Engaging Fools

Proverbs 26-27

            Proverbs 26:4-5 offer an interesting contrast; they would be contradictory if we didn’t know that they were proverbs (generally true, not ironclad guarantees). On the one hand, we are advised not to answer a fool in his folly or we risk stooping to his level. Sounds like the modern adage, “If you wrestle with a pig, you’ll only end up cover in dirt.” On the other hand, answer him in his folly in order to expose his folly. Sometimes bad behavior has to be named. Wisdom is found in knowing when each is called for. In which situations will addressing foolishness just result in everyone being reduced to folly? In which situations will addressing foolishness lead to folly’s exposure? As an example: I hate talking about politics. People are so sure of their own rightness that they can’t hear opposing viewpoints and everybody just ends up deeper in their own echo chamber. Still, politics is part of our life and if truth is really a thing, then sometimes you have to call untruth what it is.