Read: 1 Corinthians 1:20-25
“. . . Where is the debater of this age? Hasn’t God made the world’s wisdom foolish? For since, in God’s wisdom, the world did not know God through wisdom, God was pleased to save those who believe through the foolishness of the message preached. For the Jews ask for signs and the Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to the Jews and foolishness to the Gentiles. Yet to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ is God’s power and God’s wisdom, because God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength.”
Understand: Okay, starting today, you get to answer the questions yourself.
- What has God made foolish?
- What do we, as Christians, preach?
- What is wiser than human wisdom?
- What is stronger than human strength?
Listen: To many, the Gospel of Christ doesn’t make sense. Some will try to use philosophy, science, or history to contradict the Gospel and make attempts to disclaim it. For believers, this can be annoying, yes; however, we know that history and science can both verify God’s Word instead of disclaiming it. At the Christian school I taught at, teachers use Biblical Worldview to teach every subject. Scripture is taught and Bible verses memorized but one of the high school history teachers, Bill Catto, explained something one day that I thought was remarkable. He didn’t use scripture as in making students memorize verses. He taught American and World History and used the Bible to back up history and history to back up the Bible. This way, students learned that what was taught in the Bible was actually supported by historical findings. Not only did they learn history and Scripture, they also learned how to defend their faith against those who try to say there isn’t proof.
1 Corinthians 1 verse 27 further explains that “. . . God has chosen the world’s foolish things to shame the wise, and God has chosen the world’s weak things to shame the strong.” We have a tendency to view foolishness as lacking wisdom, in other words, perhaps the person just needs more education on the subject. The problem is that often, in our culture, we rank book learning as what needs to happen in order to increase our knowledge. Have you ever heard the saying Can’t find the forest for the trees? Sometimes what we are seeking is right in front of us but we have allowed ourselves to be misguided by what others have told us. We even take their word as truth when we should be looking into it for ourselves. What is their truth based on? Often this is the hypothesis of someone that culture deems educated but has little ‘proof’ outside of their own interpretation. Be careful, we are warned that false teachers will be coming simply to lead us away from Biblical truth (see Matthew 24:11; 24). They will know exactly the right buttons to push with you too.
When I was a teenager, I had a pastor tell me that God sometimes would cause someone to die just to get our attention. Scared me to death! I thought, because of my sins, someone in my family was going to be struck down dead. When I finally spoke to my parents about this, I found that this was not based on scripture. It was simply that pastor’s way of scaring the heck out of me. (Literally) This was a hard lesson learned but one that I not only remembered for myself but also taught my own children and the students in my classrooms. It doesn’t matter who tells you something. It might be a pastor who you think should know the Word of God. You can hear what they say to you but always, always, search for it in scripture. If it isn’t backed by scripture, discard it as false. This is the foolishness 1 Corinthians is speaking of as well. Don’t allow yourself to be tricked because someone thinks they are wise. Biblical truth is grounded and can’t be disputed. Check their teachings against the Bible. If they are twisting scripture for their own agenda, get away! Fast!
Pray: Dear Heavenly Father, please give us the discernment to know false teachers whose sole purpose is to lead us away from You. They are cunning and feed upon our vulnerability. Please help us to hear Your voice through the Holy Spirit so we will not be deceived and give us the courage to walk away from them and focus solely on Your Word. In Jesus name we pray, Amen.
Majacka Literary Creations 