“There is an evil”
[Ecclesiastes 10:5-7]
What kind of advertisements do you often see when you watch TV these days? I often see advertisements about the US midterm elections on November 2. Among those advertisements, I am interest in three things: the California Senate, governor election, and Prop 19. Especially, I am interest in Prop 19 because because it is an amendment of the rate related to the marijuana which we consider as a drug. In California, people are trying to legitimize marijuana so that they can buy it for a certain amount of time as a hobby. But when I saw the news this week, about 40% of people want to legalize it, and 44% of people oppose it. In addition to Prop 19, I have no choice but to be interested in advertising for Senate or Governor Elections because I live in California. And if I look at the TV ads of Republican and Democratic candidates, this is almost mutual slander and black propaganda. I am not here to say that you should choose a certain candidate for the California Senate and governor. But I am trying to say that at least we as Californians should be aware of who will be our next leaders who will lead this California. The reason is because I think it is very important to have a right leader for the state and for our country as well. In particular, as a pastor, I think that it is very important to establish a church officer who has an important position in the church. So I can not help but be interested in establishing a leader.
What leaders should we raise in the church? The leader that our church sought and prayed for is Christ-centered leader who is neither me-center nor the men-center. Here, the word Christ-centered leaders refer to the leaders who obey Jesus’ commands. It is our vision to raise the Christ-centered leaders who humbly and faithfully obeys His Words. However, one of the difficulties in moving toward this vision is the lack of personality and change of life. And the problem is, I think, that the churches are establishing the people who lack such personality and life change as church leaders. In other words, I think that the church is breaking the order and peace of the church by establishing the unqualified people to be the leaders of the church. I think that this sinful thing is happening in our Presbyterian Church where unqualified people are becoming the teaching elders (pastors) and ruling elders who are the key leaders of the Presbyterian Church. Especially the pastor like me is the problem. And the cause of the problem is because we, the pastors, are not wise.
This is what King Solomon says in Ecclesiastes 10:5 – “There is an evil I have seen under the sun, the sort of error that arises from a ruler.” Here, when I think about “an evil”, it reminds me Ecclesiastes 6:1 that we already meditated. King Solomon said he had seen “another evil” in this world. One such thing is that weighs heavily on a man who has received God's wealth, riches, and honor, so that he does not lack in his heart, but he has not been able to enjoy all of it. Rather, God has enabled those who are pleased with God to enjoy all of them. Before this evil, King Solomon said that he saw “a grievous evil” in Ecclesiastes 5:13-20. And that grievous evil was an owner who tried to keep his wealth even to the point of harming himself (v. 13). Furthermore, King Solomon saw that the owner who had kept his wealth to the point of harming himself could not hand over anything to his children because of the disaster and the loss of all his wealth (v. 14). What a grievous evil this is. Although we know the truth “Naked a man comes from his mother’s womb, and as he comes, so he departs” (v. 15), why do people try to keep all their possessions to such a degree that it harms them? What is the benefit if they end up losing everything through disaster? Aren’t we also witnessing these great evil living in this world?
What was “an evil” that King Solomon saw in this world? It was “the sort of error that arises from a ruler” (10:5). In other words, what he witnessed in this world was a transgression from the ruler. Here, when we discuss the "error" of the ruler, we can think of Ecclesiastes 10:4, which we already had meditated. The reason is that King Solomon speaks in verse 4 about “great errors”. Look at Ecclesiastes 10:4 again: “If a ruler's anger rises against you, do not leave your post; calmness can lay great errors to rest.” King Solomon gave us a lesson that even though the bad ruler treats us unjustly, we should keep our post and should not oppose him. The reason is because if we oppose the ruler, we can commit a greater sin to God. However, today in Ecclesiastes 10: 5, King Solomon again speaks of "an evil". Whose evil is her referring to? It is the evil of the ruler. Then what is the evil of the ruler? It is a decision that comes from the foolishness of the ruler. One example of that decision is in verse 6: “Fools are put in many high positions, while the rich occupy the low ones.” What does it mean? It means that the foolish ruler placed a fool in a high position or high office, and a "rich" in a low position or a low office (Wiersbe). If we say that we place the "rich" in a lower position, we may now think that the reality is that the rich are in a higher position in the Church, but here the "rich" refers to the wise (Walvoord). Look at Proverbs 14:24 – “The wealth of the wise is their crown, but the folly of fools yields folly.” When I think of the foolish decision of this ruler, what would happen to a nation if the foolish president puts a fool in a high position in the country and a wise man in a low position? I think the same is true of companies. The foolish boss does not just annoy his workers by disgracing them, but also he raises the fools to a higher position and the wise to a lower position. I think it is the same in the church. In particular, when we look at the reality of the church, especially the Presbyterian Church, the session appoints the unwise and unqualified people to the important positions of the church. For example, in light of Romans 16:1-16, those who should be appointed in the important position of the Church are those whom the Session commends (v. 1) and those who are “the approved in Christ” (v. 10). But it seems to me that the church these days are appointing anybody even though they are not commended and approved by the Session. As a result, the church is not glorifying God at all. Why are these things happening all the time in the church? Do you know why? Of course, it has to do with the folly of the church leaders. But more specifically there is another reason. That is “a ruler’s caprice” (Walvoord). If we take the example of a church, we can say that the pastor like me is foolish where I do not entrust a qualified wise person to the church but a unqualified and fool person to the church. Another commentary, "Be Satisfied," by Rev. Warren Wiersbe, commented that the folly of the ruler is because he is too pliable (Wiersbe). And if the leader is so pliable, he can do the opposite in terms of appoint the people to the church positions because of lack of character and courage: to have a high position for fools and a low position for wise ones. If we give examples of the church, we can say that the pastor and the elders, who are pliable, can not do the right thing with courage.
What is the result? For example, when the President of a nation does not give a high rank to a wise man but to a fool in his foolishness (whether it is capricious or pliable), what will be the result? Look at Ecclesiastes 10:7 – “I have seen slaves on horseback, while princes go on foot like slaves.” The result of a foolish act by the president is that the country is broken in order, there is no peace, and the country can not be built firmly. Please think about it. If we see “slaves on horseback, while princes go on foot like slaves” (v. 7), what will the nation be like? I think this principle applies to the home, the workplace, and the church. For example, what will be the order of the family when the husband is not the head of the family but the wife is? The Bible says that wives should respect and obey their husbands and that husbands should love their wives. But what if the wives do not respect their husbands but rather change their roles so that they might be the head of the family? Workplace is the same. What if the boss and the employee are at work and the employee is sitting at the boss and gets all the respect and the boss is working for the employee? The church is the same. If there is a pastor, an elder, and an ordained deacon, who do not know their position and role, and think and act beyond the boundary, what will happen to that church? Such a home, a workplace, or a church is not in peace because it is out of order. This is the error of the foolish leaders. Do you see this error from me, the pastor of the church, and from your boss, your leader, and also from your husband (or father), who is your family leader?
As I meditate on this and I asked, "Why does God allow a foolish person to be a president of a nation?” The reason is that God decided to judge the nation through such foolish ruler (Park Yun-sun). In other words, God judges a nation through a foolish president, a church through a foolish pastor, and a family through a foolish husband and father of a household. Especially God disciplines the country, the church or the family by allowing the foolish President, or pastor, or the husband and father to be the leaders of a nation, a church or a household to put the unqualified people to be seated in a high position and by allowing them to break the order and peace of a nation, church and family. What should we do when we realize this? In other words, what should we do with the leaders of one family, one church, and one nation? The leaders must wisely think and act wisely as they forsake their folly and seek wisdom from God. In particular, the leaders should assign the wise men and not the foolish men to important positions so that we can respect those who should be respected. In doing so, the nation, the church, and family will stand firm in the Lord and enjoy the peace that the Lord gives. I hope and pray that such a home, church, and nation could be ours.