Deceptive Appearances
"One pretends to be rich, yet has nothing;
another pretends to be poor, yet has great wealth."
Proverbs 13:7
Message begins at approximately the 35 min mark.
Our passage today is about deceptive appearances. You’ll notice, if you have the ESV, that it talks about people who are pretenders. If you have the KJV or the NKJV yours will say that “there’s one who makes himself rich and makes himself poor.” It might be a little better to say, “He makes himself out to be rich” or “He makes himself seem rich.”
Think the land of make believe. There’s something that’s not altogether real regarding this person’s image. These two types of men are projecting a certain image to the world around them.
One the one hand, there is a person who is projecting an image of wealth. He appears to be rich. But, in actuality, he has nothing. He is poor. There is a sense in which he looks quite well to do, but that’s just a facade. Once you really get to know him, you find out that’s not really true. He’s actually broke.
But then you have this other guy. Our passage talks about a fellow looks (for all intents and purposes), like he is poor. He doesn’t appear to be wealthy at all. But, wouldn’t you know, that’s not the case at all. He’s actually loaded. It actually says that he has great riches. He may look like a bum, but he’s rolling in dough.
So what you find is that there is something misleading about each person. There are deceptive appearances. Your first impressions may make you think one way, but these are just externals. Those first impressions are not telling the whole story.
And you’ll keep in mind that the Proverbs are almost always contrasting the wise man and the fool. The Proverbs are setting forth two ways; two people. On the one hand, you have the wise man. He’s a man who fears God. He’s a guy who is righteous. He loves the Lord and he’s following God’s commands. And these proverbs will give you a view of what may be stereotypical of the wise man’s life.
On the other hand, you have the fool. He’s a guy who is not following the Lord. He’s living his own life; he’s doing his own thing. And so he’s basically a law unto himself. And the proverbs will tell us what you will usually see happening in the fool’s life. Not always, but typically; on the whole, this is what you’ll observe.
In this case, it is a deceptive appearance. The fool looks one way and the wise man looks almost the completely different. But what you see isn’t always what you get. There’s something of a facade that hides the real deal. It’s only after you really get to know the person that you find out that that the first impression wasn’t altogether true. It’s only after you get under the hood and dig a little deeper that you find out that there’s a whole different story.
If you are looking for good illustrations of this, you need look no further than the Dave Ramsey Show. Some of you may be familiar with Dave Ramsey. He’s got the whole “Financial Peace University” and the books about getting out of debt.
I used to listen to Dave Ramsey’s podcast pretty regularly. The show was always pretty good because, for one, you had some good financial advice. Ramsey has a good plan for how to get out of debt and building wealth. There’s always some good guidance when it comes to handling your finances.
But, the show also had some real entertainment value. I’d always be amazed at the people who called into the show. People would call in and talk about how much debt they have. And Ramsey would ask them about what kind of debt they have and what kind of income they have.
And what you find is that people could have hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt. They had credit card debt and debt for their cars they had purchased. They had housing debt and gross amounts of student loans. Sometimes the people who call in have what seems to be astronomical amounts of money they owed.
And oddly enough, a lot of times people had quite a nice income. They could be making good money. Sometimes they were making six figures. But Dave Ramsey would always be brutally honest and say, “My friend, you’re broke.” Then he would tell them that they need to sell the house, get rid of the cars, you need to cut up the credit cards, and start eating beans and rice. The only way they could get out of their debt was if they had a radical change in their lifestyle.
And that’s illustrative of the fool. There’s no doubt that each and every one of these people had an appearance of being incredibly rich. Their friends probably thought they had lots and lots of money. They had a nice house. They had nice cars. They had multiple, nice cars. So the image that they projected was that they were living high off the hog.
But while they might look rich, they are actually poor. They don’t really have any money because they are so far in debt. They are making minimum payments on the loans. Their creditors are calling them everyday. And the interest is accumulating all the while, making things even worse.
You see how there’s a huge discrepancy? There’s this deceptive appearance. And it all boils down to one thing: they are not seeking to live within their means. They are spending more than they make. They are spending like they are rich. But there really is no net worth to speak of.
Now you contrast that with a guy by the name of Geoffrey Holt. Holt past away just over a year ago. He was 83 years old. He lived in a small town in New Hampshire. It was one of those towns everyone knows everyone. But the ironic thing is that while everyone knew Mr. Holt, they didn’t know that he had been keeping a secret.
You see, Geoffrey Holt rode his bike around town. He worked at a trailer park . He mowed lawns on a rickety, old riding tractor. He was a rather unassuming fella. He had a scruffy beard. He wore a blue flannel jacket and old blue jeans most of the year round. When he died, everyone was surprised to find out that he was a multi-millionaire.
He evidently was a shrewd investor in stocks. That’s a hobby he had developed. And over time accumulated 4.4 million dollars. But more than that, he was a simple man. He didn’t have a lot of wants. He was content to keep the thermostat low and just enjoy a handful of simple pleasures. He was just a simple man who lived a simple life. And no one ever suspected that he was the richest guy in town.
Now here’s a guy who appeared to be poor, but in fact he was filthy rich. He’s a stark contrast to the people who were calling into the Dave Ramsey show.
What’s even more amazing is that upon his death Mr. Holt gave all his money away. He set up various grants and trusts that helped to serve the city that he lived in. There were monies designated for youth projects and development of health clinics, and so forth.
You see, that’s what this proverb is talking about. It’s talking about how a fool lives and how a godly, wise man will typically live.
All in all, this proverb tells us a little about what proper money management should look like, doesn’t it? It tells us a little about how God wants us to handle our money. It’s a lesson in stewardship.
I. Deceptive Appearances & the Management of Money.
It’s reminding us that a godly person will always seek to live within his means. And that he will typically live a rather modest life.
So if you have an income of $100,000 and you are spending $110,000, there’s something wrong. In most cases, your lifestyle is out of line. Your god is this world. You are what they call a materialist. And You may look rich, but you aren’t. Your net worth is nothing. If you are coming out in the red, you are not being responsible with what God has given you.
To put it another way, you are being a fool.
And you need to realize that the Lord requires that you tone things back. You need to put the breaks on your spending. You need to adjust your lifestyle. So you are not going to eat out as much. You need to make a grocery list. You need to buy fewer things. You need to make some changes so that you are not spending as much. Most importantly, you need to make a budget and make sure that you stick to it.
You may need to start acting like you are poor. And you need to start eating beans and rice so that you can begin paying off your debts and building wealth like a righteous man.
You’ve heard of the phrase “Keeping up with the Joneses.” It has to do with how one always wants to get the same things as one’s neighbors or his friends. Maybe you will try to out due your friends by making certain purchases. They got an iPhone. Well, I need to get an iPhone. Or, I need to get the latest and the best version.
To keep up with the Joneses means you’re buying certain things because you don’t want to lose any social importance. You don’t want people to think that you are any less of a person because you don’t have the same things…the same toys, the same brands, or the same styles.
So what happens is that you spend, spend, spend just so you can look rich, like the Joneses.
Now, if you have the money to make those kinds of purchases, that’s fine. I’m not saying that having the latest iPhone is bad. I’m not saying that you should never have any kind of luxuries. If you have the ability to do so, you can buy what you want. And Lord bless you.
But what I’m talking about is this desire to be recognized. Your image ends up devouring all your income. You are worshipping your image. And you are worshipping the stuff of this world.
So, you get the social status, people admire you because of the things that you have, but it all comes at a cost. You don’t have anything in the bank. Your net value is in the toilet.
You have to understand that the man who has $1 in his pocket is much richer than the guy who has the Dodge Ram, the 3,000 sq ft house, and $10,000 of debt. That guy may look like he has a lot, but the reality is otherwise. He’s got a net loss. You’ve got a dollar. You are the one who is actually has wealth.
Did you know that the way to become a millionaire is not all that difficult? Well, it is difficult in that it requires some self discipline. If you do a little research, what you’ll find is that most millionaires have a couple things in common.
There was actually a study that was done. There was a survey of 10,000 millionaires. This is what they found:
1. They avoid debt. They always try to have the money they need in hand when they make a purchase.
2.They prioritize saving and investing their money. And most of them prioritized it from a very young age.
3.They get an education.
4.They cut unnecessary expenses. You think that millionaires live the Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous. But they really don’t. They don’t eat out much. They don’t have many subscriptions (spotify, Youtube, cable TV, etc); they are not buying lots of gifts for people. They cut all those things out of their lives.
5.They seek to be frugal in their spending. For instance, this survey found that over 85% of millionaires make a grocery list. When they go to the grocery store, they have a list of items they need. And they do not buy anything that is not on the list. They mostly stick to the list. So they are very frugal that way.
6.They work a good job.
Now, when I say a good job, I don’t necessarily mean that they are raking in six figures every year. There are some who you would expect to be millionaires, like engineers and attorneys. But you know what some of the top five jobs that millionaires hold are? They include jobs like becoming a teacher, working in management, and becoming a CPA (accounting).
[Pastors weren’t on the list, btw]
Now that probably sounds rather amazing to you. Teachers and management workers are becoming millionaires? Those are not jobs that you would probably think of when you think of being a millionaire.
It just goes to show that there are some who seem to be poor, but are rich.
And the lifestyle that they live seems to be poor too. That’s because they choose to moderate their desires. They save money. They trying their best to keep a low budget lifestyle. They are not doing the “Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous” kind of life.
Sure, it’s true, that as they gain more money they can get some nicer things. Their standard of living increases. But the basic lifestyle is still one of making good financial choices. They work their jobs, they stick to their budget, they prioritize saving and investing. And low and behold, since they’ve been living within their means and making the kind of choices that honor God, the Lord ends up blessing them.
So you see what this passage is talking about. I hope you understand what it is trying to communicate about these deceptive appearances.
I’d encourage you to think more about this. Think about how this may play out in your own life. I hope you think about how you handle your money and how the Lord wants you to be handling your money.
Maybe that means that you make a budget. If you have a job this summer, I’d encourage you to make three envelopes. One for saving, one for giving, and one for spending. If you start that habit early, you’re going to see some great returns.
You might not have all the things that your friends have. You might not be able to do everything that your friends are doing. But sometime down the road, you’re going to laugh at your friends. You’re going to have money coming out your nose and they are not going to have anything.
Well, there’s a lot more I would like to say about this. But I think you get the picture. We understand that appearances can be deceptive.
I want to move on to my next point. Because, while this has particular application to the world of finances, that’s not the only realm where you find this principle.
You can also find this principle at work in the church too. It applies to the spiritual world, just as much as it applies to the financial world.
II. Deceptive Appearances & the Church
When you look around the church you see all kinds of people. And, on the one hand, you find people who appear to be very religious. And you may also find that there are a lot of people who don’t look that way. They may not appear to be very religious at all.
But you have to recognize that things are not always as they appear.
Really, this verse reminds us that there can be a lot of deceptive appearances in the church.
You can think of the Sermon on the Mount and how Jesus closes his message. He says that on the last day there are going to be a lot of people who appear before him and say, “Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name? Did we not cast out demons in your name? You saw all the wonderful things we did in your name, didn’t you?”
How does Jesus say he is going to respond? He is going to say, “Depart from me, I never knew you.”
In other words, they are going to look like they are very pious. They are going to look like some of the most active people in the church. They may present themselves as the most productive members. They do a lot of religious things.
But in reality, they are spiritually destitute. That’s because they lack a real relationship with Christ.
Since they never really put their faith in Christ, the net value of their religion was zero. They failed to have the one thing that would make them truly rich: It is a real, living relationship with the Savior.
You know what Jesus is saying? He’s saying that you might not be someone who’s life is all that flamboyant; you may have a lot of struggles. You may look like a spiritual bum compared to a lot of people. But if you trust in Him and you love him, you need to know that you have a greater wealth of riches than anyone else in the church.
That was part of the scandal of the lady who came in to Jesus in Luke 7. We’re told that there was an immoral woman who came into the house where he was dining. They were having a little party and this, probably a prostitute, came in and found Jesus. She began to cry. Her tears streamed down her face. And they dripped onto Jesus’ feet. And she took her hair and she wiped the tears off of his feet.
The religious leaders were aghast. They were mortified that this woman was there. And they were appalled that Jesus just let her do that. In their view he should have told this wretch to hit the road.
But Jesus saw her faith. She knew she was a sinner. She knew she needed mercy. She knew that Jesus was the only one who could supply it.
She didn’t look like much religiously. The fact is, she appeared to be quite beggarly. But she was richer than any one else in that room because she came to him by faith.
Perhaps the greatest illustration of this is found in the story that Jesus told of the Pharisee and the Tax collector. Jesus said that there were two guys went up to the temple to pray. On the one hand, you have a man who appeared to be very rich, spiritually speaking. He fasted twice a week. He gave a tenth of all that he got. He wasn’t a pervert. He wasn’t a scoundrel. He kept certain laws and, for the most part, his life was very respectable.
But in reality, his religion was empty of any kind of real spirituality. That’s because it was mostly about himself and how great he was.
But on the other hand, you had a guy who appeared to be very poor. He was, of all things, a tax collector, which means he was a cheat, a flagrant liar, and a man who made many other bad, sinful choices. And at this moment he was ashamed of the things that he had done. So much so that he cowered in a corner. He couldn’t even look up because he was so burdened by the wrongs that he had committed. He could do is beat his chest and say, “Lord, forgive me, a sinner.”
You know what Jesus said? He said that of those two men, this man went home justified.
What we are driving at is the difference between possessing the righteousness of Christ and possessing what we call self-righteousness. Self righteousness is a righteousness that comes from our own goodness and our own work. It typically makes us feel morally superior. Everyone else that doesn’t meet our particular standards.
But it’s the idea that I’m basically good. I’ve got it all together. God accepts me because all my ducks are in a nice neat row like he wants. After all, I am doing the prayers. I go to church. I manage my money. I’m not like those who are living outside their means. I’m not like those who are skipping church. I’m not like the perverts out there who are doing all the wrong kinds of things.
So, from all outward appearances, because of this self righteousness, you look very rich. But the Lord isn’t impressed with all that. He’s concerned with the heart. And the thing about the heart is that it is desperately wicked.
That’s why the tax collector and the immoral woman could be saved from their sins. Because they had no righteousness to speak of and they went to Christ. They recognized their bankruptcy. They knew they needed mercy.
And that’s how they became rich. Because they recognized the need for his pardon.
And the lesson for us in all this is to understand the difference. When it comes to life in the church, there are deceptive appearances. We shouldn’t think that God is going to be pleased with us if we are projecting a righteous image. The only thing that really matters is if we come to Christ as the beggars we really are. It’s if we acknowledge our spiritual poverty and receive the righteousness that he alone can give.
And that’s where you find yet another demonstration of this principle. As we’ve seen, this idea of deceptive appearances appears in the world and helps us to understand something about how we manage our money. It appears in the church, which helps us to understand something of what it means to be a true Christian.
But we also recognize that this deceptive appearance also is part and parcel with the gospel.
III. Deceptive Appearances & the Gospel of Jesus Christ
Again, you think about deceptive appearances and you understand that you and I are the fools by nature. We think we are rich. Scripture says every man proclaims his own righteousness. In other words, we project an image of being rich.
If you are asked, “Are you a good person? (are you rich in goodness). Most likely you’ll say yeah. I’m pretty good.” But there’s the deception. Scripture says that we’ve all fallen short of the glory of God. We all have accumulated a debt of sin. A debt that cannot be repaid. How many lies have we told? How many times have we broken God’s law?
Scripture goes on to say that the wages of sin is death. That’s the Bible’s way of saying that we are poor. We have forfeited every possible blessing, And, apart from Christ we are all languishing in the poverty of our sin.
But the good news is that there is a wise man. A wise man who is very rich. And his name is Jesus.
And he’s not one who you may expect. Certainly, he seems like an unlikely hero. That’s because he looks the part of the poor man, doesn’t he? He was born in a stable. He was placed in a manger. “Foxes have holes, birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no where to lay his head.” Even his tomb was borrowed.
But even though he had no form that we should behold him, He is the Son of God. And as such, he not only owns everything.
But more than that, but Jesus became rich in that he merited all righteousness. Over the course of his humble life, he never sinned once. So he accumulated a wealth of righteousness.
And the Scripture says, “He who was rich, became poor, that you by his poverty may become rich.”
That’s why the tax collector and the prostitute could be pardoned. And, if you come to him, in your poverty, you can be made rich. Because this rich man is more than ready to give his righteousness away. He will give it to you and make you one who has an inheritance in heaven.
So God won’t treat you as your sins deserve. He will pardon. And he will receive you. And he will bring you to himself.
Conclusion:
Really, this proverb tells us that there are deceptive appearances. We know that in this world things are not always as they seem. And we know that it’s true because it is the reality of the gospel itself. Jesus Christ looks so mean and, even his death there on the cross seems so lowly.
But he’s the one we need. Because it is in him that we find the treasure house of grace. The stockpile of eternal life resides in him.
And I pray that you may trust him for it.