Fact-checking foils fate of the foolish

I suspect most of us have survived and adjusted to what many consider the foolishness of springing our clocks forward for daylight saving time recently.

April Fool’s Day is looming this Saturday. At least that only comes once each year, while the clock “foolishness” happens twice.

We’ve all likely heard the saying, “Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me.” Balaam’s donkey saved him from certain death three times before he accused her of making a fool of him at which time she reminded him she’d been faithful to him throughout the past and had never acted like that before, implying he should have realized there was a problem rather than acting foolish (Numbers 22:21-34).

While on first read it appears as though Balaam was only doing as God instructed him, but God knows everyone’s heart and he needed to get Balaam’s attention, and even then, in the end Balaam turned out to be the fool God knew he was (Proverbs 15:11; Revelation 2:23; Numbers 22:1-20; 25:1-18; Joshua 13:22; read Numbers chapters 23 and 24 to see that God caused Balaam to bless Israel instead of curse them as he wanted to for profit; 2 Peter 2:15).

The Bible says a lot about foolishness from multiple standpoints. But, first, in my opinion, while some people can make us look better than we actually are, in most cases, no one can make us look bad (like a fool) because foolishness is self-inflicted when all our mental faculties are intact.

So, when we look bad, it’s usually because we’ve allowed ourselves to be blinded by the evil desires of envy and greed (Proverbs 15:27; Luke 12:13-21; Colossians 3:5-6; James 3:13-18; 4:1-3). This was the rich farmer’s problem: He didn’t recognize that his blessings came from God and give proper credit because his god was his stomach (1 Corinthians 3:6-7; Philippians 3:19; Psalm 14:1). Even Christians can fall into that trap (Luke 8:4-15, especially verse 14; 1 Timothy 6:6-12, 17-19).

While a fool is one who disregards God, Jesus warned us to be careful of calling anyone a fool (Matthew 5:21-22). As best as I can tell, the only person called a fool in the Bible was that farmer. Even Abigail didn’t call Nabal a fool, just that he acted like one thereby matching his name (1 Samuel 25:25; I couldn’t imagine anyone naming their child that).

Jesus described those who heard his word but didn’t put it into practice to become prepared for his return as being foolish (Matthew 7:24-27; 25:1-13; James 1:22-25; 2 Timothy 2:15). This includes anyone who reads their Bible without the Holy Spirit’s guidance or listens to a sermon without verifying what they’re being taught (1 Corinthians 2:10-16; Acts 17:11).

Fact-checking politicians has become popular. Everyone should be fact-checking their preachers and teachers using the Bible as the source of truth as the only way to avoid the fate of the foolish.

Are you a preacher fact-checker?

Leonard Lauriault is a member of the Church of Christ in Logan who writes about faith for the Quay County Sun. Contact him at [email protected].