In two recent blogs, both here and here,
I gave examples as to how to heed the advice of Proverbs 26:4-5, when dealing with what the Bible refers to as a “fool.”
It reads…
Proverbs 26:4-5 (NASB)
“Do not answer a fool according to his folly,
Or you will also be like him.
Answer a fool as his folly deserves,
That he not be wise in his own eyes.”
A “fool” in scripture is not a label for someone who is lacking in intelligence. It describes a person who knows better, yet still does what they ought not do rather than what they ought to do. James warns of the seriousness of blatantly ignoring proper obligation…
James 4:17 (NASB)
“…to one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, to him it is sin.”
Simply put, to not do what ought be done makes one a fool, according to the Bible.
Now, just in case you are still not clear on what I’m saying, here are some examples of how scripture uses the word fool…
Proverbs 10:23a (NASB)
“Doing wickedness is like sport to a fool…”
Proverbs 12:15 (NASB)
“The way of a fool is right in his own eyes,
But a wise man is he who listens to counsel.”
Proverbs 18:2 (NASB)
“A fool does not delight in understanding,
But only in revealing his own mind.”
There are many more examples, but I think you get the idea.
So, why would I write yet another blog on answering fools?
Well, there is a lot of foolishness out there, and we (Christians) need to know how to answer them. Another example is the now, ever present, bathroom controversy regarding who specifically should be allowed in certain public bathrooms…
Should the biological male who claims to be or self-identifies as a female, be permitted in the ladies room? Or, what about the biological female who claims to be or self-identifies as a male? Should she be allowed in the men’s room?
Frankly, there is no controversy here. It’s complete nonsense… and everybody knows it.
Eric Hovind from CreationToday.org, provides a great perspective in a meme that he created, which illuminates how we (Christians) should address this new mania…
When I first came across this, it got me thinking….
“There exists a context where those with xy chromosomes and those with xx chromosomes ought be separated, and we all know this by default as image bearers of God.”
Basically, there are certain intimate situations or settings where males (those with xy chromosomes) and females (those with xx chromosomes) should not be together, and this is something that we all know by default as human beings. In other words, as image bearers of God we automatically have the innate sense that under particular circumstances, males and females ought to be segregated. It’s just something that we all naturally understand. It’s something that we all undoubtedly sense as part of the human experience. Men and women are not the same, therefore, we must respect our God-given differences. The first time that Adam saw Eve, he instinctively knew that this was not just another creature that God had made. This living form was altogether different, and his heart stopping reaction spoke to this realization…
Genesis 2:23 (NASB)
“The man said,
‘This is now bone of my bones,
And flesh of my flesh;
She shall be called Woman,
Because she was taken out of Man.'”
So, this leads to a question… Who decides what gender someone is?
Genesis 1:27 (NASB)
“God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.”
God created each and every one of us as one of the two distinct sexes. In other words, we were each created as either a male or as a female. This is not rocket science. It’s common sense. The problem arises when we violate Proverbs 26:4 by tolerating the false premise being made today… that gender identity is something which we decide, rather than God.
Look at the verse again, from Genesis, with my bolded emphasis added…
Genesis 1:27 (NASB)
“God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.”
Who created them male and female?
The answer is obvious.
When we (Christians), instead of shutting down the “bathroom challenge” and wrongfully entertaining the rhetorical nonsense brought on by its promoters, we then become like the fool in Proverbs 26:4. In other words, when we welcome challenges to God’s creative order and purpose, and subject it to being tested in the public square, we then succumb to the verse’s warning…
“Do not answer a fool according to his folly,
Or you will also be like him.”
We become “like him” (the fool) when we treat the false premise as valid, or as being worthy of respectful attention.
So then, how should we instead respond?
Well, what does the next verse say… Proverbs 26:5?
“Answer a fool as his folly deserves
That he not be wise in his own eyes.”
The fool deserves to be answered according to the folly that he professes, so that in his own eyes he will no longer consider himself to be so superior. In other words, the truth needs to be given to him in order that it might humble him, and so it might also hopefully help him to then think properly.
Eric Hovind is absolutely correct. By making this discussion “scientific,” we then answer the fool correctly in this scenario. We disqualify the false premise presented and then by contrast provide the proper premise, resulting in the humbling of the proud.
Though this reference below is addressing the problem of false teachers in the church, the principle represented still applies when worldly ideas infiltrate our walk with Christ…
Jude 1:17-25 (NASB)
“But you, beloved, ought to remember the words that were spoken beforehand by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ, that they were saying to you, “In the last time there will be mockers, following after their own ungodly lusts.” These are the ones who cause divisions, worldly-minded, devoid of the Spirit. But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting anxiously for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life. And have mercy on some, who are doubting; save others, snatching them out of the fire; and on some have mercy with fear, hating even the garment polluted by the flesh.
Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy, to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.”
“…keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting anxiously for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life.”
Godspeed, to the brethren!
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