Teaching Tuesday: Walking in Wisdom - Proverbs 4:20-27

Series: Bible Stories
Sermon: Walking in Wisdom - Proverbs 4:20-27 (9.14.25)
Watch the messages HERE. 

Peter Heck, the preacher at Jerome Christian Church in Indiana, wrote this article this week which goes along with the sermon I (Jim) preached on Sunday.
 
I have not been able to shake the image from my mind. Since news broke of Charlie Kirk’s assassination, it has replayed in my head over and over, leaving me restless, speechless, and deeply unsettled. The whirlwind of emotions – grief, anger, disbelief – has left me feeling both helpless and small, and yet somehow driven back to the cross.
 
I don’t pretend to be the smartest voice or the wisest commentator on what has happened. But as I have sat with this tragedy, prayed over it, and wrestled with what it reveals about our culture and our own hearts, I felt compelled to share where this has brought me – not as a pundit or political analyst, not even as a preacher, but as a follower of Jesus who aches for this world to know Him.
 
“Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.” – Proverbs 4:23
 
More than anything, I am left with a sobering sense of urgency to guard my heart. Scripture warns us that the condition of the heart governs the condition of life. In a cultural moment like this one, the temptation to allow our own hearts to harden, to darken in response to what we see, is very real.
 
It is shocking how quickly tragedy is politicized. Almost as soon as the news broke, there were voices that bordered on justifying the horror: “What do you expect? He was a provocateur.” Others, more chillingly, seemed to revel in the violence. No child of God should ever find such impulses stirring in their soul. Death is the last enemy (1 Corinthians 15:26), and celebration of it is a pact with darkness. To rejoice in another’s murder, even an adversary’s, is to stand in agreement with the one who comes only to steal, kill, and destroy (John 10:10). If you find a flicker of satisfaction or vindication rising within you, beg God to rescue you from it. Take whatever steps are necessary to disentangle yourself from voices discipling you into celebrating evil.
 
Even those of us not inclined to rejoice face subtler temptations. I have noticed in myself, in other circumstances, the reflex to preface expressions of grief with qualifiers: “I didn’t agree with him on everything, but…” What is that but a way of reassuring my chosen tribe of my loyalty before daring to express unqualified compassion? No one agrees with everyone on everything. To hedge our horror is to reveal that politics has sunk deeper into our hearts than Scripture. The call to “mourn with those who mourn” (Romans 12:15) does not come with caveats.
 
And then there is the deeper temptation still — the pull toward vengeance. Grief metastasizes into rage, and rage goes hunting for a target. But vengeance is forbidden to us. “Do not take revenge, my dear friends,” Paul writes, “but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: ‘It is mine to avenge; I will repay,’ says the Lord” (Romans 12:19). Our task as believers, as difficult as it may seem, is not retribution but reconciliation, to let the weight of this tragedy propel us toward bridge-building, toward reestablishing bonds with those who think differently from us, toward putting down our phones and going next door to have a real conversation with an actual neighbor. This is how light is preserved when darkness is so obviously on the march.
 
The assassination itself is only the surface symptom of a deeper sickness. We are watching what happens when a culture exchanges the truth of God for lies and begins to worship created things rather than the Creator (Romans 1:25). When power becomes our god, violence becomes our liturgy. This is why prayer matters so urgently now. Prayer does not erase tragedy or rewind grief, but it tethers us to the Source of light so that we ourselves are not consumed by the darkness we deplore.
 
I confess this moment feels heavy, as though the hourglass for America is nearly empty and the chance to turn back from the brink is growing smaller by the day. Perhaps that will prove to be the case. But Jesus told His disciples not to fear those who can kill the body but cannot kill the soul (Matthew 10:28). What steadies me is the confidence that those who belong to Him never really die (John 11:25–26). That while hope does not lessen the horror of what happened, it keeps the horror from poisoning the soul.
 
So we must guard our hearts – fiercely. Keep them soft. Keep them human. Keep them flooded with light. Because if those who bear Christ’s name let their hearts grow cold and hard like the world’s, then we are no different from the darkness we are meant to resist. And if the light goes out in us, what hope is left for the world?
 
- Peter Heck
 
Let’s pray for our hearts to be soft to Jesus and His word.
Grieve and pray for our nation.
Pray there is an awaking.
The awaking begins with me and you.
 
1 Peter 4:12: Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed. If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. If you suffer, it should not be as a murderer or thief or any other kind of criminal, or even as a meddler. However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name. For it is time for judgment to begin with the family of God; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God? And, “If it is hard for the righteous to be saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?” So then, those who suffer according to God’s will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good.
 
- Pastor Jim