Foolishness

I Cor 1:18,24b "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...and the wisdom of God."

No one likes to look foolish. Dave Wible spoke about this yesterday at church. He talked about how we all care about our reputations. We don't want anyone to think that we are dumb, or stupid, or foolish, or radical, or different, or weird, or a fanatic. We kind of want to blend in and make everyone feel comfortable. We don't want to offend. After all, our relationships with people are something that we need to maintain, right? I mean, why turn them off? If we turn them off, if they get offended, if they don't want to listen, what good is that? This is the Christian form of being politically correct.

Look what Paul says to the Corinthian church. The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing. Not only that, but God chooses the foolish, the weak, the base, the nothing. Why? So that He alone is glorified. (v31) Those in the world who are perishing, those in the world who rely on the flesh, who understand with their own knowledge, who think that logic and reasoning and science are the key to all there is will never understand who Jesus is. They will never understand the message of the cross. They will never understand what the crucifixion was all about. But this is the message that we have to talk about. This is the message that we have to trumpet. This is the message that we have to be bold enough to proclaim, because those who are called (v2,9), those who are "being saved" will get it. They will grab it and it will change their lives. Why? Because it is the power of God and the wisdom of God.

The message is what it is all about…and the message is the cross. Nothing more. Nothing less. Sometimes we try to finesse it. Sometimes we try to package it in a pretty ribbon. Sometimes we try to avoid it, be we can't. We shouldn't. It is the only message that brings eternal life. It is the only message that brings true power. It is the only message that brings real wisdom. It may sound stupid to some. It may be offensive to some. It may turn some off, but we can't worry about that. We have to preach Christ crucified.

Today, I have to look for openings. I have to ask God to give me opportunities to speak just a word to those who are in need of a Savior, and that word must be Christ crucified. It is dynamite. It is wisdom. It will work.