Unconventional Wisdom

Gideon and His Three Hundred, Illustration from a Bible Card, Providence Lithograph Company, 1907, public domain.

Sermon Series “Through the Bible,” № 19, Judges 7:1-12, 19-22

“Then the Lord said to Gideon, ‘With the three hundred that lapped I will deliver you, and give the Midianites into your hand …” –Judges 7:7

Peter Hitchens is an English author and journalist, who has contributed to many well-known publications. He is a Christian conservative, and, as such, his religious and political views won’t suit everyone. I appreciate his passionate but clear-headed analysis of issues.

In one of his essays, he notes several examples of practices that once represented the best available conventional wisdom.  “…Years ago, parents were told that the best way to avoid cot death was to lie babies face down ….Years later, the advice was the exact opposite. Putting them face down was likely to be fatal, and they must be laid on their backs …. In my childhood, operations for tonsillectomy were routinely given to children with nothing seriously wrong with them. Shoe shops provided machines in which you could x-ray your own feet, machines which were believed to be wholly safe and advertised as such. Most first aid textbooks recommended treating burns by putting greasy creams on them, now acknowledged to be one of the worst things you can do.”[1] Hitchens says quite a bit more, but I think I’ve shared enough to make the point. Sometimes, the conventional wisdom, even of the most esteemed experts, is eventually proven wrong. Sometimes, the best solution to a problem is what seems at first to be unconventional wisdom.

In the seventh chapter of the Book of Judges, we read a sacred story in which unconventional wisdom has the power to give life. In English translation, this book was labeled Judges because nine of its ten main characters are said to have “judged” Israel.[2] When we think of a judge, we probably imagine the person who presides over a court of law, but in ancient Israel the term had a broader meaning. These judges filled multiple roles, including charismatic military leader, spiritual priest, secular administrator. They served during the period 1200-1100 BCE, when the people of Israel were trying to consolidate their power in a new Promised Land.

Among their greatest threats were the Midianites, loosely confederated tribes from the eastern slopes of the Moabite mountains. The Midianites had prospered, and as they grew, they searched for new territories upon which their herds could graze.  Crossing the Jordan River in its shallower portion somewhere south of the Sea of Galilee, they moved across the fertile Jezreel valley.  As winter came on, the masses receded, only to return in greater number the following year.  

As so often is the case in story of our Faith, someone who was a longshot to be leader was given the job.  Conventional wisdom would have thought Gideon unworthy to be a general.  He was from the humblest clan in the tribe of Manasseh, the least of the brothers in his family.  But Gideon was a man with firm faith and courage in the fight with false gods.   When 30,000 men rallied to him to fight against a Midianite force some four times their size, God guided Gideon in an unusual process to select the troops who would actually do the fighting. First, he asked those whose hearts weren't really in the fight to turn back.  Over two-thirds did, leaving Gideon with 10,000 men.  

God told Gideon that 10,000 was still too much, so Gideon sorted the troops through a strange test. Bible commentators have thought a lot about the difference between the “kneelers” and the “lappers.”[3] Some point out that a human tongue can’t form a scoop in the same way that a dog tongue can, so “lapping” can’t mean quite the same thing. There are commentators who imagine that Gideon was assembling an elite group of warriors. They say the “kneelers” got down beside the water and used both hands, stupidly putting themselves in a vulnerable position, while the “lappers” scooped water in one hand, the other hand on a weapon, so that they could drink while remaining vigilant to enemy threat. Other commentators say that the kneelers were the smart and vigilant ones, using both hands and keeping watch, while the lappers put their face into the water. If you look at the text this way, then the selection of the three-hundred not-so-smart soldiers magnifies the grace and power of God in the victory that follows.  

Regardless, Gideon went to battle against an army “thick as locusts” with a battalion of only 300 men.   Survival, let alone victory, would be a miracle of God in the wildest way.

As the battle opened, Gideon used what probably seems to us an incredibly risky and likely ill-fated tactic. Surrounding the sleeping enemy, all his men brandished torches, and loudly hailed the Lord and Gideon as victorious.  The enemy soldiers were bluffed.  They believed that a large army must be advancing behind the torchbearers.  The image became a reality; believing a large army to be upon them, it was.  The badly disciplined Midianites and Amalekites and “people of the east” turned on one another, and the survivors ran in retreat.  Gideon won a great victory for Israel that day by relying upon the gift of God’s unconventional wisdom.

If you reflect a while on the story of Gideon, and others like it, then you realize that unconventional wisdom can mean different things in different situations. When most are chasing the newest trend, unconventional wisdom might mean going on steadily with inherited wisdom, unwaveringly loyal to tradition.  When most seem stuck in a rut, unconventional wisdom might mean opposing the status quo, and moving forward toward new goals in innovative ways.  

It may be difficult to discern the difference between unconventional wisdom and reckless foolishness.  This week, an investor will put her extra cash to work in the stock market—will she earn a good return, or lose everything?  Next month, another person will decide it’s time to make a career change—will he make it big, or end up filing for unemployment?  Operating according to unconventional wisdom always entails a measure of risk, the possibility of provoking laughter, insults, or worse.  

Ralph Branca was an all-star pitcher for the Brooklyn Dodgers, who developed a close friendship with Jackie Robinson, the first black player in the major leagues. Branca saw the way the racist forces in baseball went out of their way to hurt Robinson, sliding in base with spikes up, throwing pitches at his head. Insults were common. Branca admired Robinson for his playing ability, but even more for his moral courage. After several weeks as teammates, Branca finally worked up enough courage for deeper conversation. He asked him, “How do you take it?” 

Jackie told him the story of his first meeting with the Dodgers owner Branch Rickey.  During a long interview, there came a pivotal moment when Rickey reached in a drawer, pulled out a book on the life of Christ, and talked to Jackie about the principle of nonviolent non-resistance. Before the interview concluded, both Christian men had committed themselves to the idea that the change they desired was possible only by emulating the character of Christ.”[4]  

Jackie said, “Ralph, many nights I get down on my knees and pray to God for the strength not to fight back.” Responding to anger and hatred with anger and hatred would be unproductive. Robinson knew that choosing to embrace Jesus’ alternative wisdom was a daily challenge, but an important one. Unconventional wisdom dictated that avoiding revenge and playing well was the best strategy for success in life and for successful social change.[5]

The story of Gideon, like the story of Jackie Robinson, reminds us that not all difficult challenges can be successfully met with sheer human force. Sometimes, what is needed is a deep wisdom too often overlooked when we don’t listen carefully and move too quickly. In anxiety and frustration, we expend a lot of time, energy, and resources in ways that are unproductive and unfruitful. But when we reflect, pray, and engage in mutual discernment, the Holy Spirit may open our eyes to an alternative that we never noticed before, and, like Gideon, lead us to victory through reliance upon God’s unconventional wisdom.

NOTES

[1] Peter Hitchens, essay entitled “A definitive refutation of the claims for ‘ADHD’,” in Unconventional Wisdom, Kindle edition published 30 Nov. 2020, p 17 ff.

[2]Robert G. Boling, “Judges: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary.”  Vol. 6A in “The Anchor Bible,” ed. W.F. Albright and David Noel Freedman. Garden City, New York: Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1975, p. 5.

[3] For example, see Jonathan Lipnick, “Gideon’s Doglike Lappers,” blog of the Israel Institute of Biblical Studies, 11 Apr. 2018,  https://blog.israelbiblicalstudies.com/holy-land-studies/gideons-doglike-lappers/ accessed 18 Feb. 2022.

[4] Details appear in an article by A.S. “Doc” Young, “The Black Athlete in the Golden Age of Sports,” Ebony, November 1968, p. 160, https://books.google.com/books?id=1OEDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA160&hl=en#v=onepage&q&f=false accessed 8 February 2017.

[5] See “Ralph Branca on the Quiet Strength of Jackie Robinson,” Guideposts, https://www.guideposts.org/better-living/entertainment/sports/ralph-branca-on-the-quiet-strength-of-jackie-robinson  accessed 8 February 2017.

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