Proverbs 16:22 ESV
Good sense is a fountain of life to him who has it, but the instruction of fools is folly.
[https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=proverbs+16%3A22&version=ESV]
Good teachers are not a dime a dozen, unfortunately. In fact, on inspection, money seems to have irritatingly little to do with teaching quality; certainly the more expensive a university, the more it seems to twist its graduates towards hell. Meanwhile, for many of us, the best teaching we ever had was from our parents- and from Scripture. As it turns out, the only reliable way to find a good teacher to learn from is to look at the teacher’s own character. A man of wisdom can teach wisdom; a man of folly can teach only folly. This truth has consequences both from who we learn from and how we live towards others.
First, we need to be careful with who we learn from, both to choose the right teachers and to adopt the right modes of learning from them. The absolute gold standard is a wise man teaching and a student, us, becoming wise by heeding his instruction, whether verbal or, just as influential, the weight of a life well-lived (Ps. 141:5; Ez. 18:5-9). From the wise we should learn by listening, by example, by imitation, and by submission to discipline, though always with remembrance of the sinfulness of man on this earth, for even the wisest sins, being not Christ (Acts 17:11). In the good blessing of God, for some this wise man is their father, this wise woman their mother (Deut. 6:7).
Every teacher is flawed, though. The wisest man sins, and many who prove great teachers in one part of life are imperfect in another, even blinded. For such men, we must at once bear grace towards them, in imitation of God, and apply discretion. For sins as well as instruction are a place to learn from others. The stumbles of the wise can be at the moment an example to caution us, a reminder of His holiness and His discipline. This is what I meant by taking care for the mode of learning.
Some men are not fit to be instructors. In the worst cases, they are fools, lacking fear of God. In the best, they are but young, children in wisdom and unsuited to guide another down a path they have barely glimpsed themselves. Discernment here is necessary. From moral fools can be learned much worldly skill; an unregenerate plumber can teach plumbing quite well, and a lawyer with the morals of a particularly disreputable shark can give his student a factual, if sticky, understanding of the underbelly of the legal profession. Learning from a fool is not impossible, so long as care is taken to remember that he is a fool, so long as we guard ourselves from imbibing his foolishness. For the instruction of a fool is folly, as this verse states, and in the end the practical skills may not be worth it (in each case, discernment and prayer are our tools). From fools, to learn by example (but not imitation), to learn by critique and by conflict, by seeing what doesn’t work, this will often be wisdom’s path, though it is a path which requires a firm foundation in wisdom.
Thankfully for us, we have one source of instruction which will never mislead us, which is of wisdom entirely and from which we can get foolishness only by making it teach our words instead of its. I speak of Scripture. In the final analysis, Scripture is our only perfect teacher, and by the grace of God in His Holy Spirit, Scripture teaches us that wisdom which is a fountain of life, as per today’s verse.
The care we take towards being taught, though, is not one sided. We must take care also with what we teach. In every interaction with another, we declare righteousness or wickedness, wisdom or foolishness. Sometimes, we are teaching explicitly. Sometimes, we teach only by example or by our failure. In all cases, though, we should take care that our testimony is to the Lord and to His glory, a life singing of faith, a life hallowed by repentance and humility, a life dedicated to Him. This is our calling, and it is glorious.
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.
