Skip to main content

Good Judgment


Good judgment wins favor, but the way of the unfaithful leads to their destruction. (Proverbs 13:15)


          When I worked at my last “real” job, I remember that the corporation hired someone from Kentucky Fried Chicken. I forget exactly what he was supposed to do, but “the Chicken Man” was supposed to make everything all better. I have vague memories of his presence within the corporation for perhaps six months. I remember hearing about a woman, or a pair of women who were going to fix “the softer side.” I don’t think I ever heard anything about them after their introduction. It seemed to me from what the CEO said that we were his toy, the firm he got to experiment with and if an experiment wasn’t an instant success, the idea was tossed in the dustbin and some other “great new idea” was put in its place. Consistently, the CEO showed poor judgment, and he was faithful in his unfaithfulness. The company is now bankrupt.
         Relationships also come to mind. I know people, and of people who go from bad relationship to bad relationship, but if you suggest to them that they might want to take a look at their judgment, might want to set some rules for themselves that might prevent their repeating the same mistakes ad nauseam, you’re blaming the victim. Faithfulness to bad judgment bankrupts a person emotionally. Unfaithfulness to good judgment damages a person. 
         How does this connect to the unfaithful? Let’s start with those who are unfaithful to God (which is all of us.) To the extent that we reject God, we reject reality. To the extent that we reject reality, we reject God. So, if we are unfaithful to one, we are unfaithful to the other. Building a life, a business, or whatever on a reality that is not real, or is not complete, requires that it fail. If you add two plus two plus two and insist that it’s four or eight, there are going to be problems. Good judgment wins favor not because someone arbitrarily sprinkles it with pixie dust, but because it works.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Higher Thoughts

  “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the  Lord . “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. (Isaiah 55:8-9)           The person with the Spirit makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments,   for, “Who has known the mind of the Lord      so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ. (I Corinthians 2:15-16) If you read about the ancient gods of the various peoples, you’ll find that they think just like people. In fact, they think just like the sort of people we really wouldn’t want to be around. They think like the most corrupt Hollywood producer or, like hormone overloaded teens with no upbringing.   It’s embarrassing to read. I have a friend who argues that because God is not just like us, He is so vastly dif...

Think About These Things

                 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. (Philippians 4:8) This passage is a major challenge for me. Like everyone else, I struggle to keep my thoughts from wandering off into the weeds, then wondering what possible benefits those weeds might have… Sigh. But as a writer, I have to delve at least a little into the ignoble, wrong, impure, unlovely, and debased. After all, there’s no story if everything’s just as it should be and everyone’s happy. As Christians, there are times when we need to deal with all the negatives, but that makes it even more important that we practice turning our minds by force of attention to what is noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, and praiseworthy. It’s just too easy to get stuck in a swamp. With my...

A Virgin?

           Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel. (Isaiah 7:14)           This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. (Matthew 1:18)           But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end.”            “How will this be,” Mary asked the...