Walking with the Wise #483: Utter Idiocy

“Like one who binds the stone in the sling

is one who gives honor to a fool.”
—Proverbs 26:8

The sling was a common weapon in biblical times. And binding a stone in the sling means that the stone becomes attached to the sling and won’t launch when shot. It’s useless, pointless, and possibly harmful, simply because the sling could come back and hit you. The point of the proverb is the utter idiocy of honoring someone who is a fool. Oddly enough, when a fool is honored, others see and take note—thus further encouraging stupidity and maligning wisdom.

Paul spoke about this in the book of Romans when he wrote of the wrath of God coming upon the ungodly and unrighteous of men. He wrote,

“For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things”—Romans 1:21-23.

There was a downward spiral to their sin. Because they didn’t honor God, they became futile, their hearts were darkened, and they became fools, trading their Creator God for His creation. Therefore, God eventually gave them over to what they wanted, and they suffered the consequence of their choice. And while they knew that God had decreed death for those who continued in sin, they not only committed the sin, but gave approval to those who joined in their sin—such is the debasing and distorting character of their sin.

Sanctifying ourselves to the Lord requires us to place the entirety of ourselves under His Lordship, and then allow Him to direct us to understand, value, and condemn that which His word speaks to. We are not to give honor to a fool, but call a fool what he is—a fool in the sight of God. There is hope for repentance as we continually pray for, testify to, and love them, but we do not honor them for their foolishness. We call sin exactly that—sin. And then pray that God will grant them the repentance that leads to life as we plead with them to be reconciled with God.

Let God be God, let us honor those to whom honor is due, and let us stand for truth no matter what the cost might be. Amen.