Substance Over Sizzle Text: Proverbs 12:9
Introduction: The Instagram Heresy
We live in an age of curated realities. Our culture is drowning in the shallow end of the pool, splashing around and making a great deal of noise, all while pretending there is no deep end. Men and women spend hours crafting an online persona, a digital ghost, that bears only a passing resemblance to the person who eats, sleeps, and pays bills. They are expert marketers of a product that is, in the final analysis, fraudulent. They honor themselves with carefully selected photos, with witty and aspirational captions, and with a meticulously maintained list of followers. But behind this digital curtain, the pantry is often bare. The soul is anemic. They lack bread.
This is not a new problem, but it is a problem with new and powerful tools. The sin is as ancient as the Garden, this desire to be seen as something you are not, to honor yourself, to build a reputation on a foundation of air. But our technology has put this temptation on steroids. We are constantly pressured to present the sizzle, even when there is no steak. We are told that perception is reality, which is a lie from the pit. Reality is reality, and God is the author of it. To choose the image over the substance is to choose a lie, and the father of lies is the devil.
The book of Proverbs is a bucket of cold, clear water thrown into the face of such foolishness. It is relentlessly, gloriously, and sometimes uncomfortably concerned with reality. It cares about how the world actually works because it was made by a God who is Himself the ultimate reality. And in our text today, Solomon gives us a sharp, pointed proverb that functions as a divine pin to pop the balloon of our self-honoring pretensions. It is a call to choose substance over status, reality over reputation, and a full belly over a full feed.
The Text
Better is he who is lightly esteemed and has a servant Than he who honors himself and lacks bread.
(Proverbs 12:9 LSB)
The Two Men
The proverb sets before us a tale of two men. It is a contrast, a divine value judgment. God is telling us which of these two situations is better, and by extension, which man is wiser. We must learn to see the world through this lens, to value what God values.
"Better is he who is lightly esteemed and has a servant..." (Proverbs 12:9a)
First, we have the man who is "lightly esteemed." This means he is a nobody in the world's eyes. He is not a man of high station. He is not celebrated on the talk shows. He is not an "influencer." People don't clamor for his opinion. He might be overlooked, disregarded, or even despised. He is not trying to climb the social ladder; he is probably busy working at the bottom of it. He is, in the parlance of our day, just a regular guy.
But this man has a secret. He "has a servant." In the context of the ancient world, having a servant meant you had some measure of substance. You were not destitute. You had a functioning household, a productive business or farm. You had your affairs in order. You had, in a word, bread. This man has actual, tangible, unglamorous success. He has provided for his household. He is solvent. He has done the work, and the fruit of that work is real. He has the steak, even if there is no sizzle. He has the beer, even if there is no foam. He has the cattle, even if he doesn't have the big hat and shiny belt buckle.
This man's priorities are straight. He is concerned with his duty before God, which is to work diligently and provide for his own. He is a steward of what God has given him, and he has something to show for it. His wealth is not in his reputation but in his reality. He is living in accord with the created order. And God looks at this man, this nobody with a servant, and says, "That is better."
The Man of Honor
Now we turn to the second man, the man our culture tells us to admire.
"...Than he who honors himself and lacks bread." (Proverbs 12:9b)
This is the man who is all foam and no beer. He "honors himself." He is obsessed with his public image. He puts on airs. He dresses the part, he talks the talk, he drives the car he cannot afford. He is a master of self-promotion. His great project in life is convincing everyone around him that he is a somebody. He wants the title, the recognition, the corner office, the applause. He wants to be seen as important.
But there is a fatal problem. He "lacks bread." His entire life is a facade. It is a hollow shell. He has the reputation, but not the reality. He has the big hat, but no cattle. He has the sizzle, but the plate is empty. He is financially, and likely spiritually, bankrupt. He has spent all his energy on building a brand and has neglected to build a life. He is a whitewashed tomb, beautiful on the outside, but full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness. He has traded the substance of a quiet, productive life for the shadow of public acclaim.
Notice the source of his honor: he "honors himself." This is the essence of pride. He is engaged in a project of self-glorification. But when you promote yourself, you are asking God to demote you. You are setting yourself up in opposition to the fundamental grain of the universe. God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble (James 4:6). This man is fighting God, and he is doing it on an empty stomach. It is a pathetic and tragic state. He is a fool, not because he is poor, but because his priorities are inverted. He has chosen the applause of men over the provision of God.
The Gospel Correction
This proverb is not simply good, practical, bootstrap advice. It is a signpost that points us to the gospel. It diagnoses a fundamental human sin, pride, and shows us its foolish end. And in doing so, it prepares us to see the wisdom of Christ.
Who was more "lightly esteemed" than our Lord Jesus? He was born in a stable. He was raised in Nazareth, a town from which no one expected anything good. He was a carpenter. He had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief (Isaiah 53:2-3). He was the ultimate nobody.
Yet, He was the one who truly "had a servant," for all things served Him. He commanded the winds and the waves. He had all the resources of heaven at His disposal. He was the one who could turn water into wine and multiply loaves and fishes. He was the one with all the substance, the one who was Himself the Bread of Life. He possessed all things, yet lived as one who had nothing. He chose substance over status in the most ultimate way possible.
And who is the ultimate man who "honors himself and lacks bread"? That would be Satan. He was the first to say, "I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God... I will make myself like the Most High" (Isaiah 14:13-14). He is the great self-promoter. And what is his end? He lacks the bread of life. He is eternally starved, eternally empty, a being of pure, hollow malice.
When we live for our own honor, when we build our lives around the flimsy scaffolding of our reputation, we are following in the footsteps of Satan. We are choosing the lie. We are choosing to starve. But when we humble ourselves, when we are content to be lightly esteemed by the world, when we focus on our duty, on being faithful stewards of what God has given us, we are following Christ. We are choosing reality. We are choosing the Bread of Life.
The gospel is the great reordering of our priorities. It tells us that the way up is down. It tells us that to be first, you must be last. It tells us that to live, you must die. It tells us that it is better to be a humble servant with a full soul than a self-honored king with an empty one. It calls us to stop trying to honor ourselves and to seek instead the honor that comes from God alone. For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world's approval and forfeit his soul? What does it profit a man to have a million followers online and lack the bread that truly satisfies?
Therefore, let us repent of our cultural obsession with image. Let us be men and women of substance. Let us do our work quietly, diligently, and faithfully before the face of God. Let us be content to be lightly esteemed by a world that is passing away, knowing that we have a servant, that we have provision, that we have Christ. And in Him, we have a feast that will last for all eternity.