Too Stupid To Listen
STUPID IS FOREVER
I was 14, and my buddy Jon was 15 years old. We weren’t old enough to drive, which meant we had plenty of time to explore dumb ideas.
We had this game we played that can best be described as "arrow chicken." We’d take my recurve bow—an actual, hunting-style recurve bow—and we’d go out to the open grass behind my house, next to a field.
Before firing, one of us would draw the bow back while the other stood about ten feet off to the side—not for safety, but to help make sure it was aimed perfectly straight up. That was the extent of our quality control. Only then would we let it fly.
Then we'd both stand there, eyes squinting into the sun like two morons.
The arrow went so high it would disappear into the glare of the sun. Then, at its peak, we’d catch sight of it again as it flipped over—weighted by the sharp, metal tip—and began picking up speed, like the sky itself was firing it back at us.
The rules were simple:
Do. Not. Move.
If you ran for safety, you lost.
It would land within feet of us. Sometimes inches. Sometimes right between us. And when it hit—THUD—that arrow would penetrate deep into the ground. We thought the sound it made was awesome. We would laugh and say, “Can you imagine if that had gone into our shoulder. Or head! AWESOME!”
This true story brings me to this quote by comedian Ron White, which sparked my idea for this 6-part series on Proverbs we are starting today.
“If your eyesight starts to go bad, you can get LASIK surgery and they can give you 20/20 vision at any age. If your hearing starts to fail, they’ll put a little device in your ear that makes you hear as good as when you were born.
But let me tell you something, folks—you can’t fix stupid. There’s not a pill you can take. There’s not a class you can go to.
Stupid is fo-evuh.” —Ron White (Comedian)
DON’T SAY STUPID
Parents, I can hear you talking to your kids right now about the word stupid.
“Don’t say ‘stupid.’ I don’t care if it is stupid—you don’t say it. You keep that in your head where it belongs. Because once it comes out of your mouth, it’s my problem. Now I gotta parent. Now I gotta give a talk. And I was just trying to sit down and eat a sandwich. So if you think something or someone is stupid, fine. Just don’t say it out loud.”
Unless, of course… you’re me, teaching from Proverbs. Because in this series, I’m gonna say stupid a lot. And not because I’m being rude, crass, or trying to be funny. But because stupid is the best English word for what I’m teaching from Proverbs.
In Proverbs, stupid isn’t a cheap shot—it’s a diagnosis. The Hebrew word kesil gets translated as fool, but nobody says fool anymore. Fool sounds like someone in a Shakespeare play wearing tights and a floppy hat. Stupid hits closer to home. It’s sharper. More accurate. And way more helpful for what Proverbs is trying to show us.
Allow me to explain.
In ancient Israel, calling someone a kesil didn’t mean they had a low IQ. It meant they refused to listen. It described someone who:
Rolled their eyes at wisdom.
Shrugged off correction.
Kept doing the same foolish thing over and over again.
In Proverbs, stupid has everything to do with attitude. And the wrong one can wreck your life.
Stupidity (foolishness) wasn’t a bad habit—it was a spiritual condition. And it was curable.
When we come to Christ, we often don’t know the wisdom of God. So through the teaching of Proverbs, we learn that many of the things we did as non-Christians—and continue doing as new Christians—are stupid. And we CAN fix stupid.
That’s what this series is all about.
TOO STUPID TO LISTEN
So today, we’re going to look at three verses that sit close together in Proverbs and see what they say about being Too Stupid to Listen—and how we can fix it.
Proverbs 12:1 – "...it is stupid (baʿar – spiritually dense) to hate correction."
Proverbs 12:15 – "Stupid people always think they are right..."
Proverbs 13:1 – "...a mocker refuses to listen to correction."
In all three verses, the stupid person is defined by one thing: a willful rejection of input. They do not listen. They do not want corrections. And that is what makes them stupid.
SO HOW DO WE FIX IT?
According to Proverbs, wisdom begins with a decision to be teachable. “To learn, you must love discipline” (12:1). That means we stop treating correction like an insult and start seeing it as a gift. Correction isn’t rejection—it’s investment. Someone cared enough to point something out. Someone loved you enough to challenge you. Teachable people choose to lean into that, even when it stings.
“The wise listen to others” (12:15). That’s not passive. It’s active. It means seeking out feedback, asking questions, and refusing to believe your own press. Teachable people ask, “What am I missing?” or “What could I do better?” instead of defending themselves or shifting blame. They don’t wait to be right—they want to get it right. There’s a huge difference.
“A wise child accepts a parent’s discipline” (13:1). Teachability looks like shutting your mouth, opening your ears, and letting your parents shape your perspective. It looks like humility. And it sounds like, “I don’t know everything… but I want to learn.” That’s how stupid kids become wise kids—one humble, teachable decision at a time.
Loving correction = learning (12:1).
Listening to others = wisdom (12:15).
Accepting parental discipline = righteousness (13:1).
None of us wakes up in the morning thinking, “I hope someone corrects me today!”
Most of us would rather bite our cheek and get that annoying little bump we keep biting again than have someone point out where we’re wrong.
We nod politely, smile through it, all while thinking, “Uh-uh.” Then we replay the whole conversation later, muttering, “Who do they think they are?”
But according to Proverbs, the path to wisdom isn’t paved with ego—it’s paved with humility. And it starts with two simple moves.
Love correction. Why? Because correction is one of the main ways we learn from others who have more wisdom and experience than we do. If you only ever hear what you’re doing right, you’re not growing. You’re just getting platitudes. Proverbs 12:1 says loving correction is the gateway to learning. So instead of rolling our eyes, lean in. That “Ouch” might add to your wisdom.
Listen to others. You don’t have to be the smartest person in the room—you just have to be smart enough to listen to them. Proverbs 12:15 says wise people listen. That means the next time someone gives you input, don’t gear up to defend yourself. Just… hear it. File it. Maybe even thank them. That alone might put you ahead of 90% of the population.
Not flashy. But needed. And totally doable.
STUPID BOYS AND ARROWS
Now, in case you're wondering—no, neither Jon or I ever were injured playing Medieval Arrow Chicken. And yes, we eventually retired from the sport, mostly because I discovered girls, and Jon got his driver's license. But, every time I picture teenage Jon and myself, squinting into the sun, waiting to see if an arrow would hit us - I think, "STUPID!"
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