mgpcpastor's blog

I’ve recently had cause to think about two verses from the 26th chapter of Proverbs.
Here they are:
[4] Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest you be like him yourself.
[5] Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own eyes.
On first glance these verses may seem contradict one another, but what they really do is point out the lose/lose nature of encounters with a certain type of person.
A fool in biblical terms is not necessarily a stupid person incapable of learning.
A fool is someone who is full of their own opinion and won’t learn anything else.
They’re unteachable, but at the same time believe everyone should learn from them.
The proverb points out two outcomes of encountering them: Should you allow yourself to be sucked into debating one, you’re simply wasting your time and theirs; and, if you don’t get sucked into debating them they’ll assume it’s because they’re right and you couldn’t prove them wrong.
What are we to make of this lose/lose scenario?
Well, don’t be a fool.
Don’t waste your time on them, and don’t feel bad about their continued assertions of being correct and that you were unable to prove them otherwise.
If you ignore this principle you’re imposing your own incorrect notion on such situations, will end up wasting a lot of time, and won’t learn.
In other words, you’ll be behaving foolishly.
And the primary aim of the Proverbs is to teach the teachable, so be teachable on this matter.
When someone gives you their latest twelve page production on some matter of minimal importance, just hand it back and tell them that God has told you not to read it, or to engage with them about it.
If they ask how God told you this, give them the reference to Proverbs 26:4&5.
And try not to feel any sense of burden about having done so.
There are too many people who genuinely need the help and support of pastors without the inordinate and disproportionate amount of time that gets wasted in these sorts of situations.

Denny Burk has produced a helpful blog post which deals with the issue of interacting with folk who leave unhelpful comments on blogs and forums. In internet slang they’re called ‘trolls’. The same principles can be applied to face to face, real life relationships as well.

1. Do not fail to recognize a blog troll when he appears. A blog troll is someone who makes outlandish, rude, and offensive comments. A blog troll is not someone who simply disagrees with you. In fact, you might even find yourself involved in a thread in which the troll agrees with your point of view! The issue here has less to do with the substance of a debate than it does with the tone. Blog trolls are often prone to unqualified hyperbole, name-calling, caricature, and insults. In short, the blog troll fits the profile of the Proverbial “fool” who is not able to control his tongue.
Proverbs 18:2 – “A fool does not delight in understanding, But only in revealing his own mind.”
Proverbs 12:18 – “There is one who speaks rashly like the thrusts of a sword, But the tongue of the wise brings healing.”
Proverbs 15:2, 4 – “² The tongue of the wise makes knowledge acceptable, But the mouth of fools spouts folly…⁴ A soothing tongue is a tree of life, But perversion in it crushes the spirit.”

2. Do not respond in kind to a blog troll. Blog trolls feed on arousing the ire of their targets. If you feed a blog troll by equaling his vitriol, then he will come back for more. Instead, think of ways to speak kind words in all your communication with a blog troll.
Proverbs 26:4 – “Do not answer a fool according to his folly, Lest you also be like him.”
Proverbs 15:1 – “A gentle answer turns away wrath, But a harsh word stirs up anger.”

3. Do not expect a blog troll to receive correction. The Proverbs teach that “fools” are very limited in their ability to receive correction. This is not to say that you should never engage a troll. It is to say that you need to be careful before casting your pearls before swine.
Proverbs 17:10 – “A rebuke goes deeper into one who has understanding Than a hundred blows into a fool.”
Proverbs 27:22 – “Though you grind a fool in a mortar, grinding him like grain with a pestle, you will not remove his folly from him.”
Along with this, do not demand apologies from a troll. This tactic generally encourages him to dig in and to defend the righteousness of his cause all the more. This leads to more rude and caustic commentary, and the cycle starts all over again.
Proverbs 12:15 – “The way of a fool is right in his own eyes.”

4. Do not attempt to rebuke the blog troll in a public forum. That only leads to more nasty conflict. If you feel that you have been wronged, then the private confrontation of Matthew 18:15 may be the best way forward. Try to get the blog troll’s e-mail address, and resolve the matter there. Sometimes you can accomplish more in private where folks tend to feel less of a need to save face. If the troll responds nastily to private correction, you and everyone else can be thankful that the outburst took place out of public view.
Matthew 18:15 – “And if your brother sins, go and reprove him in private; if he listens to you, you have won your brother.”

5. Do not acknowledge the comments of an unrepentant blog troll. If the blog troll is unresponsive to your private efforts to get him to play nice, you should ignore his comments thence forward. Once again, do not feed a blog troll. It only makes him bigger. If everyone will simply pay no attention to blog troll comments, the blog troll will eventually go away.

6. Do not be a blog troll. Instead, aspire to this:
Colossians 4:6 “Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned, as it were, with salt, so that you may know how you should respond to each person.”