To Do or Not To Do Solomon’s Wisdom Part 3

My son, if sinful men entice you, do not give in to them. If they say, “Come along with us; let’s lie in wait for innocent blood, let’s ambush some harmless soul; let’s swallow them alive, like the grave, and whole, like those who go down to the pit; we will get all sorts of valuable things and fill our houses with plunder; cast lots with us; we will all share the loot”— my son, do not go along with them, do not set foot on their paths; for their feet rush into evil, they are swift to shed blood. Proverbs1 10 – 16

That doesn’t apply or happen now! Heck, this was something that happened way before true civilization and laws came into being. In fact before the common era, men of all stations of life – wealthy and poor, banded together to become highwaymen and robbed and plundering unsuspecting people. It was very common.

I hate to tell you, but this is still alive and well today. There are pirates on the seas, gangs of robbers and looters in many nations, and organized crime abounding. In fact, I was sickened to hear that in our little town of Victoria, BC, our youth (children aged 11 and up) are being targeted to be drug mules, sex toys, and taken advantage of in the worst of ways!

But how does this apply to you? I truly hope and pray that it doesn’t!

But could it? Even in just a little way?

The word for entice is “pathnah” and it means to be spacious, open, simple, na?ve, gullible and/or deceive. This double quality makes it doubly dangerous. How informed about your surroundings are you? Isn’t that something that you should be? Especially for your family, friends, colleagues, and your employees.

We can’t solve all the problems of the world but to be more aware is something that can’t be understated. Along with that awareness, comes a responsibility to do something – anything. Figure out what you can do and commit to doing your part.

A friend of mine once told me that community service or giving back is the price we pay for the space we occupy.

But I believe that it is more than giving back.

This brings me to the topic of sin. People automatically think that as soon as we talk about sin that we are invoking the laws of God and His eternal wrath if a sin is committed. The Hebrew word for sin is “chatta’”. Which means an offence has been committed by the one who has sinned. This does not quantify the size, shape, intensity of an offence, or that it offends God, Allah, or any other deity. 

In the short and long run, any time a person is involved in a “little white lie”, false statements (advertising), schemes (bait and switch), hiding transgressions (environmental pollution), saying one thing and doing another (backing out of a promise), making a promise (even as small as making an appointment and being late) we are hurting ourselves and those around us. Maybe those little things shouldn’t be swept under the rug, but brought out and eradicated.

One area that leaves itself wide open (no pun intended) is the word for entice which is “pathna”.

It means to be spacious, be open, to make spacious, make open, to entice, deceive, be simple, be na?ve, or be gullible. Can you see where you embodied one of these elements or somehow caused by design or accident to encourage someone to stumble. This can be done through commission or omission. Yes it is a fine line, but if we want to succeed, want to be a good mentor, want to live a responsible life, be a good boss, we need to toe that line – not cross it.

Ethical dilemmas – what makes them tough

Most of the time they are straight-forward, but then the level of gray creeps in. The better question as my pastor used to ask for was; “Are you an agent or acting for someone where you have to help them make a decision about which course of action is best? This automatically assumes that there must be more than one course of action. Finally, if there are various avenues and they all lead to some ethical principle being comprised, which is least harmful? This is defined by Dolgoof, Lowenberg and Harrington in 2009 when they wrote; “Morals describe a behavioral code of conduct to which an individual ascribes. They are used to negotiate, support, and strengthen our relationships with others.”

This all boils down to making good decisions. Making the right decision that will not hurt or effect anyone negatively if at all possible. How do we help this process:

1.  What is your goal – what are you trying to do?

2.  Make sure you research all of the information possible that is related to the challenge.

3.  What are going to be the current and future consequences to all concerned?

4.  Make up your mind, what are you going to do? Does it feel good to you? If it was a decision that someone made for you, would you be comfortable with the outcome?

5.  After the decision is made, look at what actually happens. Are you happy with the outcome. If not, change the path. If it hurt someone, take responsibility and fix it.

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