June 13, 2024

Proverbs 26.4, 5 NIV)
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.

If the message is unwelcome, nothing that the messenger can say or do will be right.*

Webster’s dictionary defines a fool as a person lacking in judgment or prudence. According to David in Psalm 14.1, the fool says in his heart that there is no God. A footnote in my Bible says that the Hebrew word rendered “fool” in this psalm denotes one who is morally deficient. Like the song says, “Everybody plays the fool sometime;” but we aren’t all foolish in the same ways, and our enlightenment doesn’t arrive down the same path. But occasional foolishness isn’t the same as being a fool.

These two verses appear to have exactly opposite messages. They are probably meant to be “complementary, not contradictory.”* They underline the fact that one size does not fit all. While it may sometimes be “pointless to argue with a fool,” there are other times when his “false reason must be shown up for what it is.”*

Whether dealing with a fool or with mere foolishness, sometimes there is no right answer; occasionally, there is more than one. As in any instance of human interaction, it helps to have an understanding of the person – what led him to the point of foolishness and how he is likely to respond to you. Pray for discernment before applying either of these verses!

Without knowing the person, we are left simply to make sanctimonious comments out of ignorance instead of offering sanctified guidance out of inspiration.*