Dealing with the

Wise, the Foolish, and the Evil

Author: Dr. Glenn S. Reynolds

Dealing with the Wise, the Foolish, and the Evil

Dont Shirk the Dirty Work
Ive made a lot of leadership mistakes with sta - both volunteer and
paid.One of them is trying to treat everyone the same when they make
mistakes.My approach has been to talk with them and try to get them to do
better.

In a recent podcast from the Willow Creek Association, Dr. Henry Cloud helped
me understand my mistake as he broke down sta members (or anyone for that matter)
into three categories:

1. People who are wise

2. People who are foolish, and

3. People who are evil.

Clearly, these categories can be over

generalizations. Even the wisest person is foolish from time
to time. But in general, as you deal with people in specific
areas, around specific issues; it can be very helpful to
determine whether theyre acting in a wise, a foolish, or an
evil manner.

The Wise

The wise person is

not necessarily the
smartest person
in the room.

The wise person is not necessarily the smartest

person in the room. They arent necessarily the oldest, or the
most distinguished, or the one with the most academic degrees.

Proverbs 9.9: Instruct a wise man and he will be wiser still; teach a righteous
man and he will add to his learning.

Proverbs 19.20: Listen to advice and accept instruction, and in the end you will
be wise.

Proverbs 18.15 The heart of the discerning acquires knowledge; the ears of
the wise seek it out.

A wise person seeks out instruction, craves feedbackthey sit forward in their
chair to listen to everything you have to tell them. Then, the wise person works to apply
what theyve been told to change their behavior.


So how do you deal with sta members who generally fit into the category of
wise people? Teach, talk, instruct, and correct.

The Foolish

Some foolish people are actually very successful in certain areas of their lives,
and that makes it hard to tell they are foolish. Proverbs provides the lens for viewing
foolish people.

Proverbs 18.2: A fool finds no pleasure in understanding, but delights in airing

his own opinions.

Proverbs 12.15: The way of a fool seems right to him, but a wise man listens to
advice.

Proverbs 23.9: Do not speak to a fool, for he will scorn the wisdom of your
words.

You can tell youre dealing with a fool, because theyll keep on bumping up
against the same problem whatever it may be again and again. You can advise
them on how to handle it, you can show them a better way, but it wont aect them in
the least. Theyll just continue dealing with that problem in the same ineective way
they always have.

The wise respond

to instruction, but
the fools respond
only to limits
and consequences.

Fools are very happy to talk about their problems.Theyll go

on and on for hours about all the diculties theyre facing. But
the problem is always outside of them; its never something
theyre willing to take responsibility for.

Heres another way to put it: unlike a wise person, a fool

doesnt adapt to reality; the fool expects reality to adapt to
them. Their well-being or failure is always someone elses
responsibility; they never take responsibility for themselves.

Fools come in all shapes and sizes. But theres one thing
that all fools have in common:They dont listen.The wise respond to instruction, but
fools respond only to limits and consequences.

Foolish people refuse to set limits for themselves thats why theyre fools.
They want the freedom to act any way they choose, and they expect you and the rest
of the sta to deal with it. So, in dealing with a fool, you have to set limits for them. You
have to be very specific about your expectations. If youre supervising a fool at work,
you have to put guidelines in writing, you have to lay out everything you expect, in
every aspect of their job. And if the other person doesnt abide by the limits you set,

if they dont live up to your clearly stated expectations, then there have to be
consequences.

The goal is to motivate them to changed behavior through limits and
consequences. In the end, its up to them. The hard thing to accept is that some
people will never listen.

Proverbs 26.4 says, Do not answer a fool according to his folly, or you will be
like him yourself. If you keep on talking and talking to a fool, then you become part of
the problem; you become a fool yourself. So stop talking, because theyre not listening!

Of course, if you stop listening to a fool, and you start insisting on limits and
consequences, that may bring fallout of its own. The fools on your sta wont
appreciate the limits and the consequences you set; thats what makes them fools in
the first place. But in the long run, it will be better for everyone.

The Evil
Alongside wise people and fools, theres a third type of person you may encounter
on your sta: the evil person. The dierence between foolish people and evil people is
that fools arent out to hurt you; fools arent even aware of the collateral damage that
their foolishness is causing. But evil people are out to hurt
you; they take delight in bringing other people down.

And the only way to deal with evil people is to go into

protection mode. Forget about working with them; forget
about changing them. Get as far away from evil people as
you can. And if you cant, then you move on to lawyers,
and orders of protection, and police, and alarm systems
whatever protection you can get.

The difference
between foolish
people and evil
people is that
fools arent out
to hurt you.

Proverbs 4.14 says, Do not set foot on the path of the

wicked or walk in the way of evil men. Avoid it, do not travel on it; turn from it and go
on your way. For they cannot sleep till they do evil; they are
robbed of slumber till they make someone fall.

If theres a truly evil

person on your
staff, who is out to
hurt you, dont try
to fix them or
appease them.

In other words, dont mess with evil people; certainly

dont get caught up in the idea that you have to be nice to
everyone, no matter who they are. If theres a truly evil person
on your sta, who is out to hurt you, dont try to fix them or
appease them; just concentrate on getting protection from
them, any way you can. Stop being nice, dont return their
phone calls just make sure youre safe and your church is
protected.

So, whats the bottom line on wise and foolish and evil people?

When it comes to truly evil people, stay as far away from them as you can. As
for the rest, remember Proverbs 13.20: He who walks with the wise grows wise, but a
companion of fools suers harm.

Dont waste your breath trying to talk to fools who arent listening. Spend your
time with wise people and strive to become wise yourself. Find people who can
instruct you and give you good feedback; soak up everything you can. As Proverbs
19.20 says, Listen to advice and accept instruction, and in the end you will be wise.

And pass on wisdom to people who are willing to listen to you give them the
kind of teaching and instruction that they crave. Because in todays world of
foolishness and evil, we all need all the wisdom we can get!

Understanding the dierence between wise, foolish, and evil people has made a
dierence in how I approach the team I lead. I hope it does the same for you.

About
DR. GLENN S. REYNOLDS

Dr. Glenn S. Reynolds is the lead pastor of Bethel

Church and the president of Bethel College in Hampton,
Virginia. He earned a doctoral degree in Redemptive
Leadership and Organizational Development from
Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. He is a secondyear law student at Regent University, where his son is
now a freshman. Thats a little odd. He and Amberly have
two more kidsneither has enrolled at Regent, yet.
glennSreynolds.com / Twitter @glennSreynolds / Facebook @ glenn.reynolds.7