Skip to main content

The Fool

             The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, their deeds are vile; there is no one who does good. The Lord looks down from heaven on all mankind to see if there are any who understand, any who seek God. All have turned away, all have become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one. (Psalm 14:1-3)

for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, (Romans 3:23)

I have to smile as I begin this post because after I chose the Psalm 14 passage, my mind went immediately to Romans 3:23- it’s not a great leap of intuition. I’m sure your thoughts went there, too. But a few verses before Romans 3:23, Paul quotes Psalm 14. I also have to smile because I have heard people claim that Paul (or Constantine) manufactured what we call Christianity. Just to follow the silly logic, if either of them did, they used the Old Testament for the parts. We knew that, but it’s fun to see it in action.

Now to the passage itself. Sometimes, people will quote the first sentence in order to declare atheists, agnostics, and other non-Christians to be fools. Granted, scripturally, that’s true. But why do they make the statement? Do they think calling someone a fool will convince them to change their minds? Is the goal to shame them? Yes, it is, but is it God’s goal or just the speaker’s way to put the other in his place while elevating the speaker to the heights of wisdom?

Putting the sentence back into context, as Paul does, it’s clear that we have all been, are being, or will be fools. In declaring another to be a fool, chances are good that we’re not loving them as we love ourselves, so we’re being fools if we think God is pleased with the declaration. How often do we act as if there is no God within the rest of our thoughts, statements, and actions? Even those of us who are into understanding, does understanding guide our lives? Or do we just go along with what we want or what feels good? How often do we ignore our own corruption?

And while we all tend to pride ourselves on being good, are we good according to God’s definition of good? Or just our own? Sadly, I suspect we don’t really even measure up to our own, let alone God’s. That’s why we so desperately need grace. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Saved?

  I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.” (John 10:28-30) “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, “I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ ” (Matthew 7:21-23) Not at all! Let God be true, and every human being a liar. As it is written: “So that you may be proved right when you speak and prevail when you judge.” (Romans 3:4)   What conclusion do you draw when someone who was raised in a Christian family and church, perhaps even playing a significant role in a chur...
Post a Comment
Read more

Meditations of the Heart

  May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer. (Psalm19:14)           As I started writing this post, I noted that the meditations of my heart are all over the mental landscape, from a hub where eight superhighways come together to a lunar or nuclear landscape. Do you see my error? The moment I read the word meditation , I think about thoughts. But what’s described here is the meditations of our hearts ; our wills.           While the meditations of our minds may be all over the place, the meditations of our wills tend to be a little more stable by the time we are adults. We no longer tend to want to pursue the ten separate careers we did in any given day as children. Part of this is humble acceptance of reality. We come to understand that we can’t do it all. I think another part of it is disappointmen...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Shepherd!

                 “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep . (John 10:14) God said to Moses, “I am who I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I am has sent me to you.’” (Genesis 3:14) The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths     for his name’s sake. Even though I walk     through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil,     for you are with me; your rod and your staff,     they comfort me. (Psalm 23:1-4) For the Jews, it was politically incorrect to make claims about yourself as a teacher (or possibly as anything else.) Teachers were expected to take pride in the...
Post a Comment
Read more