Don't Jump to Conclusions

"What your eyes have seen do not hastily bring into court, for what will you do in the end, when your neighbor puts you to shame?" (Prov. 25:7b-8).

Solomon is warning against hasty judgment. Sometimes the brain is too quick at making connections. They eyes perceive something, and the brain makes a hasty conclusion as to the meaning of the perceived thing.

A couple of summers ago, I was weed eating around the house. I began to cut through a thick patch of weeds right next to the house. In the middle of these weeds I uncovered what appeared to be a snake, probably three or feet long, about to slither under our house. My brain computed the visual information, which triggered my fear of snakes, and my mouth let out a scream. After close inspection (once I had allowed the weed eater to do its dirty work), I discovered that it was only a snakeskin. The frighten creature had long ago shed its skin and slithered away. There was no cause for alarm, and yet I jumped as if it had actually struck out at me.

I could write numerous posts on the folly of jumping to conclusions. I have had many experiences. But Solomon warns us that it is always dangerous to jump to conclusions. He envisions someone witnessing what they suppose to be an injustice or wrongdoing. This person quickly assumes the worse, and presses for justice only to wind up with egg on their face, when whole story comes out.

This proverb is also a warning against gossip. You can't always believe what you see. Do you remember when illusionist David Copperfield walked through the Great Wall of China on national television? Because most people understand that an illusionist makes things appear in a way they really aren't they are skeptical of what they see. They don't really believe it is magic, but some sort of trick. If we knew the trick, we could see how it was done.

Yet, when in many situations, we are quite willing to jump to conclusions when we know that we don't have all the facts. When we do this we put a least two people at risk of humiliation: ourselves and those we accuse of wrongdoing. Solomon warns that hasty conclusion will hurt the one who make them. So exercise caution when you don't have all the facts. Don't gather information like a gossip columnist, lurking in shadows and digging in trashcans. If you see someone doing something out of character, ask them about it. Never broadcast anything without making sure you have all the facts, and then only broadcast what is absolutely necessary.