Your Life: a Lesson.

Proverbs 13: 14 (MSG)  The teaching of the wise is a fountain of life, so, no more drinking from death-tainted wells!

• Proverbs 14:27 (NIV) The fear of the LORD is a fountain of life, turning a man from the snares of death.

Teaching. Law. Instruction. Doctrine. Rules. All those words are captured in the phrase "the teaching of the wise."  Great for religious studies. Sunday School or maybe even a Bible Study. But for running a business?  For leading a team? For managing a company? The answer depends on an understanding of the real end-game.

If you believe that what you believe and do while you are on earth has value after your journey here is over, then the answers to those questions would be resounding YES!

This metaphor "fountain of life" is used at least six times in Scripture and its companion phrase "living water" which is used almost a dozen times. Something important is being said here. Part of the meaning is that as water is important for just simply living, so the counsel of the wise, the fear of the Lord is vital for living a meaningful life.

Do I see learning from the foolish as a "death-tainted well?" Frankly, I never thought of it that way. Of course, there is much that can be learned from those classified as "fools" in Scripture: I would dare say the vast majority of teachers in college and graduate school fit this classification. As I pondered this verse, I was driven to ask: How much has my thinking been influenced by their belief system? By their world-view? By their system of morality. I'm thinking it is more than I would like to admit. The press of building a business too often interfered with building a life that really mattered.

I see the modern evangelical church conforming to the culture of this age and if the church can, I certainly can. I have said in other places that I am intrigued with the idea that Seminaries should provide a business track and teach MBA students. I know that when I teach at the college level, I am using the text as a base point, but constantly adding a Biblical perspective - after all, much of what "works" rings with universal truth - truth that came from our Creator.

I have come to understand that a setting where Godly business people can "teach" each other and where the Word is used as the source book is a way to drink from that fountain. Those who have disciplined themselves to the process are a "fountain of life" to their employees, suppliers and customers.

Think of it: people looking to you for more than just a business solution. They want a life solution. Incubating eternal truth at work. Now that is a mission field.

Copyright © 2006 by P. Griffith Lindell