Song Of Fools

Nice Man!

Ecclesiastes 7:5”It is better to heed the rebuke of a wise person than to listen to the song of fools.”

The conundrum today is who is the nice man !!!! As we watch and read of the verbal wars of very highly educated people on print and media and their derogatory and disparaging comments, we do wonder ‘who is the nice man in the midst of such muck?’

I have heard students complain, ‘that teacher is so strict and harsh, she will never allow us to copy, but our master is such a ‘nice man’, he will pretend not to look and allow us to have our way.’ Who is the nice man? Are you listening to me?

When the father gives in to the tantrums of the child and nods his head for all that the child says and gets all that the child wants then the father becomes a sweetie-pie and ‘nice man’ but when the mother rebukes the child and corrects him strongly for the mistakes committed and refuses to give in to the whims and fancies of the kid then the mother becomes a ‘bad woman!’ Are you listening? The traffic cop who takes bribe and allows you to escape from heavy penalty for traffic rules transgression becomes a nice man, the peon that takes bribe and helps your file reach the desk of the officer-in-charge becomes a very nice man. The head master who takes a heavy donation and bribe from you and gives your child a hug and kiss becomes a ‘nice man!’ Are you listening?

When the pastor preaches on faith, comfort, prosperity, blessings and wealth then he is the most ‘nice man’ on the earth; however, if someone preaches on hell, sin, repentance, punishment and wrath of God, they loathe him and call him a ‘bad man!’

After working for our Abide School for a couple of months, a young girl left to join college for higher studies, on the last day, she said, ‘I was very blessed to work under your strict administration, I learnt a lot of things through your preaching during the assembly, I go from here with a lot of learning.’ Rarely do you get such ‘nice’ reports, overall people love to be pampered rather than corrected and disciplined.

Many Christians walk in leisurely to church, they neither respect the church timings nor do they carry a Bible to church. Church is disrespected and neglected but still we carry a badge of being Christian, would you feel ‘nice’ if your faults are pointed out? Would you call the person correcting you a ‘nice man’ or a ‘lousy man?’ The conundrum today is who is the nice preacher? Did you know the person who points out your mistakes gently and explains the repercussions of your sins actually is very concerned of your soul rather than the person who turns a blind eye to your mistakes?

As I sat in the auditor’s office, I heard him mention the name of a gentleman in a Government office to be a ‘very nice man!’ He kept raving about him and he constantly used the words ‘he is a very nice man.’ Curious to know about the ‘nice man’, I asked the auditor what makes him praise him so much, without hesitation he said, ’during the days the ‘nice man’ was in a particular position, I did not have to run up and down, all I had to do was stuff some currency notes into his hands and BAM my job was done, he would never utter a word. He was such a nice man but the man now in that same position is so ruthless and asks 1000 questions and never takes a penny. He is a very ‘bad man!’ I sat stunned with my jaws opened! My heart craved to see not the ‘nice man’ but the ‘bad man ( I did meet him eventually)!’