2 Corinthians 11:19 may very well be the most sarcastic line penned by Paul. Its meaning is quite evident, though: the wise are not to tolerate fools. Put another way, stupidity is not at all kosher. Foolishness, stupidity, and sin are almost synonymous. A fool, in the Biblical sense, is one who practices sin, as opposed to a true believer whose sins are unwanted exceptions rather than preferred. I personally like the word "stupid" over "foolish" only because it's more insulting (I hate sin!), but it's pretty much the same thing in my book. After all, one must be pretty stupid indeed to disobey the Supreme Judge, let alone make it a habit.

Valuing Constitutional government yet voting Democrat or Republican is stupid. Speeding is stupid. Cheating the IRS is stupid. Lying to oneself (e.g., cognitive dissonance) is stupid. Failing to be a Bible-believing Christian is stupid. All these things are sinful, and those who practice them are fools. What are believers to do about such stupidity?

First, believers must actively pursue and root out such stupidity within themselves. Believers never arrive at perfection so much as they are supposed to be ever growing toward it. This process involves seeking out our own sins and repenting (i.e., refrain from doing them again).

Second, believers are not to tolerate stupidity. A sin is a sin. It's not negotiable. Believers don't make the rules. The Creator did. It's not okay to allow sin insofar as something can be done about it. Does this mean believers are to point out and not allow sin in others, too? The simple answer is "Yes!" The full answer is, I'm afraid, far more complicated.

Allowing sin is not any different than being an accomplice to it. You cannot claim not to be a murderer if you sit idly by while another commits a murder you can stop. Obviously, any believer who makes a habit of pointing others' sins out to them is going to be stoned to death eventually--likely by his own friends and family. How can such a decree be made, then? The key to this ethic is recognizing the limits of our own power over others. Insofar as I can stop a murder, I am responsible for allowing it to happen. "Insofar". That's the key. Short of committing a sin ourselves, can we forcibly prevent another from sinning? Most often, no.

We needn't point to someone who hands their children over to the godless State to raise and tell them they're sinning in so doing. Well, most of the time, we don't need to. In truth, they know they're wrong! Such knowledge of good and evil is our birthright, even if it's well suppressed into our subconscious. Merely bring up the idea of homeschooling around a public schooler, and they will feel guilty, make excuses, try to find justification, and exhibit all the signs of knowledge of their sins. Nothing more needs to be said in such cases. There are those who have suppressed their knowledge of good and evil so effectively, that a bit more effort may be in order. In this example, demonstrating how homeschooling is possible for any parent is often more than enough to raise awareness. Nobody actually believes that a class of 30, taught by college losers who couldn't make it in a real degree, mastered by a God-hating government, and herded through countless years of ineffective regurgitation of fantasy and propaganda--nobody could believe this is superior to one-on-one instruction, customized curriculum, being taught by those who most love the students and wish to see them succeed, and being in a safe environment. It doesn't take much for this awareness to bubble up to just below consciousness, so a believer need not say much to his stupid friends and family for them to be made aware of their sinfulness.

Most times, merely living a Godly life (even though imperfect) is more than enough to make others around a believer recognize their own sinful stupidity (if you'll forgive the redundancy). Nevertheless, doing so (living a Godly life, being holy or sanctified) is enough to cause a believer to have few friends. After all, nobody likes to face their own sins, and anyone who makes others face their own sins will tend to be shunned.

I am not suggesting believers are to avoid direct confrontation of sin in others. Au contraire, confrontation is the name of the game. However, it can and usually should be played with finesse. Most sins don't need much to rise to conscious awareness. Some, though, may be steeped in layers of cognitive dissonance and warped worldviews. More work may be required to bring the light of truth to such stupidity. In psychobabble, an intervention may be in order. This effort needs to stick to the basics with nonbelievers; their worldviews are so screwed up, they need to fix those before they can understand how to interpret the world or their own actions. I won't go into the process of worldview correction here, merely because that's a huge topic in itself. Confronting fellow believers about their sins, though, is also important. What believer--someone who truly desires to obey their heavenly Master and Father--would want to be practicing sin? Facing your own sin may not be pleasant, but if we're God's disciples, we know it to be right. We have a duty to each other to help recognize and repent of sin. We help each other so out of love; we know they want to be Godly as we do, and we want to lovingly help them recognize sin and turn away from it.

One of the toughest aspects of intolerance of stupidity is discernment of just what is sinful. Our internal attempts to self-justify work overtime to redefine sin in ways that allow us to practice it without guilt. This is why the Word of God is so very important. It's an unmoving Rock against which our ever shifting ethics may be compared for righteousness. The goal is not to twist the Word in ways that justify our sinful desires, but to recognize God's authority therein, condemning the sin we practice. Discernment is a gift, but it's also a skill. Ask for the former and develop the latter. Dealing with sin starts with identifying it with Godly discernment. It then requires wisdom, strength, prayer, and surrender (to God's will) to exorcise sin. As our Lord Jesus conquered sin completely and forever, all our sins can be purged through repentance. It make take a lifetime, but we need not live with sin anymore. Accepting sin is not an option.

All this is well and good, but an intolerance of stupidity (sin) breeds an unpleasant side-effect (besides the loss of friends who love their sins): frustration. Believe it or not, this is a Godly emotion in this context. A hatred for sin is a good thing, but sin's seemingly perpetual presence in this fallen world ruled by Lucifer tends to arouse frustration in true believers who hate sin; after all, it just won't go away! Despite our intolerance for sin and all our efforts to root it out, it stubbornly persists, clinging on as if it didn't know it was forever defeated and will eventually see its end. This is most frustrating indeed for those who righteously hate sin. I wish I had some great words of wisdom to offer those so frustrated, but I don't. As this frustration is born of righteousness (just as Jesus' anger with the money changers at the Temple), I suspect it will simply be an ever present reality until He establishes His kingdom (or perhaps when eternity begins, since the kingdom will not be without some sin). All I can offer is this: sin will eventually see its own end, and our love of righteousness will be rewarded; until then, sin-hating believers are not alone, despite their relatively few numbers. Take some comfort in knowing this.

Believers are not to tolerate stupidity. We are to identify it, confront it, call it out, and expel it, most especially in ourselves. We can do so with finesse or more directly, as the Lord leads. Lucky for believers, there's plenty of stupidity to go around!