Lessons from The Wire

The entire army entered the woods, and there was honey on the ground. When they went into the woods, they saw the honey oozing out, yet no one put his hand to his mouth, because they feared the oath. But Jonathan had not heard that his father had bound the people with the oath, so he reached out the end of the staff that was in his hand and dipped it into the honeycomb. He raised his hand to his mouth, and his eyes brightened. Then one of the soldiers told him, "Your father bound the army under a strict oath, saying, 'Cursed be any man who eats food today!' That is why the men are faint."

Jonathan said, "My father has made trouble for the country. See how my eyes brightened when I tasted a little of this honey. How much better it would have been if the men had eaten today some of the plunder they took from their enemies. Would not the slaughter of the Philistines have been even greater?" – Samuel 14: 25-29

One of my favorite TV shows of all time is The Wire. It was an HBO drama about the city of Baltimore. Through the prism of drugs, government, business and education the show successfully showed many of the interlocking ills and contradictions plaguing our society.

But one of the most fascinating things about the show was its portrayal of the drug game. Of course they showed the good, the bad and the ugly of it… but this made the good all the more fascinating. For as foul a concept as drug dealing is, the dealers never would have done what Saul did.

You always make sure that your troops are fed. That’s part of the code of the game.

The longer your team goes without being fed, the more likely they will turn from being friends to foes. When the head man rises, so should the rest of the team. Of course there is a degree of self preservation in this strategy. I’m not saying that drug kingpins are saints… But there are a lot of “good” people who treat the folks who helped them get to where they are much worse.

I’m just sayin.

This really goes back to the super basic message of Jesus. Treat others the way that you want to be treated. Give and it shall be given back to you. The best success is success that can be shared with the ones you love and the ones that helped you get to where you want to be.

So on your path to success don’t forget who helped get you there. Sure, God answered your prayers, but odds are He used the people around you to be the vessels through which those prayers were answered.

If drug dealers can do it, so can you.

Here is one of my favorite clips from the show... You'll see why I believe this show is genius work. (warning... grown folks language).

Enjoy

Today’s Reading: Samuel 13-14; Luke 10: 1-24