18The message of the cross is foolish to those who are headed for destruction! But we who are being saved know it is the very power of God. 19As the Scriptures say, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise and discard the intelligence of the intelligent.” 20So where does this leave the philosophers, the scholars, and the world’s brilliant debaters? God has made the wisdom of this world look foolish. 21Since God in his wisdom saw to it that the world would never know him through human wisdom, he has used our foolish preaching to save those who believe. 22It is foolish to the Jews, who ask for signs from heaven. And it is foolish to the Greeks, who seek human wisdom. 23So when we preach that Christ was crucified, the Jews are offended and the Gentiles say it’s all nonsense. 24But to those called by God to salvation, both Jews and Gentiles, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25This foolish plan of God is wiser than the wisest of human plans, and God’s weakness is stronger than the greatest of human strength. 26Remember, dear brothers and sisters, that few of you were wise in the world’s eyes or powerful or wealthy when God called you. 27Instead, God chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise. And he chose things that are powerless to shame those who are powerful. 28God chose things despised by the world, things counted as nothing at all, and used them to bring to nothing what the world considers important. (1 Corinthians 1:18-28 NLT)
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.
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.
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