The integrity of the upright guides them, but the unfaithful are destroyed by their duplicity. (Proverbs 11:3)
The righteousness of the upright delivers them, but the unfaithful are trapped by evil desires. (Proverbs 11:6)
If they say, “Come along with us; let’s waylay some harmless soul…,” my son, do not go along with them; do not set foot on their paths. (Proverbs 1:11-15)
An executive at a huge New York company felt threatened by the arrival of a new company chairman. So she sowed false stories in the press to leverage publicity in protection of her own job and agenda.
A retired Hollywood public relations executive for a major studio admitted to the LA Times that he and his company’s PR department spent a good percentage of their efforts using “anonymous sources” all over the nation to place destructive stories in the press about competitors, rather than just promoting the benefits of their own studio.
Washington, DC, politicians and Hollywood spin doctors threaten, manipulate the press, and spread lies to protect the interests of the pols or stars they represent.
Treachery. This is not a word we use often and not one most believers would ever think could describe them. But, in little and big ways, we can be a party to extremely cunning and treacherous actions…under other names.
Proverbs 3 uses the word duplicity. Every time we violate our integrity by (1) pretending to be something or someone we are not or (2) acting one way with an influential person and another way with those who can’t do anything for us, we tiptoe on the edges of treachery. Scripture makes it clear that this behavior is a self-set trap. There is a God who will guarantee that, sooner or later, the schemes to which we are the party will catch us!
Principle: One way to avoid being trapped is to avoid setting traps for others; God turns all evil schemes against those creating them.
The personal pilot for a powerful business executive made an error in preparing his private jet for flight, one which could have caused a crash. The pilot, a committed Christian, could have lied about the error and blamed it on something or someone else to avoid the consequences. Instead, he volunteered the truth in total transparency…and lost his job. But God took care of him, he kept his integrity and witness, and he has another fine position. More than that, his righteousness kept him from the backfire of his own scheme—far worse than being fired. A scheme to cover up this matter would most likely have been exposed. Both Richard Nixon and Bill Clinton learned this lesson from Proverbs the hard way.
Principle: The way to escape the traps of others (or the enemy) is to do the right thing no matter the cost; short-term gains at the expense of integrity generate serious long-term losses.
There are situations in which running is not cowardly. Proverbs 1:15 describes one of these situations—when someone has an unrighteous plan and wants you to be a party to it. In different words, Solomon urges the righteous person to make a run for it! Don’t put a foot on the schemer’s path! Choke ’em in heel dust!
Principle: Every evil plan sets a path and draws others to take it. The righteous person runs away from this path as fast as the power of God will take him.
[from “Wisdom for the Trenches” by Dr. Larry W. Poland]