Several years ago, when visiting my ten-year-old grandson, he went running to his parents and said to them, “Grandpa said a bad word. He said the ‘S’ word.” I heard the accusation and was puzzled. I pleaded innocent, until the little tattler whispered the forbidden word into his mother’s ear. “Dad,” she said firmly to me, “We don’t say the word ‘stupid’ around here. That is a rule in school, and we go by it here at home also.” Oh. I tried to explain myself, saying that I did not call anyone stupid. It doesn’t matter. Stupid is now a bad word.
That is unfortunate, because there are so many times when ‘stupid’ is the very best word to describe what is going on. Just like that other bad ‘S’ word; you know, that first word that comes to mind when you miss the nail and hit your finger with the hammer– and other times like that. (See EMAILMEDITATION #601 for a meditation on that ‘S’ word).
So, I hesitated on doing a meditation on stupidity because it is an unwritten rule that you should not use bad words in sermons, devotions, hymns, or emailmeditations. However, I don’t think we have to obey all the stupid new rules, and ‘being stupid’ is what I want to ponder upon with you today.
What got me thinking about this topic was an article in The Babylon Bee (May 16, 2025). The Babylon Bee is my trusted source for ‘fake news’ (not true, but brilliant and hilarious satire, always containing at least a grain of truth). Here are some portions of that article:
A newly released Harvard study on human intelligence has provided conclusive evidence that while nobody thinks they’re stupid, many people are. According to the results of the study, 100% of people think they are not stupid, which means that 100% of all stupid people think they are smart. But they’re not smart. They’re stupid.
“The results of this study were particularly shocking to me and my colleagues,” said Dr. Anton Phoenix, a Harvard psychologist. “According to our findings, there is a possibility that we might be stupid. We certainly don’t think we are, but according to the study, that’s exactly what stupid people think.”
The study’s findings went beyond a previous 2018 study that showed 20-30% of students in developed nations struggled with basic problem-solving skills. “We were expecting to learn that at least some percentage of stupid people believe themselves to be intelligent,” Phoenix continued. “We were surprised to see such lopsided data indicating that, in reality, no stupid person believes they are stupid when, in fact, they are. Stupid, that is.”
At publishing time, the results of the study had been called into question after it was pointed out that the team of scientists conducting the research could, unbeknownst to them, be stupid.
Now, to get serious. Distinctions must be made. We all have made many stupid mistakes and we all say many stupid things– but we are not all stupid. Or maybe we are. How can we tell? I don’t know.
First of all, there is a difference between stupid and ignorant. Let’s say I call the furnace repairman because my furnace did not start when I needed heat on the first cold night of this Fall. He fixes it by resetting the circuit board with a code number that I would have had no way of knowing anything about. I didn’t even know there was a circuit board, or, where to find it, much less, a code number to reset it. That does not make me stupid. That just means I am ignorant of what there is to know about furnace circuit boards. That is why I was a minister and not a furnace repairman. We are all ignorant of many things. However, let’s say the repairman walked over to the thermostat and turned the setting from “Cool” to “Heat,” and then the furnace started. That would have been stupid of me, because I knew that much and neglected to do it. (This did not really happen… but if it did, my wife would not be surprised.)
It is not insulting, or a sin, to say someone is ignorant of furnace circuit boards. It is insulting, and can be sinful, to call someone stupid, or imply that they are; perhaps not to their face, but in our conversations with others. Many of us do far too much of that. I know I do. But we are given so many opportunities to do so! This becomes a major part of our conversations because there are, in fact, so many people doing so many stupid things. From Washington, D.C. right down to my own neighborhood, stupidity abounds, and it is so enjoyable to point this all out to other people, each and every day. Is this sort of thing ever a part of your conversations (maybe even a big part)?
However, once in a while, after denouncing everything I see around me that is stupid, the thought does occur to me, “Maybe I am stupid, too.” And I only have to think back briefly to recall countless times that I said, did, or thought something stupid, reacted in a stupid way, or made a stupid move. Recalling my mistakes makes me realize that whoever saw me at those times, probably thought I was stupid.
So, I have often thought, and have sometimes said in conversations, “We are all stupid; just in different ways, and at different times.” I think I am on to something here.
One more distinction. Sometimes our stupidity is just a harmless mistake, like forgetting to reset the thermostat. But many other times, in our stupidity, we sin. We get angry too quickly and say things we regret, we are uncharitable, we are unforgiving, or, we are way too judgmental; to point out just a few sinful stupidities.
There are many Bible verses that speak to this sort of thing; not to mention the commandment that says “Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.” In his Small Catechism explanation of this commandment, Martin Luther expands the meaning beyond telling lies, writing (on the basis of many other Scriptural commands): “We should fear and love God so we do not lie about, betray, or slander our neighbors. Instead, we should defend them, speak well of them, and interpret and explain their actions and words in the kindest way.” This does not happen enough in most conversations. But think about it— “explain their actions and words in the kindest way.” That is a really good idea, and is something we should all work on. Our conversations would be very much improved, more pleasant, and far more God-pleasing. (continued…)
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“I never have thought I was smart. I thought the people I dealt with were dumb, including you.”
–Admiral Hymn Rickover, in a 1984 interview with Diane Sawyer
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