If there’s one thing I know, it’s that we’re all one kind of fool or another. Even the smartest, mature, most theologically-well-read people I know still say stupid stuff sometimes.
Solomon agrees with me, and in Proverbs 1, he categorizes us into different kinds of fools: “How long, O simple ones, will you love being simple? How long will scoffers delight in their scoffing and fools hate knowledge?” (Prov. 1:22) There are three categories of fools listed in this verse:
1. The Simple Fool
Some Bibles translate this word as naive or ignorant. It’s where we all start out in life. At the root of the Hebrew word for “simple” is the idea of an open door. Which tells us that a simple person isn’t a stupid person. It’s not a person who doesn’t know anything. It’s a person who knows everything, and believes it all! Proverbs 14 says, “The prudent gives thought to his steps, but the simple believes everything.”
A simple person has left the door to their heart and their mind wide open, and so all kinds of ideas about God, the world, and themselves have just walked in to their house. And a simple person just lets all these ideas kick back and chill on the sofa. It doesn’t matter whether all their ideas get along or not. C.S. Lewis once said most people are “content to have a dozen different incompatible philosophies dancing around in their head at any given time.”
That’s a simple person. You can’t decide between right and wrong, you can’t discern between good and bad. So you keep your options open. You never really commit to anything. You don’t stick with anything. You constantly float from idea to idea, project to project, job to job, church to church.
2. The Stubborn Fool
In most Bibles, it’s just translated the fool. But Solomon’s dad David defined this word for us in Psalm 14: “The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” He’s different from someone who’s simple. The simple fool says, “Well, there’s probably a God, but who could ever really know for sure what he’s like, or what he wants?” The stubborn fool knows down deep there is a God, but he willfully ignores God and just lives for himself. He doesn’t care what’s good or bad, all that matters is, “What’s in it for me?”
Proverbs 15 says, “A fool despises his father’s instruction.” If you’re a stubborn fool, you despise anyone’s instructions. You despise instruction manuals! You’ll just do it your own way. You don’t like suggestions or constructive criticism. You think you’ll do just fine all by yourself.
Proverbs 1 says a fool hates knowledge. When’s the last time you read a book? Proverbs 18 says a fool likes to give his own opinion rather than ask others for their opinion. When’s the last time you asked someone what they thought? Proverbs 10 says a fool makes a joke out of evil. … How often do you just laugh at the bad things you do?
The simple fool can’t tell the difference between right and wrong, but if you’re a stubborn fool, you take pride in going your own way and doing what’s wrong. Even if it doesn’t really benefit you. Proverbs 26 says, “Like a dog that returns to his vomit is a fool who repeats his folly.”
3. The Scoffing Fool
This kind of fool doesn’t just want to do his own (wrong) thing, he wants to stir up trouble for other people who are trying to do the right thing. Proverbs 22 says, “Drive out a scoffer, and strife will go out, and quarreling and abuse will cease.”
Have you ever been in a group where there was a lot more peace when a certain someone wasn’t around? Quarreling and abuse just ceased? Maybe in your family or a group of friends. Maybe in a community group or church. You all started to notice that when this certain person was around, everybody was always on edge, and when that person was gone, it was like a big breath of fresh air.
If you’ve never noticed that dynamic in a group before, it’s probably because you’re that person! Proverbs 1 says a scoffer delights in scoffing. You love to put people down. You love to come up with the best diss, so you can have the last word. Proverbs 9 says you hate it when people try to correct you. You’re always aware of everybody’s faults so when they bring up an issue with you, you can just turn it back around on them.
God’s Invitation
To all of us fools — simple, stubborn, and scoffing — God’s invitation is the same: “If you turn at my reproof, behold, I will pour out my spirit to you; I will make my words known to you.” (Prov. 1:23). There’s still an opportunity for us to turn away from our foolishness and turn to God’s wisdom, but we have to decide now!
Because God also has a serious warning for those of us who won’t listen: “They will call upon me, but I will not answer; they will seek me diligently but will not find me. Because they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the Lord, would have none of my counsel and despised all my reproof, therefore they shall eat the fruit of their way, and have their fill of their own devices” (Prov. 1:28-31).