Archive for the 'Proverbs' Category

Answering A Fool

Tuesday, March 7th, 2006

This is out of context for our look at Nebuchadnezzar, but I’ve got some proverbs rolling around in my head and felt like I needed to put this out here.

In one verse, the Bible says, “Do not answer a fool according to his folly, or you will be like him yourself” (Proverbs 26:4).

In the very next verse we read, “Answer a fool according to his folly, or he will be wise in his own eyes” (Proverbs 26:5).

These two verses are often used to disprove the inspiration of the Bible. After all, it would appear to be a blatant contradiction. In one verse it says we should not answer a fool; the very next sentence tells us we should answer a fool. Which is it?

I’ve read a few different answers to this — many good thoughts. The best explanation I’ve found is that there is simply no winning with a fool. If you allow yourself to be drawn into an argument with a fool, you may be brought down to his level. Fools tend to use anger and rudeness in their arguments. They speak without thinking first. They have no humility and are not concerned with truth as much as they are concerned with vindication. To use such tactics is foolish, and arguing with a fool prompts me to respond in kind. I cannot afford to fall into the fool’s trap.

However, we are told in the next proverb to answer a fool in order to prevent him from thinking he is wise when he is not. A fool believes that your silence is an admission of defeat — thus confirming him in his folly. Unfortunately, when that happens, his behavior has been reinforced and others may follow suit.

The problem is, when you try to correct a fool, he will not receive your correction. The writer goes on to say: “Like a lame man’s legs that hang limp is a proverb in the mouth of a fool” (v. 7). A fool does not know what to do with wisdom. It is no use giving it to him. The best thing may be to leave him to God, for only God can break through his folly.

There is something worse than a fool: a man who is certain of his own wisdom. “Do you see a man wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him” (v. 12).

I want so badly to be wise, but I am too often a fool. God, keep me from being wise in my own eyes, and grant me the wisdom that only you can provide.

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Proper Use of Proverbs

Thursday, September 29th, 2005

Do not answer a fool according to his folly,
or you will be like him yourself.

Answer a fool according to his folly,
or he will be wise in his own eyes.

Proverbs 26:4-5

There it is right there: clearly, a contradiction in the Bible. One sentence says we must not answer a fool; the very next sentence says we should answer a fool. What’s up with that?

Most people who believe the Bible will tell you these verses prove that there’s no winning with a fool. Answer him or don’t answer him. He’s a fool.

That’s a very convenient way of looking at things. It allows me to say, “Thank you, God, that I am not like any of those fools out there.”

One of the frustrating things that we don’t like about the Book of Proverbs is that sometimes it seems to contradict itself. But we have proverbs in the English language that do the same thing. For instance, we’ll say, “Look before you leap”, and then we’ll say, “He who hesitates is lost.” Which is it?

Opposites attract, but birds birds of a feather flock together. Huh?

Absence makes the heart grow fonder, but out of sight, out of mind.

If you’re going to benefit from proverbs, they require some measure of self-awareness. The Book of Proverbs was written to help us avoid folly, and we tend to fall into folly in opposite extremes.

For example, some of us tend to leap too quickly. We spring into action without thinking everything through, and it gets us into trouble. We need to look before we leap. But there are others reading this (and you know who you are) who wait too long and the window of opportunity closes before we get going. We need to remember that he who hesitates is lost.

Which is it? It depends on your personality.

So, back to our original example. There are those of us who are too quick to speak, too quick to answer a fool and end up looking like fools ourselves. Then, there are those of us who are too slow to speak, we don’t want to rock the boat and allow a fool to go uncorrected.

Like a thorn bush in a drunkard’s hand is a proverb in the mouth of a fool (Proverbs 26:9).

A proverb can do incredible good in the life of those who will learn the lesson. But a proverb in the mouth of a fool can do incredible damage. Proper use of proverbs requires self-awareness and discernment. As a general rule, I find that people who read a proverb and think, “This applies so well to someone else — in fact, I think I’ll share the wisdom of this proverb with them right now” — that tends to be a proverb in the mouth of a fool.

The best way to read the Proverbs — heck, the best way to read the whole Bible — is probably the one where you say, “God, I’m not concerned right now with what you want to say to anyone but me.”

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The Problem With Proverbs

Wednesday, September 28th, 2005

For the longest time I didn’t like the Book of Proverbs. I wouldn’t read it, wouldn’t refer to it, didn’t even like to talk about it. I felt like the book had let me down somehow.

I now know it’s because I didn’t know how to read Proverbs.

There are three different types of literature that must be differentiated: Laws; Promises; Proverbs.

For example, Deuteronomy 6:5 says, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.” That’s a command. It’s something we are to do all the time, and there are no exceptions.

Romans 8:38-39 says, “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” That’s a promise. There’s nothing in there that we’re supposed to do. It’s God’s promise to us, and — again — there are no exceptions.

But Proverbs 10:4 says, “Lazy hands make a man poor, but diligent hands bring wealth.” Not really a command. Not really a promise. There are exceptions to this rule. Lazy people sometimes win the lottery. Hardworking people sometimes mismanage their money.

Here’s another one that’s sometimes hard to grasp: “Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it” (Proverbs 22:6). That sounds like a promise, but it’s not. Even in the Old Testament there are examples of really good parents who have really lousy kids. If you read this verse like it’s a promise (which is how I used to read the Proverbs), you may be setting yourself up for frustration, confusion and anger if your children decide to depart from the path they were raised to walk.

Proverbs are generally just the way things work. But there are exceptions. I used to read the Proverbs as if they were iron-clad promises from God that this is how things will be. Work hard, and you’ll get rich. Pursue God’s wisdom, and people will love you. Put the quarter in, and the candy bar comes out.

I didn’t have to live very long before I realized that life doesn’t work that way. With my lack of wisdom at the time I assumed the problem must be with the book of Proverbs. I now realize that the problem was with the way I was reading it.

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Extreme Wisdom

Monday, September 26th, 2005

I’m teaching on the Proverbs this week. Anyone out there have a favorite Hebrew Proverb?

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