The foolishness of God

“but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men”. - 1Corinthians 1v23-25

It almost sounds sacrilegious to speak of God’s foolishness doesn’t it? But, from the very beginning, long before the printing press, radio, television, or the internet provided vehicles for opposition the world has considered our message foolish. When we preach on good living, on the Sermon on the Mount, or on the family the world might pay attention, but when we preach Christ crucified how do we think they are going to take it.

“Come on, get real. You mean to tell me that God, the One who supposedly created everything, somehow was born to a teenage virgin, worked in a carpenter shop, and eventually became a great teacher and spiritual leader. Then, at the peak of His popularity He was betrayed by a follower, arrested, forced to face a couple of kangaroo courts, and convicted on trumped up charges. As if that wasn’t enough, He was beaten, spat on, had his beard plucked out, was stripped, mocked, and hung naked on a cross to die. You have got to be kidding me? That doesn’t sound like much of a god to me.”

At the end of the day, from that perspective, it does sound kid of foolish doesn’t it? Christ crucified was a stumbling block to the Jews who were looking for Messiah. To the Greeks, who looked to great philosophy, it was just plain crazy. Surely, dying on a cross is a sign of weakness, not strength.

Paul wrote something that seemingly flies in the face of everything that would work. His message was not seeker sensitive, it was not searching for cultural relevance, it did not fit into a political agenda, and it certainly did not try to make its hearers feel good about themselves. Today it might very well be seen as psychology damaging.

What is this simple foolish message? “We preach Christ crucified.” Simple, plain, unadorned, foolish.

Yet, for those who trust in this foolishness by faith and believe the message is power of God and the wisdom of God. Think about the message from the believer’s perspective. Jesus Christ, God Himself, the divine Creator and Sustainer of the universe willingly chose to come to His world to pay a debt that I could never pay. He willingly submitted to all that was mentioned above to pay the debt for my sin and offer me the gift of eternal life. He defeated death and the grave to give me the chance for eternal life.

Foolishness? Perhaps; from one perspective.

Wisdom and strength? Most certainly for those who know it for themselves.