Isolationists
Scripture Reading: Proverbs 18:1
Whoever isolates himself seeks his own desire; he breaks out against all sound judgment.
This is a hard verse to get at the meaning of. It could be interpreted in a positive sense. It could mean that a person who desires to be wise will separate himself from foolish people and seek what is desirable. Or, in the negative sense, it could mean that a person who holds himself aloof from others and opposes any other opinion than his own is merely seeking his own desires.
The Pharisees were separatists in this negative sense. We see this spirit play out in John 7:45-52. When officers come before them without having apprehended Jesus, the Pharisees are upset and demand an explanation. The answer they got was that the officers were leaning toward believing Jesus’ Messianic claims. The Pharisees' retort was they hadn’t believed so it couldn’t be true. They isolated themselves from any other opinion. They weren’t seeking truth. They were protecting their own ambitions and therefore fighting against sound judgment.
One reason I believe that is the right interpretation is that the next verse, Proverbs 18:2, is in harmony with that way of looking at it. It says, A fool takes no pleasure in understanding, but only in expressing his opinion. So, the fool isolates himself from considering any other view on a matter. He has no desire to understand where someone else is coming from but only wants to speak his own opinion.
I don’t believe this means we need to be open to listening to false teaching and that which is an affront to Christ. The Apostle John warns us to not welcome false teachers into our homes. I believe this Proverb is dealing with the daily issues of life, the things which are not so settled, and the debatable questions.
It means we have to be careful not to cocoon ourselves away and isolate ourselves from others. It means we need to learn how to be good listeners. I mean, as James said, we should be “quick to hear, slow to speak, and slow to wrath.”
