As Iron Sharpens Iron

As iron sharpens iron,
so one man sharpens another. Proverbs 27:17

Last Sunday I was talking to a brother in the faith and co-laborer in my churches men’s ministry leadership. We were discussing our vision and in particular the verse from Proverbs that most men know by heart, as iron sharpens iron…

This verse makes me want to meet other Rons ;-) (as I ron sharpens I ron…) so much for my sense of humor.

Ya, okay…

I am sure that none of you know what I do for a living and fewer (if that were possible) would know what I went to college for a couple of decades back. Well let me tell you, I am a metallurgist. Metallurgical engineering is somewhat of a lost science. There are few of us who go into this noble field of study. It is in many ways the modern form of the blacksmith. Of course it is engineering as well. Blacksmith, calculus chemistry and heat transfer, a strange stew indeed.

What the heck does all this have to do with faith you might ask? Well let me tell you. I learned long ago that if your eyes are open the Lord can show you connections in the most unlikely places. As Jesus taught in parables, there are wonderful metaphors out there just waiting to create meaning for us.

“As Iron”

Have you ever stopped to consider how iron or steel are made into something useful?

I have worked in modern blast furnaces, steelmaking shops, hot mills, cold mills, literally the whole process. I have studied ancient metallurgy, how dirt is transformed into a metal. I was led through the whole process both literally and figuratively in thought and in action.

Iron is a very interesting metal. On its own it is fairly ordinary, dull, soft and prone to rust. You would not want to build much with it, it would not hold up. Funny thing though contaminate it with minute amounts of other metals or other “dirt” and you can make it extremely strong, hard as well nails, tougher than pretty much any other metal.

Ancient iron (biblically) would have been like this, impure. The processes used today to make steel and iron so remarkably versatile had not yet been imagined. So we start with iron mixed with impurities of carbon, manganese, silicon, sulphur etcetera.

If you think about butter or cheese what happens to it just before it turns to liquid? It gets remarkably soft, same with iron. The easiest way to shape iron into something useful is to heat it in a hot fire, the hotter the better. In fact somewhere above 750 degrees Celsius (1350 F) is where you would want to be. If you go to a blacksmith you would find him working the metal to a bright red / orange color which is as much as 1900 F. As I said at this temperature steel / iron is soft and pliable.

If you were to want to make a sword you would take the metal up to this temperature then beat it with a hammer on an anvil into the approximate shape you wanted. Since it would cool and harden quickly you would alternate between heating and beating the metal into shape.

“Sharpens Iron’

The next step is to begin to get the metal to the toughness you want with the ability to hold a sharp edge. How do you do this? Well the process is quite fascinating.

First you must quench the metal from its high temperature. The metal must start from above 1350 and be brought as quickly as possible down to a low temperature. In this form the metal is brittle, so brittle in fact that it is like glass. If you gave it a sharp blow it would shatter into many pieces.

From here we reheat the steel (not too hot) just enough to relieve the internal stresses caused by the quench. This process known as tempering provides the toughness required to enable the metal to be used without breaking. Depending on application there might even be a follow up process of hardening an edge of the metal like a sword where the quench and temper process is repeated or the metal is treated with a chemical and heated to enable the edge to stay sharp and hard during use.

The process can be summed up by a favorite phrase of metallurgists:

“Heating, beating and treating”

“So One Man”

Alright enough with the metallurgy class! What does this have to do with faith?

I believe the verse in proverbs 27 is talking directly to men about the transformation they will undergo as they mature into true believers in Christ.

Our transformation begins when we invite accept Christ as our Lord and savior. It continues as we invite the Holy Spirit to come into our heart and lead us in the faith. It goes deeper as we realize we are called to community with other believers. When men come alongside other men there is something powerful that happens and this is where the verse in proverbs comes to life.

You see as a man you are not much different than the lump of metal dull and lifeless prone to tarnish and full of impurity. As we invite Christ into our life we begin the process of refinement and strengthening.

We are put in situations that test us, that put us in the fire. We are beat upon and hammered by the circumstances of life. We are criticized, admonished, overlooked. We are tempted, we are corrupted we are discouraged. Yet through all these circumstance one thing remains true we belong to Christ Jesus. Through these tests we have the ability to grow wise, to learn from our trials. So we learn from the trials and our character (structure) is forever changed, strengthened.

Like the quench we too experience the temptation after testing and we may fail, shatter at the impact. Yet like the metal this is not our destiny for even the metal can be re-forged into a new creation so can we. But to exist in this fragile state has no life we must continue on and be tempered. We must through our experiences be softened just enough to be toughened, conditioned to handle future trials.

"Sharpens Another"

When we emerge from the forge hardened on the exterior yet soft for the love of Christ we can be further refined. We can be sharpened to a razors edge to do the work of the body of Christ. Through the words of our trusted brothers we sharpen out character our behaviors, we become more Christ like. We cycle through the fires, the beating down, restoration and refinement coming ever closer to our goal of surrender to Christ and an iron tool of his perfect will.

Metaphors indeed!

Father I praise you for the curiosity you planted so deep in me

The desire to learn to grow, to discover how things are made

I praise you for the glory of your creation human kind

I pray that I might do your will and serve your people

I pray for your perfect will to be complete

Both in heaven and on earth

Amen