Study – Grow – Know

Wisdom and Foolishness

July 9, 2019 at 12:19 PM 4 comments

I’ve decided to write another book, so I’ll actually be spending less time publishing articles here. I’ll continue to try to put things up but they will likely be much shorter and longer in between each article. I apologize about that, but life is busy.

I’m actually officially retired yet it seems like I’m busier now than prior to retirement. My wife and I live in a modest home on two acres in the country. This month is our two-year anniversary of moving in and I look back at all the lists we made and the jobs we’ve completed and you’d think we’d be “done” with it, but you’re never done. When we moved in, there were things that without doubt needed upgrading. We had to have a French drain leading to a sump pump installed under the house because of poor drainage. We had to have a vapor barrier installed as well.

Beyond this, in the past two years, I’ve run electricity from the house to our well house that I also built. I ran more electricity to the shop/garage and installed a sub-panel, then divided up the lights and electrical outlets there and added more outlets for power equipment. Then I ran electricity to the small barn behind our house that our chickens call “home.” This gave us light and an electrical outlet for plugging in a heated water bucket for the hens in the winter so the water doesn’t freeze.

I also built an enclosed patio deck that I screened in on top of the patio slab that was there. I’d never done anything like that before, but it turned out really well. My wife and I love it.

But the amount of jobs that required our attention both inside and outside the house were many. One of the last jobs I completed was to fence in most of our two acres with four access gates to various parts of the property. This was mainly done because we adopted a rescue dog and we did not want to worry about him running in the road, even though out here in the country, it seems that most people simply let their dogs roam, many to the detriment of the poor dog. We figure if you own a pet, it should be part of your family. The best thing someone can do is love that pet and have the dog professionally trained. We’ll be starting that next week.

Now that most of the jobs on our lists are done, there is maintenance that needs to be done almost daily. We have a huge fenced in garden that requires our attention. If you have an organic garden like ours, more work is required to keep the weeds at bay without chemicals. The lawn needs to be mowed at least once every two weeks, sometimes more. Even with a zero turn mower with a 52″ deck, it takes me over an hour and a half just to mow, not including edging and blowing.

Add to this the times we travel to see our son and his wife or our daughter and her husband and their son, it seems that time is a premium. I’m finding out that all those plans I had to be involved in this and that tend to fall by the wayside. Beyond all of this, I continue to take piano lessons and every time I drive to my lesson, it’s a 45-minute trip each way. That’s the other issue. While we love living in the country, it takes us about 45 minutes to get anywhere including church. But we chose to live where we live, so that’s something we deal with by combining tasks into one trip whenever possible.

The other thing we love about living in the country is that we are on a well and we have a septic. The only utilities we pay for is electricity and garbage pickup. I’ve even got it set up so that when the electricity goes out due to a storm, I have a large generator that I can simply plug into the outlet at the back of the shop, turn off the main electricity into our home and run much of what we need via generator. We don’t have to have extension cords running all over the place. The electricity generated runs whatever we turn on at the main panel box.

By the way, I’m not complaining at all (nor am I bragging). I’m simply explaining that time is difficult to come by for me these days. It is what it is and though I’ll try to continue adding more articles here, as I say, they’ll likely be fewer and farther between each. Okay? I’ll keep readers posted on the book I’m working on as well.

As far as today’s post goes, I want to look briefly at Proverbs 26:4-5. Here it is in the ESV.

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

At first glance, it almost seems like the Psalmist is contradicting himself. Are we supposed to not answer a fool or are we supposed to answer him? It’s actually both and here’s why.

Verse 4 says to not answer a fool according to his own way of expressing himself, which is normally bereft of intelligence and wisdom. Most foolish people who actually think they are intelligent are so easy to make fun of, aren’t they? I have this problem where sarcasm is often on the tip of my tongue rather than a straight, humorless answer. In other words, it is easy for me to resort to a response that is born of sarcasm and an attempt to belittle someone, rather than simply answering in a way that best responds to the situation.

Verse four is essentially saying that at times, foolish people should be ignored. Certainly, we should not lower ourselves to respond to them the way they are often heard responding to something. Foolish people tend to not understand the realities of a situation. Their social justice warrior facade kicks in and they often go for the jugular, figuratively speaking. Put another way, they end up attacking people verbally. When this doesn’t work, they will often resort to name-calling or even an attempt to get physical with their opponent.

The Psalmist is saying do not allow yourself to be pulled down to their standard. Sometimes, the best we can do is completely ignore them and show them that we are not affected by their foolishness and stupidity.

Verse 5 is telling us something different, but not anything that is contradictory. Sometimes, a fool needs to hear a response, but when responding, our response should be well thought out and devoid of emotion. We are simply providing information that is true to the fool and it’s up to them what they will do with it.

For instance, I recently read in The Sword of the Lord, that the New York Times published an editorial against the various “heartbeat” laws that have been passed numerous states. The Times essentially stated that what some are calling a “heartbeat” is nothing more than “fetal pulsing.” In fact, the entire article was filled with anti-scientific statements and findings. In this case, should someone respond to the NY Times? Yes, absolutely, but it should be done in a way that presents facts and only facts. The person who wrote the article would likely balk at all the facts presented and would also likely resort to ridicule and name-calling. But the fact remains that there can be no “fetal pulsing” unless a heartbeat exists. While the Times says that this fetal pulsing eventually becomes the actual heartbeat, they are wrong on science. The heart exists, then it starts beating.

The Lord has been working on me for some time over this whole “sarcastic” tendency I have within me. It’s not really good, but of course, it “feels” great at the time. Slamming people, ridiculing their foolishness or stupidity is what many seem to need, I tell myself. But really, this mindset is born of an arrogant view of myself.

I marvel at people like Charlie Kirk or Candace Owens in the political realm who face obnoxious people all the time and respond to them with factual clarity and not a hint of sarcasm. I marvel at people in the ministry who do the same.

Yes, there were times Jesus (or John the Baptist, or Paul, etc.), got angry enough to sound almost sarcastic, but that was them. When Jesus got angry, He did so righteously, without sinning. I cannot say that about myself, because my tongue can be rather quick in rebuttal. It is something that all Christians need to work on.

I see many who profess Jesus on the social networks and it boggles my mind. They swear, they denigrate, they wish ill upon others. This is not to say that sin should not be called out but all too often, we end up placing ourselves above others and I think Paul would say, “Brothers, this ought not to be.”

When you deal with terribly foolish people, sometimes it is simply best to ignore them (v 4). At other times, we cannot allow them to get away with their lies and the best response is one that is factual and unheated (v 5). Let the chips fall where they might. If the person is truly a fool, they may not benefit from the truth you share, but he may start thinking about what you say even if he gives the impression that what you just said makes no sense at all.

I’ve learned that so many people on the Left are truly bereft. They are unacquainted with truth because they have been brainwashed by lies and that’s what they firmly believe. They are extremely foolish. Fools we will always have with us until the end of time. Your response to them depicts your maturity in Christ.

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