In our last two posts, we are looking at how to recognize a fool. As the companion of fools will be destroyed (Proverbs 13.20) it is urgent that you learn to recognize fools so you do not become their companion and then become as foolish as them. One of the ways in which you can recognize a fool is that they take serious things and treat them lightly.
Proverbs 14.9 says the fools make a mock of sin – and that is one of the key signs of foolishness, they mock sin. This means that they are not sorry for their sin, they are not ashamed of sin, but rather they boast in their sin.
I hope that the message of grace that has been reaching across the church over the last few decades has got into your heart and you know God loves you and that the cross of Jesus has dealt with sin once and for all. SIn has been dealt with by Jesus – the punishment that brought us peace was laid on Him! He was made sin so we could be made righteous. And that’s not just true, it is precious truth, it is life-changing truth.
However, some Christians have now taken grace as an excuse to be casual about sin, to talk arrogantly about their sins, to mock sin. Listen carefully – sin will never hold you back, but your arrogant mocking attitude to sin will.
The Word of God tells us to assemble together. Not assembling together, missing church for no good reason is a sin. When someone says I am going to go for walks along the beach on Sunday morning and invites others to join them, they are mocking sin. You should instantly know that person is a fool, and be very careful about being their companion, because according to God’s holy Word, you will be destroyed.
If you are not going to church, you are a fool. That’s so foolish! If you regularly hang around with Christians who do not go to church, you are going to be destroyed. That’s not me saying that, it’s the wisest man who ever lived – Solomon. When I invite a guest speaker, one of the things I ensure is they are in church when they are not on the road. I don’t want to let you have a fool ministering to you.
When someone is proud of their rebellion, they are a fool. When someone is arrogant rather than humble about not tithing, they are a fool. When someone is nasty and insulting, and thinks that’s a good thing, they are a fool. Being rude is one thing, being glad about it – that’s foolish.
When someone is rude to you, insults you and your family, spreads lies about you and then wants to come back into your life as if nothing has happened, and shows no remorse or regret for their sin, that person is – according to the Bible – a fool. You do not have an obligation to reconcile with them while they are still in their foolishness. Yes, forgive, love, bless, but you do not have to be their companion, you do not owe a fool your company.
All of this ties in with what this “Can You See” series is about – what you perceive matters so much. If you fail to perceive a financial deliverer with an anointing to set you free, you are going to miss out on financial freedom. If you fail to perceive a God-given mentor, you are going to miss out on short-cuts to success. This one just works in reverse – if you fail to spot a fool, then you will end up a companion of fools because they are so “nice”, so “funny”, because your flesh likes being around people who slander and who have no standards and mock sin – and then you will be destroyed.
The word destroyed (in Proverbs 13.20) is ra-a. It means you will end up destroyed by the evil things you end up doing, and end up utterly useless. It’s a very strong word used for people that are harmful to society, and unwanted. I don’t believe anyone plans to be in that place, but if you fail to find out what is a fool and study these things out, and if you stay in the company of fools, this is what will happen.
When Ruth’s mother, Naomi, moved to Moab to “get food” and left the house of God and the people of God, and her husband died and her two son in laws died, she uses this word to describe herself. Destroyed!
Now Ruth is a powerful story of redemption, but if Naomi realized that living with pagans that hated God was being the companion of fools, the redemption of Ruth would never need to have happened.
If you have been the companion of fools and are feeling destroyed right now, if you missed the slander, missed the casualness to sin, missed the lightness in which they treated the things of God, and are heading for destruction, there is grace, redemption and freedom! But don’t suffer needlessly, decide to walk with the wise and be wise.
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