Wednesday 20 February 2019

Don't be a fool!

Do not answer a fool according to his folly, or you yourself will be just like him. Answer a fool according to his folly, or he will be wise in his own eyes. Proverbs 26:4-5

Anyone who takes the Bible seriously will know that sometimes you come across passages that seem to contradict one another.

Usually it needn’t bother us too much. The Bible, after all, is a big, baggy compendium of documents of many different types and from many different periods of history. So it’s not surprising if sometimes we find it hard to reconcile passage (a) with passage (b). There’s often a fairly straightforward explanation, and even if there isn’t, it’s probably something we can happily live with.

But what about when two verses right next to one another seem to be in direct conflict?

The first dozen verses of Proverbs 26 are united by a single theme: the “fool”. Given that the whole book is in essence about how to get wisdom, it’s not surprising that the writer - Solomon or whoever - offers some advice on how best to avoid folly and how best to deal with fools.

But here’s the puzzle... in verse 4 he tells us that we should “not answer a fool according to his folly”; and then, in verse 5, that we should... do precisely that! A straight contradiction?

Exactly what “answering a fool according to his folly” means isn’t clear. It could suggest sinking to the same level, perhaps adopting the same shallow, stupid tone, so that in effect he or she has dragged us away from wisdom and reason. And what good does that do? That certainly makes sense of verse 4.

But then what about verse 5? Perhaps here “answering a fool according to his folly” means something different: not only sinking to the same level, but giving him a real mouthful, a proper telling-off - not something you feel comfortable doing, but doing all the same on the grounds that it might at least bring him to his senses. If you don’t put him right in pretty plain terms, then “he will be wise in his own eyes”. In other words, just playing along with him will only confirm his stupidity.

I don’t know - I’m just speculating really. But at this point I’m happy enough to give up, rather wondering if the writer had a smile on his face as he wrote these two verses; as if to say, “You see? Life sometimes seems just a muddle, and in any given situation there may not always be a simple, clear solution. Sometimes you may need just to play it by ear, even at risk of going against what you did before in a similar situation.”

Whatever, this is a “contradiction” that I don’t think need keep us awake at night. (I suspect that’s a wise conclusion, don’t you?)

Perhaps we can probe a bit deeper by asking a much more important question: what does the Bible mean by a “fool” anyway?

It isn’t easy to pin down, but one thing’s for sure: the fool isn’t simply the person who is not particularly bright; oh no, there’s a big place among the people of God for honest but simple souls (just as well, eh?).

When Jesus chose his twelve disciples he didn’t ask about their academic qualifications. And later on, when Peter and John were in trouble with the authorities, it was noted that they were “unschooled, ordinary men” (Acts 4:13).

No. In the Bible the word “fool” has a darker feel to it, almost a moral sense. Jesus says that calling someone “You fool!” puts you in danger of hell (Matthew 5:22). And throughout 2 Corinthians 11 and 12 Paul is obviously rather embarrassed at feeling the need to “make a fool of himself” (2 Corinthians 12:11).

No; the word fool suggests stubbornness - it’s a person who doesn’t just act foolishly, but one who persists in acting foolishly in spite of having been warned. The biblical fool isn’t simply rather dull, but obstinate with it; he or she refuses to be corrected - and that is a moral flaw, not just an intellectual one.

(Anyone, like me, beginning to feel a bit uncomfortable?)

Let’s go even further... Even “wise” people can be fools. You may have a whole string of qualifications - degrees, the lot - yet still fall into sinfully wrong ways. (Anyone else beginning to feel uncomfortable...?)

It’s worth remembering that this Book of Proverbs is associated with King Solomon (though exactly how much of it he wrote is open to question). Now, Solomon was wise. Oh yes, he was wise, all right! Just take a look at 1 Kings 4:29-34 and 1 Kings 10.

Yet... what a fool also! Turn over the page to 1 Kings 11. Such a fool that God became angry with him and saw fit to reject him, and his whole kingdom was plunged into ruin. If ever there was a “wise fool”, that person was surely Solomon.

So - however we make sense of Proverbs 26:4-5 - let’s be very sure that “the fool” isn’t also you, or me...

Lord God, your word tells us that “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom”. As I daily humble myself before you, and aim in all things to obey and follow you, may I steadily grow in true, Christlike wisdom. Amen.

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