Pity the Fool!

One of the dancers on this season’s Dancing With the Stars is the actor known as Mr. T. You may also remember him from Rocky III where he played Rocky’s formidable opponent, Clubber Lang, or from his role as B.A. Baracus in the 1980s TV series, The A-Team. In that series, one of Mr. T’s most memorable lines was “Pity the fool!” which he would snarl at anyone who tried to get in his way. The insult warned that the person would suffer dire consequences, something that Mr. T’s character was only too willing to dish out.

I was reminded of that line when I saw that today is April 1st, or as it is known widely, April Fools’ Day. This is the day that people traditionally pull tricks or play practical jokes on their (former?) friends and family. Such jokes can run the gamut from funny, harmless tricks that even the victim can laugh at, to harmful and upsetting stunts that are totally inappropriate. Of course, I have never done any of the latter, but I did pull off a couple elaborate ruses in my day (all of which, I hasten to add, were long before I became a pastor!).

One of my earliest stunts was making a fake letter from the oil company where my dad usually filled up his car’s gas tank. It was the only charge card he had, so I created a mock letter informing him that because he was behind in his payments, they were going to repossess his car. Then I slipped the realistic-looking envelope in with his mail, and waited for his suitably stunned reaction. My shout of “April Fool!” showed him it was all a joke – and who the guilty party was. A couple years later, I tried the same kind of fake notice from his dentist, but by then, he was on to me. That time it was not, “Pity the fool!” but rather, “Pity the fooler!”

So how does the Christian faith affect our “celebration” of April Fools’ Day and our understanding of what it means to be a fool?

1. I don’t know that we are forbidden from ever playing any kind of a joke on someone, because jokes can be harmless and can actually be enjoyable to the person being “fooled,” such as are magic tricks which “fool” us but are fun to watch. But there have to be serious limits and restrictions on them. First, because God forbids us bearing false witness against our neighbor (the Eighth Commandment – Exodus 20:16), any joke must not denigrate or insult the other person, especially in the eyes of others (which might eliminate 98% of all jokes right there!). Second, we must avoid situations which may cause physical harm (such as messing with food, drink, or a person’s car). Third, we should minimize the other person’s inconvenience, time, or expense. For example, I revealed my joke to my dad before he sent a check to the oil company. And fourth, we must be careful not to damage our Christian witness to people by alienating them or by gaining the reputation of being a “fooler” whose word can’t be trusted. In summary, whatever we do must reflect what Jesus called the greatest commandments: love for God and love for the other person.

. . . whatever we do must reflect what Jesus called the greatest commandments: love for God and love for the other person.

To that end, I think a Christian can get along just fine without ever fooling anyone, even on a day when they might expect it.

2. Being fooled by someone on April 1st, or any other day, doesn’t make you a fool. According to the Bible, being a fool or being foolish is a moral condition, and is defined by a person’s attitude toward God and God’s commandments. The essential definition of a fool is given in Psalm 14:1 and Psalm 53:1, “The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God.'” Other passages, especially in the book of Proverbs, describe the attitudes and actions of a fool: a fool despises wisdom and instruction (Proverbs 1:7), a fool comes to ruin by not receiving God’s commands (Proverbs 10:8), and a fool practices iniquity and foolishness. A fool also fails in his obligations to give food and drink to the poor (Isaiah 32:6).

The Apostle Paul is hard on all those who think they are wise, yet do not follow God. He says that thinking themselves to be wise, they become fools, because what they consider to be the “foolishness of God” is wiser than anything they hold to be wise about themselves (1 Corinthians 1:20-25). Likewise, Jesus spoke parables about fools: one was a foolish man who built his house on sand rather than a rock (Matthew 7:24-27); the other was a farmer who built bigger barns to hold all his abundant harvest, only to be told, “You fool! Tonight your soul is required of you!” (Luke 12:20).

Many things Christians do seem foolish from a worldly perspective

Many things Christians do seem foolish from a worldly perspective: turning the other cheek when offended, forgiving someone who harmed or cheated you (or played an April Fools’ joke on you like sending you a false letter from an oil company . . . ), giving 10% of your income to God’s work in the church, getting up Sunday mornings instead of sleeping in, praying to God and reading your Bible. The world says, “Pity the fools!” but God’s own word says you are practicing wisdom, and not foolishness.

As a final thought for this April Fools’ Day, I’d like to share with you the words of a young man named Jim Elliot, who in January 1956 was killed in the jungle of Ecuador by the very Indians he went there to reach. After his death (and the deaths of several other men who went there with him on that mission), their widows forgave their husbands’ killers and went to the same tribe with the Gospel their men had tried to proclaim. Foolish? In the world’s eyes, yes; but many of the Indians became Christians, including the leader who had murdered the missionaries. What the women did was not so foolish, after all: the women were following the words of the martyred leader, Jim Elliot, who had said, “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.”

May the Lord bless you and keep you, the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you, the Lord look upon you with favor, and give you peace. Amen.

Read: Matthew 7:24-29