Proverbs
9:7-8 Whoever corrects a scoffer gets himself abuse,
and he who reproves a wicked man incurs injury. Do not reprove a scoffer, or he
will hate you.
When Charles Spurgeon was
still a boy preacher, he was warned about a certain woman with a reputation for
being extremely argumentative. He was told that she intended to give him a
tongue-lashing the moment she saw him again.
Spurgeon said, “All right,
but that’s a game two can play.”
Shortly thereafter she met
him and began to assault him with a flood of verbal abuse. He simply smiled
back at her and said, “Oh, yes, thank you. I am quite well. Thank you for
asking. I hope you are the same.”
His remarks were followed by
another tirade of know-it-all comments, this time voiced at a slightly higher
volume. He responded again, smiling quietly, “Yes, it does look rather as if it
might rain. I think I had better be getting along.”
“Bless that man!” the woman
exclaimed and then concluded, “He’s as deaf as a door post. What’s the use of
talking to him?”
Never again did she assault
Spurgeon with her arguments. And never did he tell her what he had done.
There’s no point in arguing with know-it-all people. Better to let them have
their say and walk on. The only fool bigger than the person who knows it all is
the person who argues with her.
