April 1st is widely considered to be April Fools’ Day. At the heart of it is misplaced trust: we believe some news story or a friend’s tale and so are surprised when what we believed to be true turns out to be false. Living as we do in an age of perpetual misinformation, fake news and AI-generated imagery, our trust is now more cautiously given. I know this only too well. At our ministry we are constantly battling against bogus J.John Facebook sites and online attempts to supposedly befriend followers for the worst of all motives.

When the Bible speaks about fools, it doesn’t joke about it.

In fact you could say that when the Bible speaks about fools, it doesn’t joke about it. It uses the harshest of language and in Psalm 14:1 and 53:1 we read the uncompromising statement, "The fool says in his heart, 'There is no God'" (NIV).

Here, in the word fool, the Bible is not referring to those who lack ‘mental ability’—after all, Jesus praises a childlike trust in him (Matthew 18:3-4; Mark 10:15). To be a fool in the Bible’s sense is not to have a low IQ but instead to be someone who chooses to deny truth, scorn wisdom and to prefer wrong over right. The biblical fool decides to neglect the light God offers and instead to prefer darkness.