Greasing the Wheels or Sleazing the Deals?

Proverbs explicitly speaks of bribes no fewer than five times (15:27; 17:8, 23; 21:14; 29:4). The potentially disturbing thing for believers is that three times the book takes a decidedly negative perspective on bribes:

Greed brings grief to the whole family,but those who hate bribes will live. Prov. 15:27

The wicked take secret bribes to pervert the course of justice. Prov. 17:23

A just king gives stability to his nation,but one who demands bribes destroys it. Prov. 29:4

while the remaining two passages seem to encourage their use:

A bribe is like a lucky charm;whoever gives one will prosper! Prov. 17:8

A secret gift calms anger;a bribe under the table pacifies fury. Prov. 21:14

This is an instance where we do well to remember two things: (1) the "general" nature of Proverbs, and (2) the importance of context. Regarding the first point, regular readers should be familiar with the metaphor of Proverbs as "a floodlight, not a spotlight." In other words, the book offers us advice that is usually right...but not always. The proverbs are meant to be understood as if they are right most of the time--but not as immutable truths to be applied always and equally in all situations. Proverbs teaches contextual ethics.

This leads us directly into consideration of the different contexts in these five proverbs. The first three (i.e., those condemning bribery) seem to be focused on condemning those in positions of authority who accept bribes. The latter two proverbs (i.e., those that seem more accepting of bribery) are focused upon the wisdom of offering bribes.

It seems to me that there's a significant difference between acknowledging that something is effective, and affirming that it ought to be effective. I think Proverbs is just giving us straightforward advice: it's a bad idea to start accepting bribes because you're putting someone else in control of you when you do so...on the other hand, it may not be such a bad idea to offer bribes in order to get what you want. Sometimes, the bribe may even be a way of encouraging bad rulers to do good things. It reminds me of a discourse the late Milton Friedman had on the issue of how to clean up Congress.

January 13, 2009 (Matthew 15:1-11)

Today’s reading deals with a first-century practice known as Korban. Let me say at the outset, that I’m no expert on Korban. However, as I understand the practice, it was essentially a process whereby a Jew could donate something of value (e.g., land) to the Temple. So long as the person giving the land was alive, he was allowed to receive income from it. Upon the man’s death, however, it became the property of the Temple.

So, what’s the problem? Wouldn’t Jesus be supportive of folks giving things to God? Jesus’ problem was not with Korban per se, but with the way it was being used by some wealthy Jews to “weasel out” of the command to honor their parents.

What happened was that when one or both of a man’s elderly parents approached him seeking help because they could no longer support themselves, he would say: “Gosh…I’d really like to help you, but the land/money/etc. that I would have given to you, has already been given to God.” As if using God as a shield to justify their own selfishness wasn’t bad enough, these guys actually had the audacity to give Jesus a hard-time because His disciples didn’t follow their tradition about hand-washing!

It’s pretty easy to see the hypocrisy of the Pharisees in this instance; But I wonder how many times we play the Korban game ourselves. One simple example from my own fellowship (i.e., Churches of Christ) has been the debate over how to help orphans. Some of my brethren feel very strongly that the Bible forbids sending “collection plate money” to an orphanage. “The authorized way to help orphans is by taking them into our own homes,” they say. Fine and dandy…however, I have met more than one brother who holds such a view, yet has no orphans living in his home. Yet, He remains vehemently opposed to “church money” going to the orphanage.

It’s not too difficult to find abusers of Korban “out there.” However, I want us to take a closer look at our own lives and churches. Are we “by our traditions, [violating] the direct commandments of God?” (15:3) Our checkbooks and church financial statements probably offer the answer. How much money goes out to help others in need versus eating out? How much of our church budget is spent on local and/or international benevolence versus on the purchase, expansion, and upkeep of our own building?

Let us live in such a way that when Judgment comes, we will not have to hear the following words: You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you, for he wrote: These people honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me. Their worship is a farce, for they teach man-made ideas as commands from God.

-- Justin

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