1 Corinthians 1:20-23 (NLT)
20 So where does this leave the philosophers, the scholars, and the world’s brilliant debaters? God has made the wisdom of this world look foolish. 21 Since 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. 22 It is foolish to the Jews, who ask for signs from heaven. And it is foolish to the Greeks, who seek human wisdom. 23 So when we preach that Christ was crucified, the Jews are offended and the Gentiles say it’s all nonsense.
The apostle tells us that all the wisdom of man put together cannot fathom the wisdom of God. The apostle says the teaching of the crucifixion of Christ is foolish to the Jewish religious scholars who look for signs. The Greek scholars are also baffled by why God does for it does not fit human wisdom. Yet Paul continues to preach the message of Christ crucified even when it offends or makes no sense to those who do not wish to believe.
Gary Thomas tells the following story in his book Holy Available about a friend of his who was on a business trip: After the sessions an attractive young woman knocked on his hotel door …. When he opened the door, she pushed through and walked right into his room. You can't be in here," he said.
"Why not?" she asked teasingly. "Are you scared?" The woman started acting seductively. She made it very clear that she was available for any favor of his choosing. When he insisted that she leave, she finally did something … [that] was over-the top provocative. Immediately afterward, my friend wisely told two business associates exactly what happened …. My friend is a godly man, but he's human. He admits he slept very little that night …. He couldn't get this woman's words or related images out of his mind. He tossed and turned, thankful he hadn't fallen but exhausted from being so provoked. Two months later, he returned to that city, working with the same company he had worked with on his previous visit—when the [same] young woman pulled him aside. "We have to talk," she said. My friend's heart started racing as he feared the worst …. Her first words put him at ease. "I can't thank you enough for being the first man who has ever cared about me more than my body." My friend learned that this woman had been abused earlier in life. She had been promiscuous ever since her early teen years, and because of her physical appearance no man had ever been willing to walk away from her advances. And so she kept reliving the moments of her deepest hurt. "I'm going back to church," she told him. "I need to get my life back together. When I finally met a man like you who was more interested in me than in my body, it showed me how messed up I had become." Sisters and brothers, how we live our lives makes a difference. We need to be the people that we already are in God’s eyes. We need to live in the light so that others will come to know Jesus. We need to teach our children by what we say and what we do, that the things of this world don’t compare to the glories we have in Christ. It’s time to stop living like we’re asleep.
Following Christ and living as Christ would have us live might seem foolish to some people, but it will change lives. Our mission is to show the love of Christ and not beat people down for the sins they are committing; that is God’s job move and motivate people in the right direction. This man did what was right and his devotion to God helped change a life. It may have even saved her life.
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