Far from suggesting that everyone you meet is wise, kind and honourable, the Bible is very clear that some people are foolish. In fact, the truth is there are fools everywhere. There are fools right now working in the workplace – some of them are teachers, doctors and lawyers. There are even fools who are pastors and evangelists. There are most definitely fools who are politicians. There are a lot of places where you will run into a fool.
Why is this important? Because today, we are still talking about perception, honour and proximity, but today I want to help you work this in reverse. If you can perceive someone is being foolish, then you can not honour their “wisdom” and “advice”, and hopefully the fool will then leave you alone. At the least, you will not join the fool in his folly.
I have seen many Christians shipwreck their lives because they did not perceive someone to be a fool, and they sadly listened to them, gave credit to their advice and end up in a total mess. Not all that glitters is gold, and not all that is dressed up in Christian robes is Christian.
The primary thing that determines a fool is they despise wisdom and instruction (Proverbs 1.7). If someone wants to instruct you, first find outdo they hate wisdom and instruction. When someone tells me that they would never listen to a sermon except on Sundays, that they only go to church to be seen, and they would never listen to any pastor tell them what to do, I know instantly – that person is a fool. When someone tells me they don’t do small groups, they don’t do conferences – fool. When someone has no one who they look to for advice and correction – fool.
That’s the hallmark of a fool. The Hebrew word for despise is “buz”, and it means to treat as unimportant or as small. That sums up far too many people’s attitude to wisdom and instruction. When someone is on time every day of the week for work and strolls into church with their drive thru coffee cup in their hand, they despise wisdom – they are a fool. When people would rather watch the football than the church midweek live stream – fool. When people put everything else before wisdom and instruction, when someone spends 40k on a new car, but will not spend £40 on Christian books they are a fool. They despise wisdom and instruction.
What happens if you are about to do something and your pastor says it is a bad idea? Or a wise Christian friend. Of course, if someone does not have a pastor or a wise Christian friend we already know they are a fool, and it is pride that leads to that foolishness.
If you don’t recognize a fool, if you don’t perceive them, they might walk into your life and cause untold mess! Watch carefully if you see someone who cannot take godly advice, they are a fool.
We will discuss this more next post, as we give more Biblical signs of a fool, and how to handle them, and handle them well.
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