Who are you calling stupid?

Whoever loves instruction loves knowledge, but he who hates correction is stupid.
Proverbs 12:1

Generally I recommend using a thesaurus word substitute for the word “stupid.” My personal favorite is “ill-advised.” Like many things I have learned, the prudent use of a better word to express my opinion was obtained the hard way.

As a policy advisor, one facet of my job is to give the legislator I work for a brief description of the legislation that will heard on the House floor on any particular day. We have developed a report format with several columns of information. For example, there is a column with the bill number and the name of the author of the legislations. There is a column with a brief explanation of what the bill does. Then, there is a column for whether the bill promotes or violates conservative principles. Finally, (and my personal favorite) there is column for me to make comments about what I think about the bill.

Years ago my boss explained to me that he did not pay me to agree with him. He pays me for my analysis of policy. While I appreciate that, I do not take it for granted. That is why I try to separate what I know about a particular piece of legislation from what I think about it. (Hence, the separate columns for what a bill does and what I think about it.)

On the day I learned my lesson about the value of thesaurus words, I had written in the report that a piece of legislation was “just about the stupidest thing I had ever seen.” What I was unaware of at the time was the fact that the report I thought was prepared for only my boss to read was actually also used by a number of legislators seated around him on the floor.

Imagine the position I had placed my boss in when a legislator read the report and said, “Your staffer just called me stupid.”

Being a Marine colonel, Eagle Scout, and all around great guy, my boss quickly came to my defense and truthfully replied, “No, she just said your bill was stupid.”

When he returned to the office and shared the experience we had a good laugh, but I was horrified to realize the position in which I had put him. It was at that point that I determined there must be a better word. So, “ill-advised” has become our code word for stupid.

However, in the context of today’s proverb, “stupid” works for me. To hate correction means that when you are wrong you do not care and you like being wrong.

That’s just plain stupid.

Lord, help me to seek correction in the areas of my life where I need it.