Perhaps
the theme continues as Solomon warns us not to create unnecessary problems
and even persecution for ourselves by our unwise words and actions.
As
people turn to God, they may have a tendency to become odd and extreme
in their behaviour, and to derive a feeling of “righteousness”
from performing various rituals and routines, from making unnecessary
sacrifices and even denying themselves wholesome pleasures, such as
dancing, drinking alcohol, or even playing cards. Such individuals are
attempting to be over-righteous, super-righteous,
so to speak.
So
common was this problem in the Early Christian Church that the whole
book of Galatians was written by Paul to help Greek converts who had
been lured by false teachers into keeping the physical requirements
of the Law of Moses (Galatians 3:1-3), even circumcision (Galatians
5:2). Paul explains clearly in another place that although we should
live pure lives, our righteousness before God come solely from the sacrifice
of Jesus Christ, and cannot be earned by any physical actions we might
take (Philippians 3: 9).
Some
individuals, however, fall into the ditch on the other side of the road
-- interpreting the word of God in an extremely permissive manner, and
bringing the Church of God into disrepute with worldly people by their
obvious wickedness. How sad that even tabloid
newspaper journalists and atheists often set much higher standards for
themselves than some who purport to be spiritual leaders in the Christian
Church, who are being over-wicked and willingly
destroying themselves.
Solomon
seems to be urging a balanced life, one that avoids all
extremes – a plea that was echoed in a book by a
one-time bishop of Salisbury, wishing that Christians could appear more
ordinary and normal! The problem seems to be, as Paul points out, that
God has, for the most part, called out weak, unwise and foolish individuals
as his instruments with which to confound the world – people with
a natural tendency to go to extremes and appear somewhat odd and weird
in their ways.