She said to the king, “The report I heard in my own country about your achievements and your wisdom is true. But I did not believe these things until I came and saw with my own eyes. Indeed, not even half was told me; in wisdom and wealth you have far exceeded the report I heard. How happy your people must be! How happy your officials, who continually stand before you and hear your wisdom! Praise be to the LORD your God, who has delighted in you and placed you on the throne of Israel. Because of the LORD’s eternal love for Israel, he has made you king to maintain justice and righteousness” (1 Kings 10:6-9, NIV).
As reports of Solomon’s wisdom and wealth spread, people came from all over to hear his wisdom and see his achievements. One such visitor was the Queen of Sheba (1 Kings 10:1-13); a wealthy and wise ruler herself (a point clearly implied by the wealth of gifts which she brought from her own country, including 120 talents of gold…by itself worth about $157 million at today’s prices), who upon hearing about his gifts, insights, and knowledge, set out to see for herself this Solomon guy that everyone was talking about.
As wise and successful as she was, upon testing Solomon with questions, seeing his achievements, and experiencing the splendor of his courts, the queen came to the inescapable conclusion that wat she had heard fell far short of reality. She recognized God’s blessing on him and on Israel, and praised God for giving such a king to His people to maintain justice and righteousness (verse 9).
Reading this reminded me of Jesus’ teaching from the Sermon on the Mount,
You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven (Matthew 5:14-16, NIV).
What attracted the Queen of Sheba to Solomon? It was his wisdom, his relationship with the Lord, the great things he had done for his people, and how he was admired for these things (1 Kings 10:1). She saw his good deeds from afar and they drew her to him. She was a foreigner. She was no follower of Yahweh herself, she had no Scripture to go by, but she came to Solomon anyway because the stories she was hearing were so amazing she had to see for herself if they were true.
The same was true of Jesus. People were drawn to Jesus because He taught with authority and wisdom that no one had ever seen; they were drawn to Him because of His good works, kindness, and grace; they were drawn to Him because of His miracles of healing, power over demons, and raising people from the dead.
Why then do we complain and gripe and bemoan that Christians and Christianity have such a bad rap today when we spend so much our energy doing the very opposite things? You do not attract people to come see what you are doing or to inquire about Master Jesus by pointing fingers at people and condemning them for what they wear, how they vote, the choices they make, the holidays they celebrate (or ignore), or the coffee cups they use. Criticism does not attract people, neither does it convict people; it just gets people riled up, defensive, and angry.
Solomon did not say to her—
- “Where is your husband?”
- “First convert to my faith and then I will answer your questions.”
- “Why should I entertain a gentile and foreigner and a worshipper of false gods? The wisdom and wealth I have is for God’s people only.”
- “First let me point out what your problem is…”
On the contrary, he welcomed her into his court, graciously accepted her gifts, answered all of her questions, showed her all the good things he had done, and treated her as if she were a princess in his own house giving her all she desired and asked for besides what he had given her out of his royal bounty (verse 13).
That, my friends, is how we should live. As Paul says in Titus 2:7-8 (NIV), In everything set them an example by doing what is good. In your teaching show integrity, seriousness and soundness of speech that cannot be condemned, so that those who oppose you may be ashamed because they have nothing bad to say about us.
If the world reviles us because they revile Jesus that is one thing, but if they revile Jesus because we are judgmental, self-righteous, and make Master Jesus look bad…that is on us.
Learning To Be Full Of Grace And Truth. 
Dan, I am really glad you wrote this post, and the other one about Starbucks. You know, get that we should speak out about sin and blah, blah and so forth. Of course we should. Otherwise how would any of us ever know we are sinners in need of salvation. No problem there at all.
But, my word, the time we waste railing against stupid thinks like those Starbucks cups. As you pointed out, it makes us look like silly jerks, but it is worse than that in my opinion.
First of all, why would we be surprised when heathens act like heathens? I did when I was, and sadly still do occasionally! The point is, we are who we are. And who we are is either unsaved, unregenerate heathens and sinners, or saved sinners in progress to becoming fully sanctified people.
We can scream and yell all day long, and if we expect things to change, then we meet the definition of insanity which is to do the same thing over and over and expect the result to change.
What if we took even a little of the time we spent hollering and just…..told somebody about Jesus? We obviously have voices we know how to use.
Ok. I am done. I think that was a rant.
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Haha! It might have crossed that line… But I agree. We need to quit being surprised by sin.
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