We are foolish? I certainly feel foolish from time to time as I preach and teach the Gospel of Christ. Satan does his best (or worst) to make me feel useless and ineffectual. The Lord has put me in some rather precarious and, shall we say, inventive, situations over the years; and I have gotten into some very precarious and, shall we say, interesting conversations along the way. I am the first to admit that I am a preacher, not an apologist, when it comes to proclaiming the faith. I get rather easily frustrated with folks who speak from a non-spiritual, secular-humanist perspective; but then I remember that my frustration itself is Biblical. It is impossible, literally impossible, to speak from a Christian perspective without truly knowing Christ. A person may read about Christ, hear about Christ, know about Christ – but will never truly understand the God of the universe until he or she MEETS and comes to KNOW, personally know, the God of the universe! It’s true!
That relationship is the piece of which our brother Paul speaks when he teaches that even the great thinker of the time will not be able to sort out what it is that followers of Christ will know and understand through the CONVERSATIONS that we have with our Risen Lord. Thus, there will be those who mock, or worse, and those who simply dismiss the Christian as a simpleton – a fool.
But it is the Christian – the Follower – the one who is submitted that truly understands that Christ embodies the wisdom and the power of God and the “foolish” plan that He has enacted to save the world. He has given us the true definition of love by His sacrifice on the cross and by making that available to everyone. So we pray for our brothers and sisters. We pray for submission, and we pray that Holy Spirit not only reveals Himself to each individual but that every person chooses to pay attention.