I have often wondered about stupidity. It seems to me that stupid people spend a lot of time, well, doing stupid things. So, I guess the question is, do stupid people do stupid things, or does doing stupid things make a person stupid? Perhaps, merely doing stupid things rather than doing things to enhance our wisdom causes stupidity?
The Bible doesn't use the word "stupid" but there are 66 instances of the word "fool" and 52 instances of the word "foolish" in the Bible.
What is stupidity, or foolishness? First we must decide whether we are going to use God's definition of foolish or man's. I think a quick look around will provide enough evidence that God's definition of what is foolish will give us superior results.
If one is stupid, does one have to remain stupid? NO!
(Psalm 73:22 - I was senseless and ignorant; I was a brute beast before you.)
How can we determine what stupidity is? Forest Gump's mother would say - "Stupid is, as stupid does."
Psalm 74:18 says - "Remember how the enemy has mocked you, O LORD, how foolish people have reviled your name."
Mocking and reviling and blaspheming God's name is stupid, and is an activity that stupid people do. One might wonder then, so many so-called "liberal" theologians spend their entire careers contradicting and blaspheming God? In fact, one of Barna's recent surveys state that only about half of all the ministers in Christianity even have a Biblical world view. In other words, they themselves, contradict the words of the Bible, which means that they contradict God's Word!
Do these worldly experts know the right path to heaven?
Isn't that stupid? Yet, we (they), the so-called Christians that attend these churches, and support these false teachers provide them a means to deceive, and a mechanism, and the television studios to spread their blasphemy, AND we (they) pay for it!
Matthew 7:26,27 says - "But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”
How many liberal theologians, that contradict the words of the Bible, are we willing to tolerate? How many stupid people are we willing to listen to? Jesus said that anyone that hears His words but that does't put them into practice is a foolish (stupid) man, and that their theology doesn't have a good foundation.
Matthew 25 says that stupid people don't prepare for their heavenly future. After being frustrated daily by stupid people, I'm excited by the aspect that heaven won't be populated by stupid people! That one fact should make heaven attractive. It sure does for me!
Matthew 25:1-10
“At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish and five were wise. The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them. The wise, however, took oil in jars along with their lamps. The bridegroom was a long time in coming, and they all became drowsy and fell asleep. “At midnight the cry rang out: ‘Here’s the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!’ “Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps. The foolish ones said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out.’ “‘No,’ they replied, ‘there may not be enough for both us and you. Instead, go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.’ “But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut.
Romans 10:19 says that there can be stupid "nations". I guess that would mean that if a nation that has more stupid people than wise people would make a nation stupid. Are WE a stupid nation? It sure looks like it many times! I think that many of the stupid we have leading us astray are doing so because they truly believe that they are doing good, it's just that they don't understand what stupid is.
The movie industry has just come up with a new (stupid) rating which will warn parents of incidents in a movie that portray Christianity is a positive light! Parents are not warned of homosexuality that is portrayed in a positive light. Parents are not warned of incidents where Christianity is portrayed in a negative light. Weird huh? Stupid huh?
1 Corinthians 1:18-21
For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written: “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.” Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe.
Jesus said that the world's version of wisdom is stupidity, and those true, Bible believing Christians, are truly the wise in God's sight. Modern philosophy, most of Academia, and most of the popular culture reject those things that are considered "Christian". Apparently God sees things differently, in fact, in direct opposition to those views.
1 Corinthians 1:26-31
Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him. It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. Therefore, as it is written: “Let him who boasts boast in the Lord.”
Obviously by the words in 1 Corinthians, it is NOT the strong, the rich, the powerful, the wise-in-the-eyes-of-the-world that are the truly wise. God does not choose the same people to do His work as the world does. This is one reason that the world is so messed up right now.
One of my favorite lines in Fiddler on the Roof is when Tevia is dancing in the barn singing "If I were a rich man". One of his greatest wishes is that he would have time to study the Word more. Then he makes an interesting statement. He says that since he is now rich, that when he speaks, that people will think that he really knows what he is talking about BECAUSE he is rich.
Do we do that? Absolutely!
I remember visiting a church in East Anchorage a while back. I sat in the back, with a fairly new pair of 501 jeans on, a Norwegian hunting jacket, expensive hiking boots, and a pretty normal shirt on. I wasn't there even five minutes when this older guy sat down next to me and informed me that they had a clothing bank downstairs and that I could go there on Saturdays (or Wednesdays... I can't remember) and that they "wouldn't even ask my name or anything".
Here I am, sitting in his church by choice, but his entire preoccupation was in getting me to wear the church "uniform" so that I could fit in. I guess that getting me into a suit seemed too huge of a feat in a single encounter, so he was willing to just go for the Dockers or the Wallmart slacks. I have seen this same type of thought pattern repeated all over this country, in all different kinds of churches. Notice I am writing "churches" rather than "Churches".
James 2:1-4 Dear brothers, how can you claim that you belong to the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, if you show favoritism to rich people and look down on poor people? If a man comes into your church dressed in expensive clothes and with valuable gold rings on his fingers, and at the same moment another man comes in who is poor and dressed in threadbare clothes, and you make a lot of fuss over the rich man and give him the best seat in the house and say to the poor man, “You can stand over there if you like or else sit on the floor”—well, judging a man by his wealth shows that you are guided by wrong motives.
This type of stupidity comes from using the world's measure rather than God's measure. Many in the "Church" wonder what is going on in "churches", because it completely contradicts what the Bible teaches.
No wonder so many people are confused when they attend church. False ministers keep telling them the opposite of the truth, and then contradict the Bible with their actions!
Why do we require those attending church to dress in the clothes of worldly success, or worldly wisdom, or worldly "business" clothes? Most of the people attending church are not business people. Many people don't dress like that on a daily basis. I have always wondered if they think that God can't see them any other time, when they are not in church. Their behavior often times reflects this idea!
