Foolishness

 

Thursday, November 11, 2021

Timothy, guard what God has entrusted to you. Avoid godless, foolish discussions with those who oppose you with their so-called knowledge.  Some people have wandered from the faith by following such foolishness.  1 Timothy 6:20-21

It’s an amazement that tops most of the surprises I’ve had in my life – those times when I’ve been unable to resist responding to the bait.  It happens this way: 

·       Somebody poses an absurd thought in a group, or social media forum

·       Russell responds

And that’s all it takes for the foolishness to begin. 

The sense in avoiding nonsense is just about self-evident.  Paul told Timothy to avoid it; run like the wind from such nonsense.  Paul probably got a first-hand picture of the height of foolish debaters in a Sanhedrin meeting as one Pharisee tried to convince a Sadducee that there is life after death.  Or when Paul’s teacher, Gamaliel (a wise man by reputation) tried to break-up the argument of two students fighting over how many angels could actually fit on the head of a pin…proof of the proverb:

Fools have no interest in understanding; they only want to air their own opinions.  Proverbs 18:2

The crux of the issue, however, isn’t THAT we should run, but HOW to keep the motor ready TO RUN at the first sign of someone just wanting to drag you into the bottomless pit of argument.  I have my share of blind-side issues.  I tend to focus deeply on what I’m doing.  When preaching, I focus so much on the moment and delivering God’s Word that I often miss what’s going on around me.  I’ve been told a toddler could bite me on the ankles when I’m in sermon-mode, and I’d never even notice the blood or pain.

So what do you do when your nonsense-detector isn’t exactly up to speed?  How do you avoid being dragged into the foolishness of empty chatter?  There is only one way I’ve found, and that is what I’m doing right now…meditating on what God’s Word says about it, bathing my spirit in the things of God, so that anything other than Godliness sets up an odor like a landfill.

For You Today

Making progress in your journey through this life as a child of God will never be served by trying to teach those who enjoy foolishness.  You’d have more success trying to teach a rock how to dance.

After enough foolish arguments, avoiding that trap becomes a lifestyle!

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!  

[1] Title and Other Images:  Pixabay.com  Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation^©