My grandma used to say, "Don't go pussy-footing around, just come right out and say what you mean!"
Cats have such soft little paws (but watch out for the claws!) and they are sooooooo quiet. You hardly know they are around, some times. When they see something that they find distasteful, they will carefully circle around it. They may reach out cautiously and juuuuust barely touch it with the tip of their paw.
People "pussy foot" around an issue or a difficulty when they are soooooo quiet and cautious trying to address that issue. They don't really come right out and say what they mean . . .
Sometimes they are downright timid!
I think you know where I'm going with this. You've read the thirteenth chapter by now, right? You already know how Nehemiah acted about the permissiveness and compromise that he found?
Now, some would criticize Nehemiah for not being tactful.
He wasn't very polite.
He wasn't diplomatic.
But he WAS aware of this in the scriptures:
Make sure there is no man or woman, clan or tribe among you today whose heart turns away from the Lord our God to go and worship the gods of those nations; make sure there is no root among you that produces such bitter poison. (Deuteronomy 29:18)
He was so immersed in the scriptures that he realized the permissiveness was just like a poison . . . the turning to other gods, the compromise in the homes, the permissiveness of finances and time . . . . it was all just like a poison to the people of God.
And he knew that when God's people were being poisoned, being polite might not be the best.
What would happen if you saw a friend or acquaintance about to drink what you knew was deadly poison? Would you smile politely as they raised the glass to their lips? Would you think, "Well, I sure wouldn't drink that, but I don't want to impose my own views on them. Every person has a right to their opinion." Or, "I don't want them to think that I'm so rigid and opinionated."
In a word, no!
It would be best to throw politeness to the wind and holler, "Stop! That's poison, and it will kill you!" And if it were necessary, it would be best to knock it out of the person's hand, too.
In other words, if we find spiritual permissiveness, we need to confront it strongly!
And that is just what Nehemiah did.
He didn't worry about being polite.
He didn't worry about what others would think of him. And I bet that he made some enemies by what he did! But I'm convinced that he was God's friend. There may have been those who grumbled and muttered about how "harsh" and "intolerant" he was. But Nehemiah himself describes what he did with the Hebrew word "hesed." It's translated "loyal deeds" which is used in the Old Testament when mentioning God's loyal love for His people. You see, it's more loyal to our friend to take the risk of appearing rude -- knocking the poison out of their hand, instead of smiling politely and watching them drink that poison.
Nehemiah is going to risk appearing rude, and harsh, and intolerant. He is going to confront the problems head on! No pussy footing around, no being timid or cautious.
Next time we study, we will dig into how Nehemiah handled these problems!
I think there are some lessons there for us!
I'll say. Had occasion to do this a few times...verbally I mean. :-)
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