thinking we "heard" what God said to us, only to discover later we didn't do our homework assignment. Those who DO think they always hear God right the first time probably include, in their population history, those who brought us such wonderful events as slaughter during the Crusades, et al.

I'm sorry that your understanding of a prayer life and the fact that Christians are charged to seek wisdom and advice from others (but not just ANYBODY) is limited.

Try the advice given from the above verses in Proverbs. Pretty wise stuff, if you ask me.

Excuse me, I gotta go seek God about this new issue I've got. Once and for all, I want to know what Jesus would say to the one who asks, "Paper or Plastic?"