I Call Steve Scott Butter Because He is on a Roll

Steve Scott is on a roll http://fromthepew.blogspot.com/

In one post, he takes on what it might mean to be a “fool for Jesus” http://fromthepew.blogspot.com/2007/03/fools-for-jesus.html It means, per Steve, that the way of Jesus seems foolish to the world, not that followers of Jesus should act like idiots.

I have been thinking about how many passages in the Bible refer to foolishness in contrast to wisdom, especially the Proverbs. The formula is usually “the foolish man does such and such whereas the wise man does something else altogether”. The thing that troubles me is that I have come to believe that all of us are prone to folly to some extent and that some of us are destined to be fools by virtue of our stupidity. I do not equate intelligence with wisdom, but wisdom seems a lot harder to come by if you are stupid. A stupid man is more easily led into folly as he has not the discernment to know whom to trust. Witness the core constituency of GW Bush. Most of them purport to follow Jesus but have been led astray by evil men into following the very Prince of Fools and his ungodly agenda.

Do the proverbs invite us to hold fools in contempt? I know many who seem to think so, who speak of letting fools take “personal responsibility” for their folly, that is to suffer the dire consequences of it. I have come to believe that we should not be contemptuous of fools; rather, we should treat them with an extra measure of solicitude, instruct them if they can be instructed, and mitigate the consequences of their folly when we can.

I am relatively intelligent, but I do not claim to be wise. I have had to learn too many things by experience to claim wisdom as an attribute. I have done my share of foolish things and made many foolish choices, and I am not done yet. It is written that the beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord, and I trust that I have at least embarked on the path of wisdom in this regard.