Theology for Everybody: Romansنموونە

There are three kinds of people - wise, foolish, and evil. Paul is wise and writes to warn foolish people about evil people. Foolish people are not malicious; they accidentally cause pain and harm. They are overly trusting, vulnerable, and gullible. They are naive. Whereas evil people operate by demonic power, foolish people operate by sinful flesh. (Wise people operate by the power of the Holy Spirit.) In Romans 8:5, Paul wrote, “For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit.”

Let’s be honest: we are all foolish at some point. We all do foolish things. Even if you are wise in one area, it doesn’t mean you are wise in every area. Foolish people are not necessarily less intelligent or poorly educated— they are just less obedient. Foolish people often offer excuses and make themselves the victims in every scenario to avoid responsibility. Today, we call this trend America. No one has a plan to fix many of our problems, but we all have excuses to turn ourselves into victims.

The lack of understanding of delayed gratification often gets foolish people into trouble. Galatians 6:7–8 says a man reaps what he sows, and a foolish person has difficulty grasping this concept. If you want to retire, start putting money in your retirement account. If you want to learn your Bible, start reading it today. If you want to have a good marriage, start sowing good habits today so you can be together in 50 years. You must sow today so you can reap tomorrow.

Have you ever noticed foolish people seem to find overly responsible people to befriend, date, or marry? Foolish people cry, “Help!” and a responsible person comes to the rescue because they see it as a ministry. In reality, this is codependency. The responsible person actually denies the foolish person the opportunity to learn responsibility.

Foolish people tend to be the life of the party. They love to have a good time, and they don’t make a change until life becomes so painful that they have no other choice. They often have to hit rock bottom. As believers, we sometimes have a grim time watching others hit rock bottom, but we need to step aside and let them, or else they will never find firm footing.

If you’re foolish and don’t move toward wisdom, eventually, you will move toward evil. Just like the fact that there’s gravity in our physical realm, there is also gravity in the spiritual realm. Everything is always going south unless you plan otherwise. If you are living in the flesh, eventually, you will be open to the demonic. You cannot have one foot in the Kingdom and one foot in the world forever. That’s foolishness and deception. Eventually, you are going to have both feet going south toward hell.

If a wise person is a shepherd and an evil person is a wolf, then a foolish person is a sheep. Foolish people need to have pastoral relationships with wise people to guide them.

Which of Jesus’ disciples was foolish? Peter. Peter often said things he shouldn’t say. On one occasion, he called Jesus “Lord” and then tried to boss Jesus around. Another time, impetuous Peter cut a man’s ear off. That was foolish. But Jesus never gave up on Peter. Instead, He pastored him. On the most foolish day of Peter’s life, the disciple denied Jesus three times. He didn’t think through the consequences, but Jesus still didn’t give up on him because He knew that Peter was not evil. The disciple was not filled with Satan like the evil Judas. Three times in John 21, Jesus asks Peter, “Do you love me?” He redeems Peter from his foolishness, and from then on, Peter acts as a shepherd in the church. Peter serves as our example that Jesus can forgive, restore, and use us when we are foolish.

Today’s Reflection

In what areas of life have you behaved foolishly?