Even a fool who keeps silent is considered wise; when he closes his lips, he is deemed intelligent.
People, as a rule, like to blow their own trumpets. We find it near irresistible to show off our own achievements. ‘Here’s what I did! Look at me!’ We have also the inverse tendency- to dislike announcing other people, except as addendums to ourselves. We don’t like congratulating winners, not when we lost, and we are exceptionally skilled in finding excuses to keep ourselves impressive. Showing off, however, is a quick way for us to declare to the world that no matter how excellent we may be here, in this area, we’re sorely lacking in what truly matters: the riches of the spirit.
The fool, in Scriptural terms, is not merely stupid. He can be an expert in quantum physics, the stock market, and astronomy simultaneously, for all that his intellect matters. What makes a man a fool in Scriptural terms is his character. The fool is the man who does not understand or submit to God’s order for the world. He has no fear of God before his eyes (Prov. 1:7) and so his relationship with the rest of the world is warped.
The characteristic of the fool is not idiocy. The fool may be an idiot regardless, but what makes him a fool is his vice. The fool is lazy (Prov. 26:15) or hot-headed (19:11) or cowardly or gluttonous (20:1) or lustful (7:4-5), usually a combination of multiple. He loves the company of fools, for they encourage him to further foolishness (Ps. 1:1); he despises the company of the upright, for the righteous show him both in word and deed what he ought to be. As we realize in surveying these traits, we all have a bit of the fool in us.
The fool, in this verse, is not warned because he declares his own ignorance. As stated, he may be a very intelligent man, a woman skilled in the matter at hand. His weakness is this: he must declare himself great among men. For a time it can work, particularly when he truly has skill, but in the end the fundamental deficiency of character shines through. People understand, where once they were dazzled, that the man they speak to desires not righteousness, not the good of his neighbor, but only the adulation of others. He desires to be desired, a self-love built on awareness of the self’s desolateness.
Is holding his tongue a sufficient remedy? Yes and no. Proverbs, more than many parts of Scripture, provides a mix of moral admonition and amoral reality-recognition. This verse does not offer the fool a remedy for his true problem, though silence can slow down the fall. Instead, it uses his example as a ‘worst case’ illustration of a principle which is real, however regrettable at times: the one who lets others blow his trumpet is believed for much longer, on average. People perceive foolishness faster when it’s pressed into their faces.
Nor is it more than a temporary bandage. The fool who holds his tongue will seem wise for a time, but the more substantial his part in another’s life is, the clearer his foolishness will become. For all of us this is true. My family could tell you my flaws much better than the people I see in passing at an event or those I pass on the street. For the second and third, silence and politeness will often suffice to hide the fool’s foolishness, making him appear of at least average wisdom; for those who live by the fool will eventually plumb the silence’s concealment and find the emptiness at its bottom.
The solution to the root problem of the fool is not found in mere silence, though quiet is advisable. The fool, and all of us are in part the fool, must look past the symptom- his gabble and downfall- to the root cause (a course of action familiar to those who read this blog). He must look at the vice and sin which pervade him, the rot he desires. He must look at this and then turn to Christ. Christ sent out the call in Mark 1:15, saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.” Only in this gospel’s repentance and faith is the remedy of foolishness, for repentance is the only path away from sin, faith the only path apart from it.
God bless.
Written by Colson Potter
Sanctuary Functional Medicine, under the direction of Dr Eric Potter, IFMCP MD, provides functional medicine services to Nashville, Middle Tennessee and beyond. We frequently treat patients from Kentucky, Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, Ohio, Indiana, and more... offering the hope of healthier more abundant lives to those with chronic illness.
