One of the more perplexing passages in the bible is Proverbs 26, verses 4 and 5.  Verse 4 says, “Don’t answer a foolish person in keeping with his foolish acts. If you do, you will be like him yourself.” Then verse 5 says, “Answer a foolish person in keeping with his foolish acts. If you do, he won’t be wise in his own eyes.”

Do I answer or not? Well, it all depends.  In the handbook of Bible difficulties, Geisler writes: We should answer a fool according to his folly if not doing so will leave him “wise in his own eyes.”  But, we should not answer him according to his folly if in so doing we will “also be like him.” In other words, it depends on the circumstances. Sometimes we should and sometimes we should not answer a fool. The wise man will know the difference.”

A friend said to me at Church on Sunday before the 11am service that an intelligent person knows the difference between good and bad while a wise person knows the difference between good and better. This really catches the idea of wisdom in Proverbs. Most of the decisions we have to make in life are not between good and bad. They are between good, better and best. A wise man understands and responds appropriately in each circumstance of life.

How can we do that?  Well, Proverbs main theme is that wisdom begins with “the fear of the Lord.” We must start by taking God seriously in all areas of our life. When facing a dilemma we should follow James’ advice. He says, “if any one lacks wisdom, he should ask God.”  As we read God’s words and meditate on them we begin to progressively think as God thinks. This is the pursuit of all wisdom.

Chuck
“LORD, may the words of my mouth and the thoughts of my heart be pleasing in your eyes.” Psalm 19:14