It’s not at all unusual for us to shake our heads at the world, to bemoan the stupidity of the common man. Which is kind of weird, since we are all common men. We somehow think that we have risen above the hoi polloi. Which helps explain why we’re do stupid. We’re stupid because we are sinful. We look at the world through me covered glasses.
I want to believe what I want to believe, rather than what is true. What is true is that I am no less stupid than other people. I want to believe that I’m smarter than other people. Which is why we judge on a sliding scale. As with our own behavior, we are adepts at spying the speck in our brother’s eye while overlooking the log in our own. We think errors in our own thinking are tiny little things, not worth mentioning. And the other guy is a blithering idiot.
The difference between landing on the right answer and landing on the wrong is rarely a function of either less native intelligence or more study. More often than not it flows out of failures in our character. Pride keeps us from surrendering to a compelling argument. Prejudice hinders us from admitting we’ve erred. Desire blinds us from the obvious truth blocking us from our desired object.
We are stupid because we are the children of stupid people. Our first parents were given a one question multiple choice quiz:
The Omniscient Maker of Heaven and Earth said you ought not eat the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. A serpent said you ought to eat the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Which of the following is correct?
A. The Omniscient Maker of Heaven and Earth is correct and the serpent is wrong.
B. The serpent is correct and the Omniscient Maker of Heaven and Earth is wrong.
C. Both the Omniscient Maker of Heaven and Earth and the serpent are correct and neither is wrong.
D. Neither the Omniscient Maker of Heaven and Earth and the serpent is correct and both are wrong.
We are the descendants of the man and the woman who chose B. They failed that test before the fell. We fail the test even after we’ve been born again and indwelt by His Spirit. A man fails the same quiz every time he sins.
How do we stop being so stupid? We fill ourselves with the Word, which is nothing but the truth. Also we pray to our heavenly Father that He would strengthen us to submit to what we know is true rather than give in to what we wish were true. We ask for a humility that realizes that we haven’t yet matured beyond stupidity. And the courage to do the same. First we ask for the wisdom to fear Him.
We may be dumber than a box of rocks, but we walk with Christ, who is the unassailable rock. He will not be moved. Let us then cling to Him.