A Culture of Fools
Proverbs 1:20-22
“When men choose not to believe in God, they do not thereafter believe in nothing, they then become capable of believing in anything.” This quote is often attributed to G. K. Chesterton, but its origin is uncertain. Regardless of who said it, the saying certainly rings true today. I am constantly bewildered by what people are willing to believe.
There is no shortage of people today trying to convince us that up is down, wrong is right and evil is good. Romans would say they are deluded. The Proverbs would say they are fools.
What do you think of when you hear the word fool? Some might think of people who are silly or immature, uneducated or unsophisticated but that’s not what the term is referring to in Proverbs. There are plenty of highly educated, well spoken, sophisticated fools in our culture. Money, status, fame, or education has nothing to do with it. At the core a fool is someone who denies reality.
The Psalmist writes, “The fool has said in his heart, there is no God” (Ps. 14:1). This verse is often misunderstood. It’s not simply referring to an atheist who denies the existence of God. Rather it’s what I call the practical atheist. It’s someone who says “NO” to God’s presence or influence in their lives. A paraphrase would be, “A fool has said, ‘No God, stay out of my life.’” As we’ve said before, this is the great temptation, to be our own god. That’s foolish.
God created the universe. To deny that is to be foolish. God created the world with order. There are physical, social, spiritual, and moral realities to God’s creation. To believe this is to work towards shalom. To deny this and think we can violate God’s order without consequence is to be a fool. It’s stupid. A fool is out of touch with reality.
In Proverbs wisdom is sometimes personified as a lady crying in the streets. She is compelling people to listen, to face reality. She identifies three different kinds of fools. The naïve fool, the scoffer and the know-it-all fool (v. 22).
The naïve fool is a regular in Proverbs. This is someone who is gullible, willing to believe about anything. This person lacks the discernment to distinguish between what is true or false or what is good and evil. This person is easily led astray, deceived, or controlled by others. This person is a sponge soaking up the latest ramblings. Whether these ramblings line up with reality seems irrelevant to this fool. Today for something to be believed it doesn’t have to be true, it only has to be repeated over and over again.
One can’t help but think about the thousands of college students in universities each year that naively believe what they are told even if what they are told runs contrary to reality. They may feel enlightened, but the reality is they are often deceived.
Naïve fools stand no chance of skillful living. They are sure to be tossed about by the waves of the latest idea or philosophy. They simply flow with the currents of the culture convinced that truth is whatever they want it to be. That’s not reality.
Next is the scoffer. The scoffer is also common in Proverbs. This fool is not so much driven by the latest currents of the culture but by anger and a need to tear others down. The scoffer is fueled by pride and is angered by anyone who would suggest that God knows best. It’s not enough to simply disagree, this fool lashes out with the intent to wound or humiliate those who follow lady wisdom. The scoffer is not neutral or tolerant, he is loud and aggressive with a bent to do harm to others.
The life of the scoffer is often characterized by broken relationships and dysfunction which feeds his need to lash out or blame others. The scoffer is angry, miserable and determined to take as many down with him as possible. The truth is irrelevant to the scoffer. That’s why arguing with this fool is senseless, it’s unwise. The scoffer has to win by any means necessary.
The third fool is the know-it-all fool. This is the fool who despises wisdom and instruction (v. 7). He rejects lady wisdom because he thinks he already knows everything. Fools hate knowledge (v. 22). This is the most common fool in Proverbs. He’s stubborn, obstinate, and inflexible. He is unable to take correction or criticism because he is consumed by deep insecurities that are manifested in his boorish know-it-all attitude. Hebrew scholar Dr. Bruce Wilke describes this fool like this, “They are blockheads because, deaf to wisdom, from their distorted moral vision, of which they are cocksure, they delight in twisting values that benefit the community.”[1]
Because these fools are out of touch with reality their lives tend to be defined by disorder. There is chaos rather than flourishing. They are selfish, isolated, lonely, angry, miserable fools desperately trying to find something to give themselves value and make the pain go away. They slowly sink into the quicksand of their pride but are unwilling to ask for help. In the end they consume themselves. They are sad, desperate, insecure people desperately trying to convince the world that they matter.
Our culture is filled with all three fools. The further we drift from God the truer this will be. Only fools resent God offering wisdom to clean up our messes both individually and together. These fools are determined to run the show and keep God out. Then when it all falls apart, they turn around and blame others for their misery. They are incapable of skillful living.
The wise hunger for truth. They seek out what God has to say. They believe God defines reality and know that His Word is a lamp to their feel and a light to their path (Ps. 119:105). It’s not easy to live skillfully in a culture of fools. Lady wisdom is calling in the streets and we must listen. We choose to listen and learn. That’s a characteristic of a wise person.
I suggest you spend time this week honestly assessing your own commitment to truth. How much time do you spend weekly in God’s Word? How many times a week do you open your Bible? How much effort do you put into understanding what God has said? Compare that to how much time you spend on social media or watching television or listening to the news?
You’ve heard the saying that politics makes strange bedfellows. That’s true. We must make certain that our allegiance is first to God and His values not to a political party or the latest agenda. Lady wisdom is calling but are we listening? Skillful living requires a commitment to truth. Good intentions are not enough, we need a steady dose of God’s truth.
[1] Bruce K. Waltke, The Book of Proverbs: Chapters 1 – 15 (Grand Rapids, MI/Cambridge, U.K.: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2004), 112.