Intensity
As a preacher and teacher, occasionally I get dubbed with the ‘he’s funny and therefore a lightweight with it’ tag. There’s a notion (false, in my view) that clever, deep people don’t smile much, are always serious and sober and have about them a furrowed-browed intensity that shows that they have the cares of the world on their minds.
But here Solomon destroys that myth. As he continues to think about wisdom and especially wise leadership, he talks about leaders who are both thoughtful and fun. They are clear minded; Solomon uses an Arabic word, pahsharr, which means ‘to see through a mystery.’ How we need thinking leaders, who don’t just manage the status quo, what is, but are able to lead out of reflection and prayer.
Too often Christian leaders have a narrow eyed, fixed intensity that suggests that they are very busy, important people. I wish there was a Bible verse that instructed us to ‘Lighten up.’ People want to follow those who think and therefore know where they’re going – but who also smile and are having fun as they journey. Jesus surely smiled a lot. Thinking and smiling are not mutually exclusive.