Fool Judgement

(Pro 26:4 KJV) Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest thou also be like unto him.

One of the points we want to avoid when confronted with a verse like this is deciding who is a “fool” (3684).  It might be that you think of verses like,

(Mat 7:1 KJV) Judge not, that ye be not judged.

or other words of Jesus,

(Mat 5:22 KJV) But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.

As for the first verse, the context reminds us that we will be judged by the same standards as the one we are looking at.  That means that we use discernment and a knowledge of the word to declare God’s standards not ours or our culture’s.  We are still told to rebuke and correct.

The second would require more discussion but the fact that Proverbs constantly refers to fools should be part of the discussion.  I think it is safe to say that a fool is someone who rejects wisdom.  Wisdom is defined as starting with a fear of the Lord, thus for the context of this verse, we can assume that anyone who rejects the Lord is the kind of fool we would not want to follow.

So?  We cannot turn off our minds.  We are to be aware and discerning.  It may not be easy but it is required.