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Most of the time we bristle at the idea of being a fool, but once a year on the first day of April "fool is cool". April Fool's day is the day of the prankster and the practical joke. But I invite you to go beyond the fun and silliness of the day to think more deeply about something many Christ followers took quite seriously.
The apostle Paul considered the "world's wisdom" so much foolishness compared to the wisdom of God. In his First Letter to the Corinthians he uses the expression "fool for Christ". "We are fools for Christ, but you are so wise in Christ!" - 1 Corinthians 4:10 - New International Version
Over the past two thousand years there have been a number of people willing to be fools for Christ. Sometimes they are referred to as "holy fools". The Eastern Orthodox Russians use the term yurodivy and examples would be Symeon of Emesa and Basil, Fool for Christ. The asceticism of these holy fools often included acts we might consider madness, such as walking around naked, speaking in riddles and deliberately being poor and homeless.
Another better known holy fool would be St. Francis of Assisi. He turned his back on worldly possessions and a life of leisure (which he could have enjoyed as the son of a wealthy merchant) to live a simple life based on a literal interpretation of the Gospels. He believed in living his life completely as a follower of Jesus.
Most of us would consider being called a fool an insult. Fools are senseless, careless and lacking wisdom. However, fools can play an important part in our gaining perspective about life. Medieval kings found value in the jester - someone who hid his wisdom behind riddles and jokes. A holy fool can give us insight into the spiritual dimension. This is worth exploring.
Thomas Moore wrote, "The path of soul is also the path of the fool, the one without pretense of self-knowledge or individuation or certainly perfection". (Care of the Soul, p. 261-262). Put another way, we shouldn't take ourselves too seriously.
"For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God's sight. As it is written: "He catches the wise in their craftiness." (1 Corinthians 3:19)
"For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God." (1 Corinthians 1:18)
"For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe." (1 Corinthians 1:21)
"One might well become a holy fool oneself here! It's catching!"
-- Raskolnikov, from Fyodor Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment.
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