Please and Thank You

(Proverbs 22:29 KJV)  Seest thou a man diligent in his business? he shall stand before kings; he shall not stand before mean men.

Vocabulary can be interesting.  Words change.  I don’t know if you have noticed but even today the English spell words different than the Americans.  For instance in England you have colour and in the U.S. you have color.  I don’t know what the contemporary definition of “mean” (2823) is across the Atlantic but for us it has changed since 1611.  That is why the NASB has “obscure”.  We tend to think of “mean” as being deliberately cruel and enjoying inflicting pain.  It used to imply being limited as in being a “person of small means” was a phrase for poverty.

The implication is that poor people do not have the cultural foundation to know how to act properly.  That is a cultural understanding more than a Biblical understanding.  While poverty may keep you from having extra sets of dishes and limit you to used clothing stores it doesn’t keep you from saying “please” and “thank you”. 

So?  Practice the courtesy of Christ even if you have the bank account of the prodigal son.  It doesn’t cost anything but it says a lot about whom your master is.