Several years ago, I was watching a series of presidential documentaries. I tend to find biographical documentaries rather interesting. I like to learn about the early influences that have impacted people of prominence or historical significance, and something rather interesting caught my attention when the documentary began to focus on the childhood of President Ronald Reagan that I believe had an impact on the way he carried himself while in office.
No president is universally loved during their term in office, but some would argue that Reagan came closer to that than most presidents do. But behind his genial nature and affability was a man who had experienced some painful embarrassments in his youth, largely at the hands of his father.
Reagan's father was a man who seemed to lack direction. I don't know what internal struggles he was wrestling with, but unfortunately, he attempted to dampen his personal pain with getting drunk regularly. His uncontrolled addiction cost his family in many ways. They struggled financially, relationally, and emotionally because of his decisions. Reagan loved his dad, but he spent plenty of time trying to save his father from experiencing the embarrassment of the consequences of his actions.
One example from the documentary that stood out to me was the afternoon when Reagan came home only to find his father passed out drunk on their front porch. To avoid the embarrassment of people seeing his dad in this kind of condition, Reagan dragged his father inside the house until he finished sleeping off his drunkenness.
Sadly, that's the most prominent thing I can tell you about Reagan's dad. That's the kind of legacy he left in the minds of many historians. He's basically seen as a man who gave in to folly and vice while grieving his family who loved him in spite of those actions.
In a similar way, Proverbs 26 shows us that the folly we embrace can very easily become the legacy we leave.
I. There are some people who just won't learn. Try not to be one of them.
Like snow in summer or rain in harvest,
so honor is not fitting for a fool.
Like a sparrow in its flitting, like a swallow in its flying,
a curse that is causeless does not alight.
A whip for the horse, a bridle for the donkey,
and a rod for the back of fools. (Proverbs 26:1-3)
When it comes to obtaining wisdom, there are a few ways you can do it. You can read what the Lord has revealed in His word, believe what He says, and apply His truth to your life. You can seek the counsel of wise people and learn from their example and teaching. Or, you can make costly mistakes and learn the hard way through the pain that will most certainly come from ignoring the word of God and the counsel of the wise people He places in your life.
Most of us can think of wise lessons we've learned through each of those options, but when we look at the words Solomon shares in the opening verses of Proverbs 26, we can see that there are those who willfully reject every opportunity to obtain wisdom that's offered to them. Solomon tells us that honor is not fitting for them.
He also tells us that painful consequences are the guaranteed result of rejecting the wisdom of God. A godless man who embraces the foolish thinking of this world will end up being treated, in some respects, like an animal that can't be reasoned with. Horses are whipped into shape because their simple minds don't excel at reasoning. Foolish people are pretty similar and are likely to experience forms of chastisement or correction that demonstrate that they can't be reasoned with.
I recently heard of a man who became a great success later in life, but during the early years of his adulthood, his mother tried to persuade his fiancée not to marry him. She said, "He won't stick with anything and it's a guarantee you'll be poor if you marry him." When the man heard his mother say that, he went to a specialist who ran him through a battery of tests and determined that he had terrible people skills. The specialist also recommended that he avoid people and find a profession that didn't require him to interact with others.
This man could have followed that path, but he decided to do something better. He realized how foolish he had been up to that point and started taking courses and reading books on how to interact with others. He devoted himself to it and made a life-long practice of it. Eventually, he became the co-founder of the Sheraton hotel chain. (source: “Read to Lead” podcast. 2-23-21)
There are people who receive feedback, and others who just won't learn. Try not to be one of the latter.
II. Be careful not to waste all your words, but be willing to waste a few.
Answer not a fool according to his folly,
lest you be like him yourself.
Answer a fool according to his folly,
lest he be wise in his own eyes. (Proverbs 26:4-5)
Have you ever tried to teach something to someone else? When does it feel easy to teach another person? What can make it rather difficult?
In these verses, Solomon paints a picture for us of a wise person attempting to share wisdom with someone steeped in foolishness. Unfortunately, there are many times when that activity feels fruitless. It's especially fruitless when we try to engage in foolish debates on terms that have been set by those who embrace their folly. If we accept those terms and answer him in a way that's consistent with his folly, we'll end up sounding just like him.
Have you ever attempted to share wisdom with someone and then later regretted it because you realized they had no intention of receiving your counsel? I distinctly remember a conversation I had with a friend several years ago who was in the process of destroying his relationships with everyone who loved him. Eventually, I had to take a break from talking to him because every word I shared felt like it was wasted. He rejected my counsel. He rejected the counsel of others as well, and he persisted in hurting those closest to him in ways that absolutely could have been prevented.
But even though our words of counsel may fall on ears that are unwilling to hear, it's still worth the risk of wasting a few. Solomon tells us that there is a time to give a fool an answer, and I think the Lord can give us the wisdom we need to know when it's worth speaking and when it isn't.
III. The destructive patterns of folly can be hard to escape.
Like a dog that returns to his vomit
is a fool who repeats his folly. (Proverbs 26:11)
Biblically speaking, when we come to faith in Jesus Christ, we are no longer fools. True foolishness is godlessness. Ultimate foolishness is to reject the salvation offered to us by Christ. It's foolish to try to do for ourselves what has already been done for us. We couldn't save ourselves, so Christ accomplished all that was needed for us to experience new life and spiritual freedom.
And being that He paid such a steep price for our freedom, we're encouraged not to return to the life we once embraced. But let's be honest. The destructive patterns of folly can be hard to escape, especially if we've developed a dependence on the foolish things of this world to soothe our emotional pain. In that case, it can become quite easy to keep running back to our old ways because we're still convinced they can bring us peace and healing.
Solomon describes that common pattern in vivid language to help drive his point home. When we return to the folly Christ has freed us from, we're acting no better than a dog that goes back to lick up it's own vomit. And if that mental picture disgusts you, try applying it to any area where you may be giving up your spiritual freedom in order to embrace slavery to sin and worldliness. The destructive patterns of folly may be hard to escape, but Christ has made the way of escape possible through Him.
"No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it." (1 Cor. 10:13)
IV. Acknowledge the source of true wisdom.
Do you see a man who is wise in his own eyes?
There is more hope for a fool than for him. (Proverbs 26:12)
Wisdom is worth praying for. Wisdom is worth seeking and obtaining. But one of the major roadblocks that will get in the way of us obtaining wisdom is ourselves. We are our own roadblock, particularly if we're already wise in our own eyes. That mindset results in us thinking we don't need outside counsel and it hinders our growth.
If we're honest, how many times during the course of our lives have we attempted to do more talking than listening? How many conversations have you been part of where you simply waited until someone else was done talking so you could get your words in, instead of listening to what they had to share? In a very real way, this is a form of self-idolatry that Solomon is cautioning us against. He tells us that there is more hope for a fool than for a man who idolizes his own wisdom or becomes wise in his own eyes.
For us to obtain the wisdom we need, we must acknowledge that Jesus is the source of true wisdom.
"But to those called by God to salvation, both Jews and Gentiles, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God. This foolish plan of God is wiser than the wisest of human plans, and God’s weakness is stronger than the greatest of human strength." (1 Cor. 1:24-25, NLT)
Wrapping Up...
Do you give much thought to the kind of legacy you'll be leaving for those who come after you? The older I get, the more this thought occupies my mind. I don't want to leave a legacy of foolishness. I want to leave a legacy of faith, but the legacy I leave and the legacy you leave will be determined by what we choose to embrace today.
What are you holding on to? What have you chosen to embrace? Are your arms wrapped around the follies of this world, or will you embrace Jesus Christ who is the power and the wisdom of God personified?
© John Stange, 2021
