Getting Job-ed
For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing but it is the power of God to us who are being saved. For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and I will set aside the intelligence of the intelligent. Where is the one who is wise? Where is the teacher of the law? 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 what is 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 the power of God and the wisdom of God, because God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength. 1 Corinthinthians 1:18-25 CSB
The doctrine of the Providence of God has been such a huge comfort to me when talking about God to other people. I used to believe that in order to convert anyone to Christianity you have to beat them in an argument to convince them as to why Christianity is the better option than anything else. That’s not the case with what we see in Scripture.
Truth and wisdom is a heart issue
Sure, we have to know the Bible, at least in some form or methodology, to know how to talk to people about Jesus, but believing in God is more of a heart issue than it is an intelligence issue- read Romans 1:18-28. Psalm 14:1 CSB says, “The fool says in his heart, ‘There’s no God.'” Catch that? This intelligence issue of being a ‘fool’ is actually a heart issue.
The Gospel actually looks foolish to the world. Why does it look foolish? Really think it through. Biologically, Darwinian Evolution is all about the progression of the species. Therefore, might makes right. The strong survive, let the weak perish. Does that feel right to you? In that case, why should there be any charity causes in the world? That worldview would say, “No, let them perish. It’s just natural selection that they should perish.” That sounds pretty dismal to me. Jesus was counter-cultural, counter-nature enough to say “love your enemies” in Matthew 5:43-45. Is Twitter teaching us this these days?
“…wisdom comes from God, not from man.”
Let’s see what Jesus has to say about this:
At that time Jesus said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and revealed them to infants. Yes, Father, because this was your good pleasure. All things have been entrusted to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son desires to reveal him. Matthew 11:25-29 CSB
Jesus wants to make it clear: wisdom comes from God, not from man. So what the culture says is wise and good does not mean it’s wise and good. God determines what is wise and good- and if He is not our source of wisdom and truth, then what we are trusting in is actually foolish. That could be from our political parties, friends, schools, jobs, etc.
We need to be humble if God has chosen to reveal this to us (reread the text above from Matthew). We need to pray for those that we have opposition with, because we were also ‘foolish’ at one time until God revealed Himself to us, completely out of grace and mercy.
-Austin
