Or can one walk on hot coals and his feet not be scorched? -Proverbs 6:28
Ribald. That’s a word you don’t hear much. It refers to language, behavior, or humor that is coarse, vulgar, or irreverently mocking. It also perfectly describes a television show which the guys in our college dorm loved to watch—myself included. Keep in mind that I went to a Christian college, which meant that we had to call the name of the show JackDonkey instead of it’s more well-known name.
The dudes in the show would engage in outrageous and dangerous stunts. As an example, one of the cast members received a tattoo while riding in an off-road vehicle traversing through rough terrain. Or in another episode two guys played tetherball with a beehive. Really dumb things like this, often injuring themselves.
It’s not like they thought they wouldn’t get hurt on occasion. They, like Solomon, knew that walking on hot coals would get their feet scorched. This begs a question, why would you do that? Why would anyone do something so dumb that they know will lead to harm? That’s the same question which Solomon is asking in Proverbs 6. Do you think you’ll be able to walk on hot coals and get away with it? Are you not considering the consequences? Consider this from John Kitchen about what it means to be “scorched”:
The heat of immoral passion is never self-contained, but always rages out of control and burns those who dare to play with its fire. It will leave lasting scars upon the lives of all involved. No one who disobeys this warning will be spared.[1]
Adultery is a bad decision. I think we can get that pretty clearly from this section in Proverbs. But is that all this is telling us? Do we just stow that away as a reminder for those moments of temptation? “Hey, this is a stupid decision, you probably shouldn’t do this!” That information can certainly be helpful in curbing sinful action. In the Spiritual Disciplines class, I took in seminary we were encouraged to write out on an index card all the things we’d lose by making foolish decisions like this. But I wonder if there are other questions we ought to be asking. Like, “Why?”
Let’s tell a little story involving rapper Juice WRLD. Jarad Anthony Higgins, known as Juice WRLD, died in 2019 at the age of 21. But his recording habits were so prolific that he had mountains of material unfished. So much that his estate has released three albums since his death. One of these, recently released, was entitled The Party Never Ends.
I’m not recommending Juice WRLD here, but his music gives us a glimpse into the mind of someone that is hurting. Many of his songs are cries for help, that nobody heeded. Yes, they are vulgar and often asinine. He glorifies that which shouldn’t be glorified. In one particular song on his new album, he talks about laying in a hotel with the friends of his girlfriend. He says, “I’m tryna get revenge”.
That might be one of the number one reasons why people have affairs. Revenge affairs are a well-known trope. And on the most basic level it is something that needs to be confronted. It’s wrong. It’s selfish. It’s sinful. It’s harmful to others. And it’s just as dumb as carrying fire to your chest or walking across scorching hot coals.
But is that all that needs to be said here? Do we just entirely dismiss Juice WRLD as some horrible degenerate? Do we write this off as the consequence of sin, a picture of lostness, and then comfort ourselves that we’ve been rescued from such foolishness?
I don’t think Juice WRLD allows us to do that. If you can sift through the vulgarity and the nonsense, there is another line in that song where his humanity, broken though it may be, is peaking out. After saying, “In a motel layin’ with my sins” he then asks, “The damage that I did, did it get your attention?”
I’m not attempting to say that he’s innocent or merely a victim or anything like that. But what I’m trying to say is that if he were still living and if he came to a spot where he was attempting to get healing, we’d need to address more than just the silly decision of walking on hot coals with bare feet. We have to discuss more than the rebellion—we need to also confront the brokenness.
And it seems pretty clear that for Juice WRLD he wanted to be seen. He craved attention. Yes, he sought it wrongly, but that desire isn’t a bad one. In fact, it is one that Christ aims to fulfill. That is part of the brokenness that He is redeeming. God made us to be seen. He made us to be loved and to garner attention. Don’t you think that whole business about walking in the cool of the morning was about being seen and known? And don’t you think that when humanity was booted out of the garden, that desire remains, but now we’re just grasping to get it back?
This is the point for you and I. Your issue doesn’t have to be an affair or the specific foolishness that is being discussed in Proverbs 6. But I guarantee there are places in your life where you’re walking on hot coals. You know its wrong, you know its dumb and rebellious, but you find yourself go back and back again. If you’re going to confront this thing you have to not only challenge the rebellion but also the brokenness. What ache are you trying to fill? Why are you walking on these hot coals? What is it that you’re trying to accomplish here?
Now how can we take both the sin and the ache to Christ for healing and redemption?
[1] John A. Kitchen, Proverbs: A Mentor Commentary, Mentor Commentaries (Fearn, Ross-shire, Great Britain: Mentor, 2006), 151.
Picture is from the cover art of Juice WRLD’s latest release The Party Never Ends
