Proverbs 14:4

Proverbs 14:4 "Where no oxen are, the crib is clean: but much increase is by the strength of the ox."

There are some proverbs that stick in our heads more than others and this is one of them for me.  The image is memorable and the lesson is unforgettable.  Solomon paints the picture of a barn without oxen and because of no oxen, the stalls are clean and pristine.  This is a barn that the perfectionist likes; a barn that can be organized, cleaned and maintained without interruption.  This is a barn that the neat freak and the clean freak crave; a barn that they can come into and know that everything is clean and tidy.  This is a barn that needs no work.  This is a barn that, after working in the field, demands no additional time or effort to clean.  This is a barn that needs no attending to after hours.  It demands no thought when heading out of town.  It never smells.  It doesn't even make a sound.  There is no sickness in this barn nor does death ever visit its crib.  This is a barn that requires no food or water and as such, it doesn't require any constant removal of dung.  It's clean and pristine!

While that sounds appealing to the average man or woman, the average farmer doesn't pursue an empty crib.  He knows that the tradeoff is well worth it.  It's the cost of doing business in agriculture.  He knows that he could farm his land on his own and that he could produce "some" increase on his own.  He knows that he doesn't need oxen to till the ground, to sow the seed or to harvest the crops but if he's going to have "MUCH" increase, he needs oxen and there are no oxen that clean up after themselves.  Because oxen don't use toilets, showers and cleaning products, their contribution comes with a cost.  Because oxen don't take care of themselves or respect the farmer's standards of cleanliness, their contribution to the farm comes with a known cost.  The cost is inconvenience, time, thought and of course, work.  If a farmer is going to have "MUCH" increase, he is going to have to be inconvenienced by the oxen.  If he is going to get "MUCH" more land tilled, he is going to have to think about the health, age, condition and behavior of his oxen.  If he is going to increase his yield, he is going to have to constantly clean out the stalls of his strong helpers.  If he is going to have "MUCH" increase in crops, he is going to have to feed, maintain and clean up after his oxen.  For the farmer, the sacrifice of having oxen is less than the sacrifice of not having oxen.  A clean crib is not worth a hungry family.  A pristine barn is not worth an empty bank account.  A worry-free barn is not worth an exhausting career of farming on your own.

Solomon did not write this proverb to educate farmers on what common sense already teaches them.  He wrote this proverb to teach the rest of us that substantial progress never comes without the inconvenience, hard work and consideration of working with others.  There is no such thing as "MUCH INCREASE" without others.  We can squeak by on our own.  We can survive in the middle of nowhere by ourselves.  We can do everything ourselves and accomplish some things.  We can have an empty barn of independent creatures and still get things done.  We can live in a cabin in the woods by ourselves and still be productive.  We can live alone and work alone and function independently.  We can create a life where everything is predictable, in place and in control by eliminating any interaction with unpredictable, independent, free-willed creatures.  In such a scenario however, we will be sacrificing "MUCH increase."  We will be sacrificing "MUCH" production increase, financial increase, relational increase and even spiritual increase.

 In our world, there is only so much we can produce on our own.  We need help and the more help we get, the more we increase.  Help is a blessing!  Help is a gift!  The more help we get, the more blessed we are.  The more help we get on a job, the faster it will go and the more that can be accomplished.  But with each additional helper comes the additional responsibility to maintain that helper.  With each additional helper, more food and water are needed.  With each additional helper, more toilets are needed.  With each additional helper, more wages and benefits are needed.  Herein begins the mental calculation.  Those that see the work to maintain help as inconvenient will sacrifice "MUCH" help.  Those that see the effort to clean up after the help as too dirty and too time consuming will sacrifice "MUCH" help.  Many do just that and return to a simpler but less productive life.  

Perhaps this proverb is best illustrated in the relational rows of friendship, marriage and parenthood.  Full of relational ambition or at least, God-given desires for companionship, people set out for “relational increase.”  Soon, friendships begin to form and with those friendships come dirty stalls and constant “cleanups in aisle 5.”  Too many of us get annoyed by the inconvenience of the oxen and choose what we think is a simpler life without the drama of the oxen.  In choosing the clean relational crib of going through life alone, we sacrifice "MUCH" increase.  We can quietly show up to family functions, attend church and go to work but we'll be sacrificing "MUCH" relational increase.  We'll never experience true help.  We'll never taste the fruit of being a true friend.  We'll never experience what it means to be genuinely selfless.  We'll never harvest the fruit of faithfulness.

Sadly, couples do this all too often.  Men and women alike will date and be blinded by their romantic aspirations and physical attractions.  They have an idea of marriage that is easy and they convince themselves that their marriage will be different than everyone else who keeps telling them how difficult marriage can be.  Upon getting married, they soon find dung in the crib every morning.  Before long, the optimistic couple realizes that the barn needs to be cleaned out every day.  This is more work than they thought.  Their spouse seems far more needy than they anticipated.  The barn smells worse than expected and the maintenance is far more involved than ever imagined.  Eventually, an empty crib seems appealing and much easier.  In sacrificing their marriage in divorce court or in an apathetic marriage, they sacrifice "MUCH" increase.  It is true, life will be less dramatic unmarried or uninvested in marriage but it will not be more relationally productive.  Loneliness is simpler but it is not easier.  As much work as it takes, two are still better than one.  Life may be simpler and less dramatic alone but it is not easier and more enjoyable alone.  It's really hard to till, plant and harvest the fields of life by yourself.  It may sound appealing when the oxen are being difficult but it won't be long after selling them that you'll want them back.

As annoying as the oxen of life can be at times, they're necessary for "MUCH" increase.  As smelly as they can be and as tiring as cleaning up after them can be, there is no path to "MUCH" increase without them.  Every decision in life has sacrifice.  Sacrifice your pride, your inconvenience, your time, your labor and you'll get "MUCH" in return.  Sacrifice your oxen however, and you'll lose "MUCH" more than you think.  Don't let the dung devalue the help of your oxen.