Wouldn't I'd be great if you could have the gospel truth in the way too many Christian's take it? I mean you get all the redeeming qualities of Jesus without any expectation of repentance. You live by the creed, "just as I am", with no need for rebirth. It's your creed, your truth, your relationship with Christ. You can love yourself and others and I do mean "love" as in the sexually immoral kind of love. And Jesus isn't about renewing your mind, he's affirming your delusions and confusions. This is the gospel of love, love your way, have it your way. It's the Burger King gospel.
Proverbs 26:1-12
(vs. 5) Be sure to answer the foolish arguments of fools,
or they will become wise in their own estimation.
And haven't we seen the fruit of this truth in these recent years? Just look around at this culture and all its permissible sinful practices. Where once there was shame we now see virtue signaling against those who believe in maintaining the ways of righteousness and piety. Our culture, raised up by parents who were taught lasciviousness, have now raised up a generation of deluded fools. As coals to burning coals, wood to the fire, these people have glazed over the truth generation upon generation, and today we live with the results.
(vs. 6) Trusting a fool to convey a message
is like cutting off one’s feet or drinking poison!
And the houses of the holy with all their flattery and boasting, have poisoned the truth with provisions for vanity. They've even gone so far as to attempt to graft into the vine a cross species bud that will not take but will cause rot at the graft, poisoning the branch. The vinedresser trusted the laborers to convey the righteous spirit, and they cut themselves off, as well as those who heard them, cut off from the root. Cut off by attempting to moderate the truth.
(vs. 7) A proverb in the mouth of a fool
is as useless as a paralyzed leg.
The preachers and the choirs sang songs of Jesus' goodness and peace, while teaching the compromised truth. They dressed up their music with the semblances of wisdom, but lived out their days dazed and confused. Their gospel message paralyses the hearers in their sloughs of despair. While singing in praise to God, they sing of themselves and their own useless ways.
(vs. 8 ) Honoring a fool
is as foolish as tying a stone to a slingshot.
The priests, preachers, teachers and leaders who love to sit in their places of honor, cry out to the god of "have it your way". Their prayers are like trying to sling a stone into the air, swinging and swinging, but the stone is tied up in the sling and will not fly out. It cannot fly. They cannot fly. What one is internally is shown outwardly.
(vs. 9) A proverb in the mouth of a fool
is like a thorny branch brandished by a drunk.
The congregations are drunk in their own ways. The fool doesn't know what to do with wisdom because they've been told to continue in their ways. The fool cannot learn because no one will teach them. The lazy, due to self-satisfaction, are not motivated to do any better. They've trusted these important tasks to the fools. And in their pride they are worse than fools. So the fools damage the gospel truth with their wild thorny branches of confusion.
In many ways, it is the appetite for truth, not the food, that makes the difference, and yet the food they consume is poisonous. The wicked food ends up ruining a country morally, economically, and politically.
What can be done?
Return to wisdom. Return to God's way.
Wisdom and knowledge of the way of God brings prosperity and peace. Wisdom, not wealth and compromise, is the higher value. Justice provides the foundation for any government to govern. Concern for the poor distinguishes the wicked and the righteous. The wise, those who love mercy benefit their community, but those who mock the truth are troublemakers. When the people reject God’s revelation and inspiration, they throw off the restraints that guard life from evil. You cannot reason with these fool, not even in court. You must resist and not develop charters with them. The wise cannot make plans with fools.