Wise men are not always great: lessons from The Gambler

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Wise men are not always great, but we will get to that shortly.

Greatness and wisdom have a tenuous relationship.

“Great men are not always wise, nor do the aged always understand justice.” This statement is recorded in the Old Testament book of Job and attributed to one of Job’s friends, a fellow named Elihu.

You remember Job, right? This man whose story is recorded in the most ancient of the biblical manuscripts suffered loss like few ever have. Some would say he lost everything. His children all died tragically and prematurely. His wife turned on him and told him he should just curse God and die. He lost his crops and his livelihood. He became the universal portrait of suffering with patience and dignity, while never losing faith.

Things only got worse for Job when his friends showed up to “comfort” him. They concluded things this bad only happen to bad people, so Job must have hidden some dreadful sin. He needed to confess and “get right with God.” These were older men, respected men, who were thought to be wise and insightful.

Elihu, the youngest of Job’s friends rebuked these guys. In his statement, “Great men are not always wise,” he essentially became the father of the observation, “There is no fool like an old fool.” He asserted they had it all wrong. They misunderstood God and they misjudged Job.

He was correct.

Great men are not always wise.

It is natural to listen to people who have “done something with their lives.” When someone is accomplished or in a position of power or influence, we take their words to heart. Often, that is a good thing. Sometimes, it is not. Not all the people we call “great” are wise. Some are fools, and a few are damn fools.

_{(“The fool hath said in his heart there is no God.” Psalm 14:1. This is an example.)}

We can think of influencers on an elite level, successful in every way, but who were fools, or who had us fooled. Bernie Madoff comes to mind. So does OJ Simpson. You could build your own list and you might not even have to look outside your immediate circle to get your list started.

“Greatness” does not always equal wisdom.

Wise men are not always great.

I walk around singing. A lot. At home. At work. Getting dressed. Going to bed. I don’t know why there always seems to be a song in my head nor why I must afflict others with it by singing it aloud.

This morning for no particular reason, I woke with Kenny Rogers’ “The Gambler” on my brain.

On a warm summer’s evening
On a train bound for nowhere
I met up with the gambler
We were both too tired to sleep
So we took turns a-starin’
Out the window at the darkness
The boredom overtook us
And he began to speak

He said, “Son, I’ve made a life
Out of readin’ people’s faces
Knowin’ what the cards were
By the way they held their eyes
So if you don’t mind my sayin’
I can see you’re out of aces
For a taste of your whiskey
I’ll give you some advice”

So I handed him my bottle
And he drank down my last swallow
Then he bummed a cigarette
And asked me for a light
And the night got deathly quiet
And his face lost all expression
Said, “If you’re gonna play the game, boy
You gotta learn to play it right

You’ve got to know when to hold ’em
Know when to fold ’em
Know when to walk away
And know when to run
You never count your money
When you’re sittin’ at the table
There’ll be time enough for countin’
When the dealin’s done

Every gambler knows
That the secret to survivin’
Is knowin’ what to throw away
And knowin’ what to keep
‘Cause every hand’s a winner
And every hand’s a loser
And the best that you can hope for
Is to die in your sleep”

And when he’d finished speakin’
He turned back toward the window
Crushed out his cigarette
Faded off to sleep
And somewhere in the darkness
The gambler he broke even
But in his final words
I found an ace that I could keep

You’ve got to know when to hold ’em
Know when to fold ’em
Know when to walk away
And know when to run
You never count your money
When you’re sittin’ at the table
There’ll be time enough for countin’
When the dealin’s done
Kenny Rogers

As I sang the song, it hit me that this wisdom was coming from a man who was down and out and nearly dead. He was a hobo in a boxcar giving sage advice about awareness of circumstance, understanding people, and how to play your hand, and he wasn’t just talking Poker.

Wise men are not always great.

The wise man can learn from anyone, even a fool. A fool learns from no one, even the wise.

The wise man can learn from anyone, even a fool. A fool learns from no one, even the wise.
The JourneyMan

I remember Willy the Wise.

I have referenced Willy a few times in my writing. His surname escapes me now. Willy was a wiry, balding, bubbly black man on a forklift. That is how I recall him. I was nearly married, but not quite when I went to work at Sonoco Paper Products, where they produce paper tubes of every description, from the cardboard core of toilet paper rolls and Scotch tape to massive tubes used as molds to pour concrete pillars into. Willie was the best forklift driver in the plant and the best I ever saw. He worked that thing like it was an extension of himself, a product of his own mind.

Willie was a family man. He had a sick child. He knew I was a preacher boy (I was 18), so he asked me to pray for his child. I did. I also told him how sorry I was about the child’s illness.

Willy said something to me that I repeat almost daily to myself and sometimes to others. I love quotes and there is none I have loved better than what Willy said to me…

“What the Good Man do, he do for the better.”

Willy was an old-school talker. He was not college-educated. He did not run a business or have millions in the bank. He was not the pastor of any church or the man we would today define as an influencer. But he was wise and he influenced me.

If you wonder what Willy meant, you should know that he was expressing his personal version of the Apostle Paul’s declaration in Romans 8:28, “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according tohispurpose.”

Willy was saying, “Yeah, this is hard. This is not good. But God is good and God’s got this. I am His and He has promised certain things to me.”

Not every experience is positive and some are positively Hell. We are not promised a primrose path. Jesus didn’t walk one and neither will His followers. Paul never said, “Everything that happens will be good.” He knew better than that. He was himself bound for martyrdom. He had suffered abuse and imprisonment and more were on the way for the great apostle.

Paul said, “all of the things work together for our good. Big difference.

I do not know what became of Willy. I have not seen nor heard from him since 1981. I do, however, carry his wisdom in my soul. I have shared it with thousands, whether in writing as I do now or in sermons and speeches.

Willie drove more than a forklift. He drove me to embrace Paul’s great assurance.

Wealth is not wisdom and poverty is not foolishness.

Now there was a rich man dressed in purple and fine linen, who lived each day in joyous splendor. 20And a beggar named Lazarus lay at his gate, covered with sores 21and longing to be fed with the crumbs that fell from the rich man’s table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores.

22One day the beggar died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s side.And the rich man also died and was buried.23In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham from afar, with Lazarus by his side.
Luke 16:19-23 Berean Study Bible

I would like to be clear that poverty is not itself a virtue any more than having wealth is itself a vice. The point is that, whether you are rich or poor, you can choose wisely how you live your life, for whom, and why. That smug rich man might have done well to sit and talk with Lazarus. If he did so with an open mind, he might have learned something of eternal value.¹

Thank you for reading.
Sola Gracia,
Gene