Shepherding a Fool

Shepherding a Fool
Article by Pastor Daron Roberts

"Over the past few years I have had the privilege of teaching through Proverbs.. During this study I have been uniquely impacted by the amount of time Solomon spends describing the “fool.” In fact, Solomon stretches out roughly 70 descriptions of a fool in Proverbs alone. As pastors, while we labor to implant wisdom to the humble and help the naive put a truth-filter on their minds—as well as guard against scoffers infecting the thinking of the vulnerable—we also find ourselves regularly ministering to those who are entangled in folly. These people are either categorical “fools” (i.e., lost in their folly, rebels at the core, and in desperate need of Christ as their Savior) or they are sheep who are acting like fools and in need of tender shepherding to help them shed their foolish ways. As any pastor knows, before we can help people learn what they must put on, we must first help them identify what to put off. And for a fool (or someone being foolish) that requires specific passages applied to specific tendencies in order to help them indict themselves and grow. Based on that need, below is a list of 25 characteristics from Proverbs that have been an aid to me in pastoral ministry—and with my kids—in shepherding a fool. 

25 Characteristics of a Fool from Proverbs 

1. They rebel against authorities (10:1; 15:5; 19:13). 
2. They view their opinion as an authority over Scripture (26:12).
3. They are stubborn when instructed by Scripture (1:22; 8:5; 13:19; 14:33; 16:22; 17:10; 24:7).
4. They spout their opinion rather than receive instruction (10:8,10,14,21; 14:9; 12:15; 18:2; 23:9; 26:4-5).
5. They twist Scripture for personal gain (26:7, 9).
6. Their lives are full of unnecessary correction (7:22; 14:3; 19:29). 
7. They learn nothing from the consequences of sin (14:24; 26:11; 26:3; 27:22).
8. They do not fear God (1:22-29).
9. They are lazy (1:32).
10. They are hypocrites (17:16).
11. They are consumers (21:20).
12. They are deceptive (14:8; 18:7; 19:1). 
13. Their speech lacks love (15:2). 
14. They are impulsive (12:23; 13:16; 29:20).
15. They abuse information (10:18; 15:14; 18:6; 26:6). 
16. They are arrogant (14:16).

The Future of Pastoral Training

"What was one of the most powerful sermons Martyn Lloyd-Jones ever gave? According to his biographer, Iain Murray, it was ML-J’s address at London Bible College on May 10, 1958. His text from his AV was 2 Timothy 2:15-16: “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. But shun profane and vain babblings: for they will increase unto more ungodliness.” Some may think this merely the uncritical reflection of a hagiographer, yet the great OT scholar E. J. Young, who was present, told some students later that he had heard nothing equal to it since the death of Gresham Machen.

The mood leading up to this event was rife with tension because ML-J disagreed sharply with founding principal—and his host—Ernest Kevan, who led the school from 1946–65. ML-J believed that the uncritical acceptance of unbelieving and liberal studies did not equip students for the pastorate. It is one thing to expose students to such beliefs, yet another to raise critical questions without bequeathing the biblical and critical apparatus that dismantles such foolish and tired speculations. Kevan, for his part, promoted this widening theological posture of academic training that would be accepted by more liberal-minded denominations. For ML-J, this poison in the classroom would eventually mean death to the churches, a mistake that seminaries today continue to propagate in the name of academic acceptance.

The Doctor’s address took aim at the complete lack of concern over error in the religious world raising Paul’s warning that it “will eat as doth a canker” (2 Tim 2:17). Raising his voice to the issue at hand, “It kills, robs of life and leaves a festering mass at the end. The church today is a travesty of the word ‘church’ all because of this cancer.” The only way out, ML-J counseled, is for the seminaries to concentrate on “the word of truth,” underscoring that the name of the institution was London Bible College.

He concluded with the question, “How may the College know if it is attaining this object and rightly dividing the word of truth?” Those who are trained by such institutions, he pressed, should ask themselves these questions upon graduation:

• Are the men more certain of the truth at the end of their studies than at the beginning?
• Are they more steadfast?
• Do they know God better and desire to serve God better than when they came in?
• Have they a greater zeal for God?
• Do they have a greater love for the lost and the perishing?
• What is the purpose of doctrine and knowledge if it is not to know God? 

He then issued a warm pastoral reminder to the students,