Distorted Wisdom - Brendan Hurley - 14th June 2026

Well, if you could keep your Bible open to Proverbs

26 and let's pray, let's ask God for help as

we look at His Word now. Gracious Heavenly Father,

we thank you that you give us wisdom and we pray,

Father, that you would help us to see what true

wisdom looks like. Guard us against the distortions

that exist in this world. That we may live joyful,

godly lives, trusting you until Jesus returns.

And we ask this in his name. Amen. Well, as a

kid I grew up in Sydney and occasionally we'd

go to Luna Park. and at Luna Park you've got

the Big Dipper, or they used to back then, there

was the merry -go -round, the showbags, which

was just a genius idea to find another way to

make you part with more of your money once you'd

already paid for a ticket. But one of the fun

attractions I remember was Coney Island, a old

school fun house, and in there they had those

special mirrors. You know those ones? They don't

reflect reality. They distort it. And some were

quite good. I really like the one that made me

look taller and skinnier. But as nice as that

was, and as nice as it was to imagine, it wasn't

real. It was a distortion. Now, it's a bit of

fun going to the fun house and looking at the

mirrors, but if you used those sort of mirrors

in regular life, that could be incredibly dangerous,

couldn't it? Imagine your rear view mirror was

one of those distorted mirrors, or your reverse

camera, you know, if you're that way inclined.

It would lead to a praying, wouldn't it? Or if

you're here and you've got glasses, you know

what it's like, how much... How much better it

is living in a world with glasses on, because

your vision is naturally distorted. So having

it corrected makes life so much better and safer,

doesn't it? Seeing reality as it really is, is

important. And that's what wisdom is meant to

do. Wisdom is meant to help us see reality as

it really is. It's meant to be like a reality

mirror, but like the good kind in the bathroom

or in your walk -in wardrobe, you know, it's

there to reflect to you what is actually going

on. But there are forms of wisdom today that

are like those distorted mirrors. They don't

reflect reality, they warp it, they twist it.

They're distortions that masquerade as wisdom.

But they're actually made up of mirages and half

-truths and lies. And they cause great harm and

hurt. Are you aware of them? What distortions

would you likely be caught out by? Are there

any that have got a hold on you now? Well, Proverbs

26 makes us wiser by exposing that distorted

wisdom of the world. And there's going to be

one big thing that we see today as we look at

Proverbs 26. Don't be fooled by folly when it

masquerades as wisdom. What's Proverbs 26 saying

to you today? Don't be fooled by folly when it

masquerades as wisdom. And there's four types

of folly, four of these distortions that we're

going to look at. Do not honour the fool. Do

not envy the sluggard. Do not ignore the agitator.

And do not trust the flatterer. Do not honour

the fool. Do not envy the sluggard. Do not ignore

the agitator. And do not trust the flatterer.

So let's look at the first one. Do not honour

the fool. See, folly looks so good today. The

fool rejects God and his wisdom, he does whatever

he wants or whatever she wants. And it looks

like freedom. I get to do whatever I want, how

good's that? But it's not freedom, it's actually

a damaging distortion. And so to honour someone

who's doing that is actually a really unhelpful

thing. Have a look at these verses. Like snow

in summer, or rain in harvest, honour is not

fitting for a fool. Or like tying a stone in

a sling is the giving of honour to a fool. How

good is that imagery? Snow in summer, rain in

harvest. It's saying it's not good for the crops.

It's actually really damaging when you have things

not fitting for when they're meant to be. And

when you've got a fool... who's getting honoured,

that's not fitting. The fool should not be honoured.

They should be restrained. They should be corrected.

They should be told to quieten down. But when

you have fools honoured in a community, it's

actually really bad. It gives the impression

to people that rejecting God and his wisdom is

good. Or tying a stone to a sling. So you've

got your sling. You know, you're spinning it

around above your head, but you've tied the stone

to it. Think about, you know, the physics of

that. How's that gonna go? The sling won't work.

The sling's meant to cast the stone at someone

else. But if you've tied the stone... ..boonk!

..on your own head, it won't work and you'll

hit yourself. That's the picture. Honouring a

fool... undermines your goals, undermines what

you're trying to achieve and will likely harm

you. See, honour is meant for the honourable,

meant for the wise and the just. Because honour

shows us who to admire, who to value and who

to copy. But if fools are on it, people think

folly is not damaging and harmful. They start

to think it's actually wise. Think of Johnny

Knoxville and the Jackass franchise. Have you

ever come across that? It was a TV show in 2000

that spawned three seasons of TV shows and a

bunch of movies. I think they even made a video

game. And it's all about painful, ridiculous

stunts and pranks. They'd get people in a shopping

trolley and push it down a massive hill and see

how hurt they can get. It was all sorts of stupid

stuff like that. It's absolute folly, yet it's

on it. Watched by many, it made millions and

millions of dollars. And actually many people

were severely injured and some even died copying

some of the stuff in it. Here's something that

masquerades as wisdom. Oh, it's freeing, it's

fun, you know, you're hanging out with your mates,

having a good time doing stupid stuff, but it's

actually harmful. And it happens all the time

in our society, whether it's adultery, whether

it's violence, whether it's greed, whether it's

some other thing. All sorts of folly gets on

it in the media, on it by people. And so it's

so easy for us to go... Oh yeah, that's actually

pretty good. If I want to get ahead in life,

I've got to be like them. No. No. Folly should

not be honoured. It distorts reality. Be on guard

against it. So if we don't honour it, what do

we do instead? Well then, folly should be restrained

and corrected. Have a look at these verses. A

whip for the horse. a bridle for the donkey and

a rod for the back of fools. Do not answer a

fool according to his folly or you yourself will

be just like him. Answer a fool according to

his folly or he will be wise in his own eyes.

So it's saying fools, rather than being honoured,

they need to be restrained and managed. Give

them a short leash, not a platform. And then

you get this funny little one here where it seems

like it's contradictory, doesn't it? You know,

don't answer a fool according to his folly. Oh,

answer a fool according to his folly. It's not

contradictory, it's a contextual response. So

it's a bit like, you know, when you say, too

many cooks boil the broth. You know, in a context

having too many people trying to lead it and

control it, it just, it ruins it, doesn't it?

But then you have other proverbs like many hands

make light work. And we go, oh, that's a good

bit of wisdom. Not in the Bible, but good bit

of wisdom, isn't it? They're not contradictory,

but you've got to know when to appropriate each

one into life, don't you? Sometimes too many

cooks, come on, let's get less people on this

one. Sometimes it's like, let's get more people

on that helping out. Well, it's like that here.

The first one, do not answer a fool according

to his folly, is saying, Avoid the fool or you

yourself will be just like him. Avoid them. If

you go in and do what they're doing and engage

with them and get into, you're gonna sink to

their level. They're gonna bring you down. So

don't engage. But then the second one saying

there are times in life where the fool needs

to be corrected. Because otherwise they're going

to be wise in their own eyes. You know, not only

a fool rejecting God, but they're going to be

so stubborn and hard -hearted in it. That's what

wise in their own eyes is about. That they're

going to be so stuck. They're going to be like

a cancer to the community and dangerous to themselves.

So call it out. Sometimes the right thing to

do is to talk to them and rebuke them. Now how

does this play out in our lives? Well, I think

this is telling us we've got to be thoughtful

and careful about how we choose to respond to

folly, and it's a warning to not be foolish ourselves.

But especially how we respond to folly. We don't

want to honour fools. We want to see through

that. We want to see actually there's a different

way we approach them. So let me give you some

examples how this might play out. your spouse

might be raging at you. They're just angry and

upset and they're yelling at you and it's folly,

right? It's folly. And so the temptation is that

you want to yell back. What would that be? Be

sinking to their level, wouldn't it? It would

be being just like them. Do not answer a fool

according to his folly. So the best thing to

do is to Walk away. Say, we can talk about this

in 20 minutes, but once everyone's calmed down.

Walk away. Or maybe you're there on Bookface,

you know, on the internet. What is it? Bookface?

Something else. And someone says something rude,

and you feel your keyboard warrior -ness rising

up within you. No, don't answer a fool according

to their folly. Give a thoughtful measured response

or say nothing at all. Or maybe you see a growth

group member drifting away into the things of

this world and you give them a phone call and

you lovingly rebuke them. There's a time to call

it out, isn't there? There's a time to avoid

a time to call it out. Or maybe sometimes we

restrain. You know, maybe your kids are watching

some famous influencer on the telly or on YouTube

or something and they're pushing some selfish

ideology, you know, look out for number one and,

you know, all this sort of stuff and you sit

down with them and you question it and you go,

oh yeah, what do you think about that? And you

say, maybe we need to watch a little bit less

of them. You know, there's all sorts of things

you can do, tools that we've got to use depending

on how we're going to deal with this folly. But

we don't honour the fool. They're distorting

reality. They're trying to drag us into their

distortion. So instead, we've got to thoughtfully,

carefully think about how to restrain and correct

folly when we see it. But folly is not the only

distortion to watch out for. There's another

one that we need to address. Do not honor the

fool, but also do not envy the sluggard. The

life of a sluggard or a lazy leech can appear

really wise. I mean, think about our world. Our

world is stressful and dangerous. How good would

it be to just stay home, sleep in, binge Netflix?

Oh, so good. So it would be easy to envy the

sluggard and copy them. But the slug life isn't

as sweet as it first appears. It's a warped wisdom.

It's a distortion of reality. Have a look at

these verses. A sluggard says, there's a lion

in the road, a fierce lion roaming the streets.

And as a door turns on its hinges, so a sluggard

turns on his bed. A slugger buries his hand in

the dish, he's too lazy to bring it back to his

mouth. A slugger is wiser in his own eyes than

seven people who answer discreetly or sensibly

as some other translations have it. So notice

how things get worse and worse for the slugger.

Their irrational fears keep them from leaving

the house. But then they can't even leave their

bed or they get so worn out they can't even bring

food back to their mouth. The picture here is

of someone whose world becomes smaller and smaller

and smaller. They lose capacity to function.

But they think they're being wise. Because they're

going, I'm keeping myself safe. I'm nice and

comfortable. You know, nothing's going to get

me if I'm in here. Do you know, it reminds me

a bit of the dystopian humanity in that Disney

movie, WALL -E. Remember that? They're floating

around in little chairs all over the spaceship.

They won't leave their chairs. They won't look

past their screens. Lunch is given to them in

a cup because it's more convenient. So you don't

get your burger as a burger. You get your burger

in a cup. They miss and stop experiencing the

world because it's safer and comfier and easier

not to. And when you see what they've become,

it's not enviable, is it? It's actually sad.

But what's worse is I reckon this is like a bit

of a mirror to us today, isn't it? Modern technology

more and more is conditioning us to be sluggards.

I mean, it feels so convenient and helpful having

your phone there all the time, doing so much

for us, but our phones and our screens and so

many of these other things, they're changing

us. I mean, with AI, one of the things they say

about AI is that, yes, it's such a great tool,

but it's actually causing people to stop thinking

for themselves. All our tech, we've got to be

careful with it, don't we? There's a distorted

wisdom where we rely so much on it that we actually

lose who we are. Maybe for some of us this is

a little reminder, now and again it might be

good to reduce the screens or even have a screen

fast. But it's not just technology. Sometimes

it's retirement that makes sluggards of us. You

stop working, you retire, you get out of routine,

and all of a sudden your world starts to shrink

more and more and more. That can be a real problem,

can't it? Sometimes it's young folk who have

the problem. I'm trying to be fair to everyone,

you know. We've all got issues. But sometimes

they're allergic to work. They just want to party.

That's not good either. And now you can just

party from home all the time because everything's

on demand, isn't it? Now, in many situations,

a firm line or rebuke is needed. And that's what

Paul does in 2 Thessalonians 3. 2 Thessalonians

3 .10, he says if someone's not going to work,

they're not going to eat. You know? There's a

helpful rule there, going sometimes boundaries

just need to be drawn so that people learn you

can't keep living like that. But at the same

time, we need to be careful. Because we can go

too far the other way. Some people look like

sluggards, but aren't. Some people have health

conditions, you know, chronic fatigue or burnout

or something like that. My wonderful wife Laura

has struggled with chronic fatigue. And I can

tell you, after being married for 16 years, she

is the hardest worker I know. She is no sluggard.

There are people like that who struggle and they

don't need shame and pressure, they need compassion

and support. Sometimes shame and pressure actually

backfires and makes things worse. I think it's

important that we discern who's who. Sometimes

there are sluggards who don't want to work Their

world's getting smaller and smaller. They've

got irrational fears. That's a different kettle

of fish to someone who really wants to work and

their body's letting them down. We need to be

discerning. But this is also a challenge to us

to not envy. It's saying, let's wake up to the

fact that modern life is trying to make us more

and more comfy and lazy in a lot of ways. Let's

not see that as a purely good thing. Let's see

that there can be a distortion there that needs

to be dealt with and avoided. But just as there

are many mirrors in a fun house, there are many

distortions of wisdom. And so we've got another

that we need to deal with. Thirdly, do not ignore

the agitator. Do not ignore the agitator. Have

a look at these verses. Like one who grabs a

stray dog by the ears is someone who rushes into

a quarrel not their own. If you grab a dog by

his ears, how's it gonna go? You got about a

moment of safety until they turn and bite on

you, don't they? Or like a maniac shooting flaming

arrows of death is one who deceives their neighbour

and says, oh, I was only joking. See, this is...

talking to us about the agitator. Some folk insert

themselves into arguments where they're uninvited.

They think they're wise and helpful because,

hey, I'm coming along and I'm sorting everything

out. But it's a distortion. They're not sorting

anything out. They're putting themselves in the

crosshairs, aren't they? And some lie, which

is already a distortion of reality. But if caught,

They distort it further by just saying, oh, I

was only joking when they really weren't. It's

the same with gossip. Gossip seems wise. Oh,

I've got my spies, and they're going to tell

me all the juicy insider information. And you

know what? Sometimes there might be wisdom in

that. But if their words are unloving and untrue,

or even half true, that's not helpful. It's harmful.

Because often they cause more fights than they

snuff out. Have a look at these verses. Without

wood, a fire goes out. Without a gossip, a quarrel

dies down. As charcoal to embers and as wood

to fire, so is a quarrelsome person for kindling

strife. They light it up wherever they go. The

words of gossip are like choice morsels. They

go down to the inmost parts. In Broken Hill,

when we were living there, it would get really

cold in winter. And so sometimes what we'd do

is we'd have a fire pit in the backyard with

the kids. And me and the kids, we'd go and collect

wood and kindling from a nearby bush area. And

we needed it to get the fire going. And we'd

keep it going. We'd just add more wood and cook

up some of those delicious s'mores. You know,

with the digestives and the marshmallow. It's

good. But that fire pit scene sums up what gossips

and agitators are like. See, some people are

like kindling. They like fires. They just light

fires all the time. As soon as they go anywhere,

it seems like another fire is about to set off,

isn't it? Some people are like gossips. They're

like logs. They fuel fire all the time. They

fuel quarrels. And some are like my kids with

smores. Anytime there's a juicy word of gossip,

we go, yum, I can't wait to hear it. And people

who do this, no one's there thinking, well, I'm

being really foolish right now. They think, I'm

being really wise. I'm raising issues. I'm sharing

what I'm feeling. I'm, you know, I'm keeping

alert to what's going on, all of it. But actually

it fuels conflict. Now what makes this so hard

is that there is a time to intervene. There is

a time to speak up. There is even a time to pick

a fight. Think of Jesus turning the tables in

the temple. There is a time to do it. But if

that's a constant pattern, if you're always asking

to see the manager, if you're always going, I

can't wait to hear another tidbit of what's going

on, it's okay, we'll just call it prayer points.

If these are your patterns, that's not wise.

Now I see some of these patterns, occasionally

popping up in me. I don't know, do you see any

in yourself? We mustn't ignore it. If it's in

us, we've got to do that hard work and work out,

what's driving it? What's making me want to do

this? And if it's happening in others, we need

to call it out and go, hey, I don't want to be

part of that. You're there at work and someone,

you're standing at the water cooler. if you've

got a water cooler. You're standing at the water

cooler and, you know, someone comes over, oh,

did you hear what happened with Smith the other

day? Da -da -da -da -da. And what do you do?

You can go, oh, yeah, look, I don't really want

to be part of that. I'm just going to stay out

of it. And you walk away. There's so many options,

isn't there? You could say, oh, actually, I think

Smith's a pretty good guy. There's all sorts

of things you can do that stop you from engaging

in that sort of agitating behaviour. What are

you going to do when that sort of thing crops

up? But that's not all the distortions. We've

got one more. Our final one is do not trust the

flatterer. Do not trust the flatterer. See, flatterers

have a warped wisdom. They want to tear someone

down. Rather than sorting out the hate in their

hearts and what's going on within them, which

would be wise, they just want to tear people

down. And if they were open about it, at least

you could try and work out some reconciliation

or something. But they hide it under charm and

smooth talk and flattery. And it looks really

strategic. I'll hide it. I'll just say nice things

until I can get to them. It's patient and calculating.

I mean, those are the sort of things that we

think, yeah, that sounds pretty wise, but it's

not wisdom, it's a distortion. Have a look at

what Proverbs says. Like a coating of silver

dross on earthenware, a fervent or smooth lips

with an evil heart. Enemies disguise themselves

with their lips, but in their hearts they harbour

deceit. Though their speech is charming, do not

believe them. For seven, which is like complete,

you know, the full amount, seven abominations

fills their heart. Their malice may be concealed

by deception, but their wickedness will be exposed

in the assembly. Whoever digs a pit will fall

into it. If someone rolls a stone, it will roll

back on them. A lying tongue hates those it hurts,

and a flattering mouth works ruin. Now I reckon

verse 27 is pretty key there. Whoever digs a

pit will fall into it, and if someone rolls a

stone, it will roll back on them. And when I

read that, I couldn't help but think of one person.

Wally Coyote. It's saying that hateful flatterers

are like Wally Coyote. Remember how he's there,

he's always trying to catch the road runner and

he sets up these elaborate traps and, you know,

he gets it from ACME and he sets up this trap

and it always backfires on him. There's always

this poetic justice, you know, he tries to get

him off the cliff and he falls off the cliff

or whatever it might be. He's always caught in

his own traps. And Proverbs is saying, what happens

to those that hate the godly is that they fall

into their own trap. God won't always let it

stand. Whether it's now, whether it's in eternity,

he will deal with it eventually. But with that

said, in this life, the wise still need to be

on the lookout for such hate -filled flattery.

They need to be the sort of people who don't

practice it as well. But they need to be wary

of such deceit toward them. And part of being

wary is working out what's going on within me

that makes me want to believe it. That makes

me believe that someone's on my side when they're

not. I mean, I've been burned by flatterers plenty

in my life. And you'd think I would have wised

up by now, but no. I don't. I think part of it's

because I wear my heart on my sleeve and I often

assume that others do the same. So I take people

at face value, especially when they're complementary.

But as I get a little older and a little wiser,

I start to spot the vague praise. I start to

spot the strings attached. I start to spot the

words that don't match the actions. The way that

they compartmentalise what they say to me, but

then say something different to someone else.

And I go, I need to be a bit more careful. I

need to be a bit more discerning. Actually, that's

something we all need to do, isn't it? There

are plenty of people out there who will talk

nice to your face, but stab you in the back.

It's a challenge. It's a challenge to try and...

Be discerning and then do what Jesus did and

love your enemies even if they treat you like

that. So let's wrap up. We asked, what does distorted,

warped wisdom look like? And we saw today four

things. Do not honour the fool. I don't think

the fool's got it made, they don't. Do not envy

the sluggard. The sluggard's not living the good

life. They're actually getting worse and worse.

Do not ignore the agitator. We shouldn't put

up with that sort of thing, gossip and things

like that, and we don't want to be doing that

ourselves. And do not trust the flatterer. Don't

buy into people's smooth talk. I mean, hey, there's

a place for encouragement. Let's not go so far

the other way, but be wary, be discerning. See,

Proverbs is teaching us to be wary of these things

in others because folk like this who do these

things, these distorted wisdoms, will bring you

down. But it's also saying to be wary of it in

ourselves. Yet no matter how well on guard we

are, we all struggle with these things and fall

short, don't we? We all still get seduced and

hurt by these distortions of wisdom. We often

look at them and think yeah, that is wise. We

think folly is wisdom. And I could spend an eternity

trying on my own and I would still make the same

mistakes again and again and again. But that's

why Jesus came. He came to save us from our folly

From the warped and distorted wisdom on of this

world and we see this in his life and his teaching

To have a look at those four things Do not honor

the fool. Well, Jesus didn't honor the fool he

exposed the folly of the religious leaders in

his day and that was a pretty gutsy thing to

do because in his day the religious leaders were

the honoured ones weren't they but he challenged

them oh Jesus you're you're going to heal this

guy on the sabbath yep yep no i'm going to because

shouldn't we save life that that's that's what

we're here to do isn't it oh you do that with

your animals but you're not going to do that

with a person He exposed the folly of the religious

leaders. He went, I'm not going to honour that,

I'm going to expose it. He wouldn't envy the

sluggard. He actually warned about the envy of

the rich and the comfortable. He warned about

spiritual sluggishness. Do you remember in Matthew

25, you know, there's a lazy servant, Jesus,

they're saying, don't be spiritually lazy. take

seriously the things of eternity. Or he wouldn't

ignore the agitator. I mean, just think about

the number of quarrels Jesus had to sort out.

And who with? Usually his disciples. Oh, who's

greatest? Well, no, I'm great. And there he is.

And hey, guys, actually, greatness is completely

different to how you think. It's about serving

others. Oh, yeah. Jesus comes in and he sorts

it out. And sometimes, though, he'd withdraw.

When the Pharisees and the religious leaders

are trying to agitate him, he'd sometimes give

an answer, he'd sometimes withdraw into the desolate

places. He did what Proverbs was telling us to

do. He was very thoughtful about how he approached

those sort of things. And he wouldn't trust the

flatterer. There's so many times where the religious

leaders would come to Jesus and they'd say, oh,

you're such a brilliant teacher, Jesus. Oh, you're

the best teacher around. And he'd go, no, no,

no, I see through what you're doing. You're trying

to trap me. See, Jesus did these things, but

why? Because he was doing it to save us. We see

his wisdom ultimately in his death and resurrection.

Because it's there he saves us from the ruin

of our folly By experiencing God's judgment for

us poured down onto him for our sin for our folly

You know what Jesus was like at the cross? It

would be like the roadrunner Springing the trap

on himself to spare Wiley Coyote But that's what

Jesus did And he proves that fools and flatterers

won't triumph because he rises again in glorious

majesty, showing that the way of God's wisdom

truly is the right way. So what's this mean for

us? It means don't be fooled by folly when it

masquerades as wisdom. Now if you're here today

and you're not yet a Christian, Can I suggest

to you the wisest thing you can do if what I'm

saying is true is submit to the Lord Jesus? And

if you're not sure if Jesus really is Lord, can

I suggest you get curious? Read Mark's Gospel.

We've got copies up the back. Grab one of these.

Read it. Come have a chat with me. I'd love to

talk to you about it. And find out. if the wisdom

of this world truly is distorted, if it really

is folly. But if you're here today and you're

a Christian, I hope the challenge for you today

is to expose and guard yourself against the warped

wisdom of this world. We need to. Distorted wisdom

is bombarding us all the time. Whether it's...

The people we talk to and interact with, whether

it's the media, whether it's our technology,

whatever it might be, it's everywhere. All sorts

of distortions. And I'm not saying, hey, let's

become Amish. Don't mishear me. But I'm saying

there are distortions everywhere. And we're sinful.

Distortions are appealing, aren't they? And we

need to expose them. We need to see them. Make

sure you do things that will help you with that.

Get in a growth group so that if you're not already,

so that you've got that support, that encouragement,

that accountability. Or maybe try this, maybe

each Sunday, what do you do when you leave church?

When you get home, just have a little notebook

where you write down one thing that you learnt

from today's sermon that you're going to try

and do in the week. That can be really helpful,

just so it doesn't get lost into the ether of

20 ,000 sermons that you've heard, so that you

can actually put things into practice. But we

need to find ways to expose the distortions and

guard ourselves against them. How are you going

to do that? See, if we do, if we guard ourselves,

we won't fall for the world's distortions. will

actually become like a regular mirror reflecting

reality back to the world showing them how glorious

life with Jesus is. Let's pray that we do that.

Heavenly Father, please help us to see the distortions

of wisdom for what they are. Please open our

eyes, expose them, and help us to live according

to your wisdom. Help us to be discerning and

thoughtful as we try to navigate the folly of

this world. And Father, when we do fail, when

we fall into folly, help us to run back to Jesus

and find forgiveness and grace. And we ask this

in His name. Amen.