Four Fools

by Tom Wacaster



A fool has been defined as “one who speaks and acts contrary to reason.”   I sometimes wonder if our elected officials have decided to compete with one another on just how foolish they can make themselves appear to be!  Since when did it become so difficult to understand that you cannot spend more than you take in without digging yourself into a hole?  While attending Brown Trail Preacher Training School, one of my teachers, the late Roy Deaver, used to tell us preacher students that liberalism can be illustrated by the following:  Two men were digging a ditch while seemingly unaware that they had dug the ditch so deep that there was no way they could climb out of the hole they had dug.  When it finally dawned upon one of them of their predicament, he turned to his fellow ditch digger and asked, “What are we going to do?”  To which the other man replied, “I guess we just keep digging.”   Of course brother Deaver was speaking of doctrinal liberalism, but I think politicians fit the bill as well.

Our country has moved to the hard left in the last six years.  We are on a track to complete financial and social ruin.  Of course, we moved hard left morally speaking in the late 60's and early 70's.  We just did not know then that the seeds sown by the hippies and nurtured by the sexual revolution would produce the kind of harvest we are seeing today.   The “greatest generation” has given way to the “me generation” and the children of that selfish generation known as the “baby boomers” are now in Washington pushing for a hard left agenda that can only lead to misery for the “next generation.”  Redistribution of wealth and the spending of money that is not there seem to be the two top priorities of Washington (Congress, the House, and the Presidency).   Both of these liberal agendas are foolish.  Henry Ford knew the stupidity of such socialistic thinking and expressed his sentiments thus: “There are two fools in this world. One is the millionaire who thinks that by hoarding money he can somehow accumulate real power, and the other is the penniless reformer who thinks that if only he can take the money from one class and give it to another, all the world's ills will be cured.”  All such men are fools!  But they are not the only fools in our society.

Did you know that the Bible speaks of at least four fools?  First, there is the atheistic fool (Psa. 14:1).  This man rejects the overwhelming evidence of design that points to a Designer.  While the “heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork” (Psa. 19:1), the atheist must conclude that our world is the product of mere random chance.  He is a fool because he ignores the obvious evidence and chooses to blind himself to the truth that there really is a God in heaven.

Second, there is the rebellious fool.  Rather than revere God, such “fools despise wisdom and instruction” (Pro. 1:7).  Some simply refuse to be instructed and run head-long toward destruction.  Their life is like that of the prodigal: wasted and wanting in common sense.  This particular fool will not listen to reason, and more than likely if you try to teach him the importance of responsibility he will turn on you and quickly become your enemy in spite of every effort on your part to kindly turn him from his path of folly.  Maybe that is why the Jewish proverb, “Don't approach a goat from the front, a horse from the back, or a fool from any side” is so popular.

Third, there is the careless fool. It is not that these particular fools have some kind of a mean streak in them; it is simply that their lives are characterized by apathy, indifference, and slothfulness.  They never accomplish much because they seem to think that someone else will get the job done.  In the final analysis, these fools are useless.  Perhaps John Adams' humorous words are not that funny after all:   “I have come to the conclusion that one useless man is called a disgrace, two useless men are called a law firm, and three or more become a Congress.”

Finally, there is the materialistic fool.  Jesus told of a man who made more than adequate preparation for this life, but failed to prepare his soul for eternity (Lk. 12:16-21).  “Thou fool” is an epitaph applicable to everyone “that layeth up treasure for himself, but is not rich toward God' (Lk. 12:21).  C.S. Lewis was fond of saying, “Aim at heaven and you will get earth thrown in.  Aim at earth and you will get neither.”  Every time I drive by an automobile junk yard and see those rusted out Cadillacs, BMW's and Corvettes I am reminded that things do not last.  So why waste time laying up treasures that will end up in the junk yard in the not too distant future and will be burned up when Jesus comes again? 

Before we point a finger at the politicians in Washington and label them “fools,” maybe it would be good to take a close look at your life and ask: “If Jesus were to come today would He say to you, 'Thou fool….'?”