The Wisdom of Al Swearengen

The character Al Swearengen from the television series Deadwood once said,

“Every beatin’ I’m grateful for.  Every one of them.  Get all the beat outta you.  And you know what the world is.” (I took the liberty of omitting no less than three f-bombs from this quote.) 

I found myself thinking about Swearengen’s “wisdom” recently because there is some truth to be found here.  I doubt I am the only one out there that entered this world naively trustful and optimistic.   After a few years I got “the beat outta me” and saw “what the world is”; corrupted by sin.  That sin hurts and in the face of that pain trust turns to distrust, optimism to pessimism.  In order to not be disappointed or let down we simply lower our expectations and standards.  I do this all the time.  Swearengen trusts no one and assumes the worst intentions from them until proven otherwise.  His response is understandable, especially in the town of Deadwood.  This response starts off defensive, but eventually we are taking offensive action, as well, contributing to this world’s corruption. 

We end up with Swearengen wisdom when we forge our discernment from the beatings we receive in this world alone.  This is not what the people of God are called to do.  True discernment comes from the Word of God, which reveals the truth about good and evil.  God’s Word reveals that we are called to love our neighbor, which means that we are to assume the best regarding another’s intentions until proven otherwise. There is risk with this.  We might get hurt.  No, let us be honest.  We often will get hurt and that is not Swearengen pessimism, either.  God’s Word warns us of this reality and still calls us to longsuffering.  Longsuffering sounds bad, but here is one word we loath even more; patience.  We can hardly stand to wait in a line at the supermarket.  How much harder is it to patiently endure injury caused by those we love, let alone a stranger?  This kind of patience we are called to, however, is a reflection of the patience God had for us in the moment of our worst sin.  Consider the patience of Christ as he suffered for our sins on the cross.  Yet He did so willingly.  In fact, Christ also could have uttered the same words as Swearengen (without the f-bombs) yet the meaning would be quite different.

“Every beatin’ I’m grateful for.  Every one of them.”  Why?  Because with His stripes we are healed.  “Get all the beat outta [Me].  And [I] know what the world is.”  Why?  Because Christ’s suffering on the cross redeemed a people from every tribe, tongue, and nation to Himself from bondage to sin and death.  The world is fallen and corrupt in sin, yet through the sacrifice and righteous works of Jesus Christ, those that trust in Him alone are empowered by the Holy Spirit to assume the best in others today and a have a sure hope in the life and resurrection to come.