22 Minutes
When we know something or someone is evil, we can take steps to fight it. With stupidity, it is much more difficult. Now please let me pause early on so that none who read this become judgmental of my use of the word stupid. Many hold this word to be offensive and brutal, thinking it means to lack ordinary capacity of mind as an insult. Reason and wisdom dictate that consideration must be contextual. And if we believe there is no contradiction in the bible, then we can wisely understand the contextual application of the word stupid. Was Jesus offensive in using the term “fool”? Are the other passages contradictory of what Jesus spoke? Using the words “stupid” or “fool” insultingly with a heart full of anger toward someone is tantamount to tongue murder. Jesus says we are to call no one raca, “worthless”. There is a difference in being worthless and being stupid. All have value to God, else the price that Jesus paid would be diminished. Fool is one, who in arrogance, rejects truth and in lacking faith says there is no God. This borders on wickedness.
Psalms 53:1; 92:6
But in studying the bible each biblical example where God calls someone a fool, you will find a righteous reason behind it. When Jesus called the Pharisees and scribes fools, he explained that they were satisfying themselves instead of giving glory to God. They glorified the gold in the temple rather than the temple of God that housed the gold, which is foolish. I know, I know, now you’re going to say “that Jesus is the judge and the lawgiver with perfect knowledge, so he is able to do what humanity cannot do”. So, if ever we use the word, it is to be based upon the principle of scripture, touching the fruit of the spiritual condition, not touching as of the mind of man, but as of the love of God, thereby judging righteously the words of the person and not the person, having no impulse toward anger. The word used in principle is not to raise passions or discouragement. It is to give prudence to the understanding.
Ephesians 4:31 Colossians 3:21 Ephesians 1:1-9
When this is done with mildness of mind and for a good end, to convince others of their vanity and folly, it is not sinful. The depth of sin in our final days requires hard, intense, compelling, and desperate language to arouse the slumbering and to awake the sleeping. Isn’t it a wonder how the bible is filled with hard sayings, truths that we find difficult to embrace. And we who are expressed believers hold this exclusivity of usage to the bible alone. Thinking that our hard words can actually be barriers to faith or justifications
for unbelief. So we grumble, we stumble, we quarrel over words. I choose to look higher. I choose to see the truth of the words as an invitation to embrace Jesus despite the hard sayings. Thank God we are not of the mind of those whom Jesus counseled to drink of his blood.
John 6: 53-70
There is the time now that God’s people must learn to look beyond the hardness of the word and recognize the deeper sense and intent to warn. Taking the kingdom by violence is both deed and word. Our faith is going to be filled with hard words and even harder actions in the last days. That is why we come to Jesus uniquely and let nothing deter us. He is the word that satisfies my soul. Embracing Jesus despite the hard sayings, the hard words spoken is the mark of those who are truly seeking Jesus for Jesus. So, if the use of the word “stupid” offends you, stop reading now and do what you will with this paper. Let the dead bury the dead.
Stupidity is worse than evil because stupidity can be manipulated and used by evil. Stupidity tends to go hand-in-hand with thinking we acquire power, that is, this power means we surrender our individual critical faculties. Stupidity has its dark side. Evil is a subversive thing, but stupidity is a different problem altogether. We cannot so easily fight stupidity for two reasons. First, we are collectively much more tolerant of it. Unlike evil, stupidity is not a vice most of us take seriously. We do not deride others for ignorance. We do not scream down people for not knowing things. Second, the stupid person is a slippery opponent. They will not be convinced by debate or open to reason. What’s more, when the stupid person has their back against the wall — when they’re confronted with facts that cannot be refuted or truth they’ve never heard — they snap and lash out.
Reasoning falls on deaf ears; facts that contradict their prejudgment simply need not be believed. In such moments the stupid person even becomes critical and when truth is irrefutable, it is just pushed aside as inconsequential, as incidental. In all this the stupid person, in contrast to the maliciously evil one, is utterly self-satisfied and, being easily irritated, becomes dangerous by going on the attack. That’s the stupid person...and when that is combined with evil!!!
Evil gives stupidity great power. Notice how stupidity and evil gives an upsurge to infect large parts of humankind. Being stupid does not disbar a person from having influence or sometimes authority. The evil person exerts the nature of power requiring people to surrender certain faculties necessary for intelligent thought, faculties like independence, critical thinking, and reflection. The more someone becomes aligned in this environment, the less of an individual they become. A charismatic, outgoing person, bursting with
intelligence and sensible reasoning ability, becomes imbecilic the moment they decide not to think independently. It’s as if they are blinded. They engage their smiles rather than their brains. These are the evil, who are deceivers in our day. It's like when people join a political party, it seems like most choose to follow suit rather than think things through. Now consider when the faith of one is influenced by comradery rather than truth. Power drains the intelligence from a person, leaving them akin to an animated mannequin. And the influence of the evil person somehow stupifies the minds of those who listen without discernment.
Stupidity has the potential to greatly damage the life. Evil is oppressive, but stupidity is much harder to weed out. That’s why it’s a dangerous weapon. Evil people have to deceive to be influential, they need stupid people to respond to them. Like sheep in a field, a stupid person can be guided, steered, and manipulated to do things they would under right consideration avoid. Evil is a puppet master, and it loves nothing so much as the mindless puppets who enable it. When stupidity takes reign, be aware. When evil is displayed, resist. That we be not evil, not ignorant, not stupid, let us submit our acquiring to God. How do we know when our learning is of God? We must be able to discern God's voice over the noise of the world. We must be able to know when the Holy Spirit begins speaking to us, when we hear God through those around us, and when circumstances and even our conscience is being approached by God. The wise will perceive God’s approaching in the pathways, events, forward dreams, feelings, inspirations, music, nature, symbols, tender mercies, thoughts and visions. He will communicate through the community of believers, prayer, scriptures, sermons, wise counsel and His very creation. And especially through the inner knowledge of one's own mind. This hearing will be determined by what faith you have. This is a truth that might give us concern. It is difficult to determine the faith of another until you hear the words they speak. The goodness of God will give you answer. If what you hear mirrors the very truth of God, you know by what measure a person’s faith is. If what you hear strengthens your faith...
John 16:13
It’s not that God is speaking to us in sound, it is that God makes His presence audible through spiritual impression. God is in the process of conforming our minds to think His thoughts. We should test every message, no matter the source. God is not intimidated by our questions. To sincerely ask for confirmation that something is of God is wisdom, not lack of faith. Trying each message is how we grow in discernment. That is why we do not frequently hear the voice of God because He is kind and it is for our best
interest, it is for our growth in faith. Consider the disciples response at the Transfiguration. Jesus took Peter, James, and John to the mount to be alone and pray. The face of Jesus shone like the sun, and Moses and Elijah appeared. After Peter sees them, he focuses on building shelters for them to stay in. Peter misses the revelation of the divinity of Christ before him. He focuses on earthly considerations - building shelters. A few verses later, God had to speak to them to tell them what the purpose of the vision was. The disciples were terrified and fell face down on the ground. This was awe inducing, terrifying, and difficult for them to process. They failed to discern the message. God so wants to grow us in our discernment that our intimacy with Him is by faith, not sight. This is God’s continual speaking to us. We are the ones who hear not, who are deaf spiritually. Now imagine when you harden your heart...
Job 33:14
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