BEWARE THE NET
Proverbs 29:5 NKJV
5 A man who flatters his neighbor
Spreads a net for his feet.
I love the practical insights in the Proverbs. Today is a valuable people awareness lesson.
If you walked out of your home and saw a person spreading a net in your neighborhood, you would be alarmed or intrigued enough to ask some questions. Such as, hey, what are you doing? Why are you spreading a net in my neighborhood? What are you trying to catch? If the answer comes back that the net spreader was attempting to trap people, the alarm level goes up a few notches, and the next call is to law enforcement.
Someone spreading a net is not very subtle. Trying to trap people is not okay. And yet this is what the proverbs say that a man who flatters his neighbor is doing. The purpose of flattery is not to build you up but rather to trap you.
There is a difference between godly encouragement and flattery. Flattery is defined as excessive or insincere praise. The challenge with flattery is that it’s so easy to buy into. But the end result is not good.
In looking at flattery, I found a couple of interesting quotes and sayings from an online dictionary. Here are a few.
“As a wolf is like a dog, so is a flatterer like a friend” —Thomas Fuller
“Flattery is like friendship in show, but not in fruit” —Socrates
“Flatterers, like cats, lick and then scratch” —German proverb
“Flattery is like wine, which exhilarates a man for a moment, but usually ends up going to his head and making him act foolish” —Helen Rowland
“Praise, like gold and diamonds, owes its value only to its scarcity” —Samuel Johnson
So, the secular world is also dubious when it comes to flattery. Because the end goal of the one flattering is their benefit. They may praise and praise, but there is a catch. The Pharisees even tried this with Jesus. In Mark 12:13-15 the Pharisees told Jesus that He was true and taught the way of God in truth. Those were sweet kind words coming from the group that constantly opposed Jesus. But their intent was not to bless Jesus but trap Him regarding paying taxes to Caesar. But the Scriptures say that Jesus knew their hypocrisy. Their kind words were a setup, not a sincere compliment.
Notice that flattery will often carry a note of truth to it. Jesus was true and did teach the way of God in truth. They did not say that He was the best looking man to ever have lived. The Scriptures say there was not a physical beauty in Jesus that made Him stand out. The Pharisees gave insincere praise to try to throw Jesus off guard. It did not work with Jesus, and it should not work with us.
APPLICATION
Beware the person who pours on the praise. We are to be kind to one another, but kindness comes off better when couched in sincerity. And if you do hear a lot of praise, start looking for the net.