Of Proverbs and Fools

For Friday, October 5, 2007
Proverbs 26:7

Like a lame man's legs, which hang useless,
is a proverb in the mouth of fools.

Like a man given a tool for which he has neither knowledge or skill to use, so is the rational proverb for a fool. He does not know what to do with the knowledge. Indeed, he is likely to twist the proverb to mean the opposite of what it teaches. The problem of the fool is not that he is rebellious and refuses to learn, but that he is delusional about truth. He cannot see what others so clearly see.

Why he is that way is another matter. Some are born with mental deficiencies and cannot process accurately the world around them. Others are made foolish. They are raised in ignorance and taught wrongly. Then others make themselves foolish by rejecting submission to God. As Romans 1:21 states, "For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened."

What then can be done for such fools. Foremost is to pray for them. Ultimately, it is not their minds that need educating, but their hearts that need transformation. That is the work of the Holy Spirit. But we are to use discernment in communicating with them. That includes knowing when not to speak. It includes processing what the fool is able to handle, and thinking through how to communicate. A simple speaking the truth may not be the answer. Sometimes you may have to speak "according to his folly"; at other times you may need to speak sternly against his folly.

The bottomline is to avoid the mistake of the fool which is to speak without thinking clearly. You need to be in control of your heart and mind; you need to be observant. You need to let the proverb you have learned to settle in your soul so that you are not merely passing on a proverb but letting it pass through you.

The Foolish Messenger

For Thursday, October 4, 2007
Proverbs 26:6

Whoever sends a message by the hand of a fool
cuts off his own feet and drinks violence.

This is graphic imagery, to say the least. It gives a clue about the message. This is not a message about remembering to take the shirts by the cleaners. It is of great import. Perhaps it is a message to an enemy about reconciliation. Perhaps two friends are at odds, and one friend is sending a message confessing his sin. Perhaps the message is from a military officer to another giving vital news about the enemy's position, or of one general trying to set terms for surrender to another general.

The list, of course, can go on. The point is that the import of a message is not to be entrusted to someone known to be foolish. He may lose the message. He may distort the message. He may arrive too late. He has earned a reputation for not being trustworthy. The fool never understands this. It does not occur to him that he has established such a pattern. He is eager to volunteer for the job without thinking of how to carry out the job or what the consequences may be. And as such, he is most dangerous.

It was through trustworthy men that God sent his own messages. It was through the most trustworthy of all that he sent his greatest message. Indeed, the Messenger was the Message. Ironically, he was regarded the fool. Just as ironically, this Messenger would send out his own messengers with the same valuable Message, and they also would be regarded as fools, even as we today are so regarded.

Like a Fool

For Wednesday, October 3, 2007
Proverbs 26:4-5

Answer not a fool according to his folly,
lest you be like him yourself.
Answer a fool according to his folly,
lest he be wise in his own eyes.

Here are two proverbs side by side contradicting each other. Which is correct? Both, depending upon the situation. When the proverb says, "Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest you be like him yourself," it means do not lose your own wit because a fool got under your skin and caused you to act irrationally. The second proverb is speaking of keeping your wit and thinking through how to answer the fool. Sometimes it may be to the advantage to use the terms and rationale of the fool (for in his mind he is being rational) to lead him to reason.

The Apostle Paul keeps his wit and uses two different tactics in speaking to the Corinthians. Here were Christians foolishly puffed up by their spiritual gifts. They thought the manifestation of gifts meant they had arrived spiritually, literally. They were wise above all others, including Paul.

How does Paul address their delusion? He first denounces their folly by reminding them where they came from, declaring that the gospel of the cross is folly to the world that true believers must accept, and that such a folly of the cross is what he declares to be true wisdom (1 Corinthian 1:17ff). In his second letter, in response to the Corinthians continuing to pit "super-apostles" against him, he compares himself favorably against them (2 Corinthians 11:11ff). He is embarrassed even as he does so, but he believes it is necessary to use their terms to show their foolishness.

Paul uses discernment to advance his arguments, sometimes directly denouncing folly, sometimes using folly. The mark of the real fool is that he has no discernment and thus blunders with his speech. The wise person turns even the speech of a fool into a tool for teaching.

The Rod for Fools

For Tuesday, October 2, 2007
Proverbs 26:3

A whip for the horse, a bridle for the donkey,
and a rod for the back of fools.

What do all three have in common? They need physical force to do what is needed. It is of no good to reason with a horse or a donkey about the direction it should take. Likewise, a fool does not listen to reason. He needs to be prodded. In particular, he needs to be disciplined in order to act the right way.

The fool is not necessarily wicked, nor even rebellious. He is, well...foolish. He does not recognize the signals that everyone else sees, and so he acts foolishly in front of others. He thinks he is being suave when he is really making a monkey of himself. He thinks he is especially discerning when he is most illusional. Subtle suggestions do not register with him. Even direct statements have little effect because he thinks you are the one who doesn't get it. Thus, discipline comes in. He is rewarded when he does right, and punished when he does wrong. Hopefully in time he will, through enforcing right behavior, learn to do what is right.

And so God patiently disciplines us. Each day we act foolishly. Each day he disciplines. Each day we go our own way. Each day he pushes us in the right way or cuts off our stray paths to get us back on the right one. "Why, why?" we keep asking, like the fool who does not understand why he must be disciplined. "Can't God see?" we ask, like the fool who wonders why no one sees what he can so easily see.

Of Curses

For Monday, October 1, 2007
Proverbs 26:2

Like a sparrow in its flitting,
like a swallow in its flying,
a curse that is causeless does not alight.

Picture the small birds flitting about - up and down, back and forth, quickly darting from one direction to the next. So is the curse sent out without valid cause. It does not harm the intended victim. Thus, we should not superstitiously fear the curse of anyone sent our way. In particular we are not to fear the curse of Satan who certainly does desire our damnation. Remember who is your Advocate, Christ Jesus himself. Remember in whose hands you belong - God the Father. Remember who inhabits you - the Holy Spirit.

Nor then are we to blame our troubles on the curse of another. The troubles we face in life are mostly of our own making. We need to own up to that. Much of the troubles we face are those common to everyone else. We have not been singled out. The one curse that we can say with certainty has hit us directly is the curse of the Fall, making us sinners and the victims of sin. We don't need "special curses" to make life troubled. This one curse is enough to do the job.

Be thankful today and filled with awe, meditating upon our Lord who deserved no curse, yet took the Curse of the Fall upon himself, experiencing its full condemnation. Curses aimed at us may dart about missing us because he took the direct hit.