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Huh?

             Do not answer a fool according to his folly, or you yourself will be just like him. Answer a fool according to his folly, or he will be wise in his own eyes. (Proverbs 26:4-5)

When I say to a wicked person, ‘You will surely die,’ and you do not warn them or speak out to dissuade them from their evil ways in order to save their life, that wicked person will die for their sin, and I will hold you accountable for their blood. But if you do warn the wicked person and they do not turn from their wickedness or from their evil ways, they will die for their sin; but you will have saved yourself. (Ezekiel 3:18-19)

Things that make you go “Huh?” (Do not) Answer a fool according to his folly”? How do we both answer and not answer? And what lunatic put these saying together? In comparison to the “wise teachings” of many so-called spiritual guides, this one is easy.

In the first instance (do not answer) the instruction deals with the perspective of the fool. We are not to answer them according to their way of thinking. The world tells us that we are to validate people in their thinking and to effectively join them in their folly. After all, we’re to love them, right? Doesn’t that mean empathizing with them? This is why the world demands that we accommodate, accept, approve, and applaud all manner of people – or effectively to join them.

The passage from Ezekiel above warns us that not answering is an answer, and it’s not acceptable to God. If we don’t tell people they are doing wrong (especially other Christians and those closest to us) we will suffer the consequences. The alternative is to answer the fool according to his folly from God’s perspective and as God would answer them. If we do this right, this will also be from our perspective, since the goal is to imitate Him.

This requires that we first prayerfully check Scripture to make sure our answer reflects not only God’s teachings on the subject, but also God’s teachings about how we’re to treat one another. Answering a fool according to his folly from God’s perspective requires focusing on the person as valuable but the folly as vain, valueless, foolhardy, wicked, and unacceptable.

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