Is it possible for a Christian to play a fool????

“Come and eat my food, and drink the wine I have mixed.  Turn from your foolish way, and live.  Walk in the way of understanding.”  Prov. 9:5-6  NLV

While we would admit that foolishness (folly) is sin, let us also be aware of the fact that sin is foolishness.   Whenever we choose to sin, we are choosing to play the part of the fool.

When we sin, we conclude that we are wiser then God and that we are better able to judge matters than He.   Sin is the decision to reject the wisdom of God and venture out on our own.  

In the Garden of Eden, Satan deceived Eve into believing that God’s prohibition was unwise and unkind, and that disobedience would make her wise, even God-like (Gen. 3:5-6).   Such is always the case with sin---we cannot choose to sin without rejecting the wisdom of God.    Sin is folly!

Let no one deceive himself.   If any man among you thinks that he is wise in this age, let him become foolish that he may become wise.   For the wisdom of this world is foolishness before God.

For it is written, “Stop deceiving yourselves.  If you think you are wise by this world’s standards, you need to become a fool to be truly wise.  For the wisdom of this world is foolishness to God. As the Scriptures say, “He traps the wise
in the snare of their own cleverness.”  And again, “The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise; he knows they are worthless.”  I Cor. 3:18-20  NLT

 It is possible for a Christian to play the fool.   Unfortunately, we may stray from the path of wisdom into the path of folly and sin.   David did when he took another man’s life, and his wife (II Sam. 11).   Solomon did when he married foreign wives (I Kings 11:1-4).

The passages of the NT which speaks of putting off our old man (Eph. 4:22-32, Col. 3:9-17) are the very things which we are told to put off that are the characteristics and actions of the fool.   Our old nature is predisposed toward practicing folly.

Those of us who are Christians need to look for the fool in us, not just in others.   The foolishness of our old nature must be diligently disciplined.   We must not pamper the flesh, but crucify it.   Ultimately the only solution for foolishness is the cross.

Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If any one wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up, his cross, and follow Me” (Matt. 16:24).

“Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there”.   Gal. 5:24  NLT

“My old self has been crucified with Christ.   It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me.  So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me”.   Gal. 2:20 NLT