“Wisdom has built her house; she has hewn her seven pillars. She has slaughtered her beasts; she has mixed her wine; she has also set her table. She has sent out her young women to call from the highest places in the town, ‘Whoever is simple, let him turn in here!’ To him who lacks sense she says, ‘Come, eat of my bread and drink of the wine I have mixed. Leave your simple ways, and live, and walk in the way of insight.’” – Proverbs 9:1-6
“The woman Folly is loud; she is seductive and knows nothing. She sits at the door of her house; she takes a seat on the highest places of the town, calling to those who pass by, who are going straight on their way, ‘Whoever is simple, let him turn in here!’ And to him who lacks sense she says, ‘Stolen water is sweet, and bread eaten in secret is pleasant.’ But he does not know that the dead are there, that her guests are in the depths of Sheol” – Proverbs 9:13-18
Over the last few years, I have spent time taking the words of wisdom found in the book of Proverbs and written about its application in finances and personal development. I do believe that taking these valuable nuggets of wisdom does help in bettering oneself.
That being said, there is the reality that, along with valuable words of wisdom, there are also destructive words of folly. In the marketplace of ideas, we are inundated with “advice” from all sorts of people. There are self-help gurus, social media influencers, and motivational speakers, all of whom purport to give good “advice”. To successfully navigate that landscape requires the ability not to be swayed by foolish advice. Oftentimes, the consequences of following bad advice can be far more severe than the benefit of following good advice.
“Dead flies make the perfumer's ointment give off a stench; so a little folly outweighs wisdom and honor” – Ecclesiastes 10:1
In this proverb from King Solomon, he is giving us an interesting contrast between wisdom and folly, personified as two women. Both women are standing on the highest places in the town and are calling people to enter their respective houses. Wisdom built her own home, cooked her own food, and prepared her own wine. In other words, Wisdom was able to create something of real value. She is calling people to come to her home, not only to enjoy the fruit of wisdom, but to also learn from Wisdom’s example. Folly, on the other hand, built nothing, cooked nothing, and prepared nothing. However, she seduces people to her home through attention seeking tactics. Unfortunately, for those who were seduced into her home by those tactics, once they entered in, they discovered it was all a façade.
As I stated earlier, to be able to walk in wisdom requires being able to not get sidetracked by the allure of folly, which can be easier said than done. The bells and whistles of folly are seductive, but also deceptive. No one follows bad advice because it appears bad at face value, but rather because it appears good. It’s only after the fact that reality starts to set in.
So how do we avoid falling for the traps of folly? Looking at this passage, there were a few nuggets that I think can help us to avoid being seduced by folly
- Prominence is not the same as excellence
- In the passage, both Wisdom and Folly are standing in the highest places of their town. Both are prominent; however, only one is truly excellent. If we want to avoid being tricked by foolish advice, we need to remember that something or someone being prominent does not mean that that thing or person is truly excellent. We live in an age where a person can become prominent without much skill. All you have to do is look through the various channels on YouTube and TikTok and examine some of the most popular influencers. To be fair, there are many who are truly excellent and are enjoying the rewards of their excellence. But there are also many who are not excellent but have mastered the art of getting attention. Because excellence is not a prerequisite for someone to gain prominence, we do ourselves a disservice if we assume that someone’s prominence qualifies them as a good person to seek advice from. The same principle applies in the world of investments. Sometimes the investments that receive the most prominence have the best marketing team, not necessarily the best product. Therefore, we don’t want to automatically follow someone or something simply because of its prominence.
- Looking and sounding good is not the same as being good
- Oftentimes the most foolish things can appear the most attractive at face value. I can’t count the number of “investments” that appeared enticing yet were terrible in reality. We must remember that anything that is foolish will not put themselves out there as truly foolish. They will do everything they can to appear as good as something that is actually good. In the passage, both Wisdom and Folly had a house and had food for people to eat. Yet, only in the home of Wisdom was there something of value that did not disappoint.
- Folly is vague, whereas wisdom is transparent
- In this passage, Folly is offering bread but wants the people who enter her home to secretly eat it. Why? Because Folly has something to hide. She knows that there is something she is doing that is wrong and therefore wants for the people to eat what she is offering secretly. Wisdom does not ask for her guests to eat the food in secret. That’s because Wisdom does not have anything to hide. One of the things I have learned in my career is that transparency can be a good indicator of something or someone being genuine. On the flip side, the more vague a person or a product is, the more likely it is that you’re being scammed. I can’t say that this is the case 100% of the time, but it is the case more times than not.
As you go out into the world, be ready to encounter both wisdom and foolishness. Whether it’s online, on TV, in books, or in your neighborhood, both wisdom and folly are there calling for your attention. If you listen to the appeals of Wisdom, you will experience the fruit of wisdom in your life. If you get drawn to the seductive words of Folly, you will suffer the consequences of folly in your life. Therefore, don’t let Folly seduce you with her attention-grabbing tactics. Pay attention to what Wisdom is offering and follow that.