The Cross is Foolishness – 1 Corinthians 1:18-31

[Transcript]

Welcome back, everyone, this is our second session and we’ll be working through the remainder of 1 Corinthians chapter one which covers verses 18-31. Thanks for the participation in the comments! I was hopeful that there would be good questions and observations, and I wasn’t disappointed! Let’s go ahead and begin. If you haven’t done so, go ahead and read our passage before you continue, and write down your questions and observations as you go along.

One of the fascination the Greeks had was the ability to speak well. Corinth was a Greek city, and Greek influence died really hard after the Romans annexed their territory. Some argue that it never really died. So it’s no surprise that the people of a Greek city love to hear people who have an impressive oratory. Eloquence was highly valued and may have played some role in why the Corinthian believers were aligning with their favorite teachers. If you had a passion for a subject and a knack for clever turns of phrase, you could probably draw a following in Corinth.

Paul didn’t want believers to believe him because of those things. He was intentionally simple. If eloquence was what convinced you, then eloquence could also unconvince you. Paul wanted the simple Gospel to be enough, which sounded foolish to Greek ears.

18 For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. – 1 Corinthians 1:18

There’s something about this statement that is a line-in-the-sand kind of thing. Over the years, I’ve spent a lot of time examining my faith. One of the hardest things to do is self-evaluation. This verse has helped me in times of great doubt. When I couldn’t get past my own sins to see Jesus, this verse reminded me that my desire to run to Jesus was some of the greatest evidence that I belonged to Him.

I’ve also witnessed the cross become folly to those who professed to be saved. Like me, they made a profession of faith, and later became entangled in their sins and couldn’t see how to get out. But unlike me, they simply abandoned their faith, even announcing to everyone who would listen that Christianity simply doesn’t work. It’s heartbreaking to witness, and sadly, to my knowledge, they continue to deny Christ, flirting with the very dangerous possibility of blaspheming the Spirit.

I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart. – 1 Cor 1:19

The Lord seems to do things the opposite of how we would do them. He’s not interested in saving people who won’t stop believing that they’ve got it all together. I need to qualify that statement. He doesn’t desire than any should perish, but that all would come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9). However, only those who humble themselves in the sight of the Lord will be lifted up. He desires to save the know-it-all, but for salvation to come to the know-it-all, he must become a know-nothing.

In the case of those who professed faith but then abandoned faith, they never actually humbled themselves to be a know-nothing. And until they do, they will remain in their sins, unable to repent.

The Lord intentionally seeks out weak people because he uses the weak to build His kingdom. In that way, the Gospel kind of serves as a divine sieve. It conveys a simple message, yet the Lord uses its simplicity in an unexpected manner. Paul wrote that it is a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles (1:22). That’s how the Lord intended it. While it is understandable, the Lord made it offensive, offending the religious sensibilities of Jews and the intellectual sensibilities of Gentiles.

“But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong;” 1 Corinthians 1:27

There is a scene in the Gospels where Jesus makes this clearer.

“Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.” Mark 2:17

The thing that prompted this response from Jesus was the attitude of the Pharisees, who saw Jesus eating with tax collectors and sinners. They questioned his disciples about this and this was Jesus’ response. The Pharisees were blinded. By all appearances, they were moral men, but they were blinded by their own self-righteousness. Even they couldn’t recognize their own condition. They believed they were well. Until they recognized that they were sick, Jesus would continue to seem foolish to them.

I think some of those within these factions in the Corinthian church had begun to regard themselves too highly. So Paul gave them a terse reminder, essentially saying don’t forget where you came from. They weren’t the cleverest or the most respectable, but the Lord called them out of darkness. In fact, to the rest of the world, believing the simple message of the Gospel made them look even more foolish.

There’s even an Old Testament scene that highlights how the Lord delights in those who would be foolish for Him. When King David was bringing the ark of the covenant back to Jerusalem, he danced through the streets in front of the procession in a linen ephod, essentially his undergarment, for the whole city to see. His wife, Michal, saw him and despised him for it, and told him how foolish he looked. His response was.

I will become even more undignified than this, and I will be humiliated in my own eyes.

David was willing to be seen as a fool for the sake of worshiping the Lord.

Are you? Am I? Guys, the world will never think that we’re cool, so just embrace the undignified humiliation of being a fool for Jesus. To the world, we are a kingdom of fools. There’s a sense in which the church in the West has tried to make herself appealing to outsiders. There have been movements within the church to be seeker-sensitive or culturally relevant. While the arguments for those movements have some merits, overall, the efforts have birthed a church that lacks spiritual depth and has little connection with the historical church.

I mean, we’ve attempted to increase our cool factor by engaging the culture at the artistic level, creating whole industries concerned with Christian entertainment. Christian music even has an award called the Dove Award. How long before there’s a Christian version of the Oscar to award the best Christian movies and documentaries?

But none of that has altered the opinions of the world. To them, we’re still foolish. More than fools, increasingly, they see us as a problem to be silenced. The good news is that this is precisely how the Lordwants it. He intentionally chose what is low and despised to shame anyone who thinks he’s smarter. He’ll glorify Himself above anyone who would think to take glory for themselves by using foolishness to shame them.

“I am Yahweh; that is my name, and I do not give my glory to another, nor my praise to the idols.“ – Isaiah 42:8 (LEB)

Now, that we’ve established how the Lord desires to use those who would be foolish in the eyes of the world, let’s ask a question: Does he want us to remain foolish? What about wisdom? The Corinthians valued wisdom, yet the Lord seems to place low value on wisdom. Does that mean we abandon the pursuit of it?

Of course the answer is no, but we’ll need to explore what it means to become wise in the Lord. Even though Paul took a moment to remind them of their own foolishness, he followed it up with a message of encouragement. Indeed, although you may not have been wise by worldly standards, in Christ, you are being transformed. For every believer, Jesus becomes wisdom from the Lord, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. We don’t muster those things for ourselves. We are powerless to achieve what Jesus does for us.

In some sense, the fool dies as the Lord makes him wise. Consider this. Since Jesus becomes wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption for us, how should we judge ourselves when we don’t see evidence of that transformation in our lives? If your confession of faith in Christ was authentic, and you were born again, there will be evidence of transformation because Jesus has now taken residence in your life via the Holy Spirit. Therefore, since all of this transformation is because of Jesus, you can’t take an ounce of credit for any of it.

“so that, as it is written, ‘Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.’” 1 Corinthians 1:31

So, let’s conclude this with a discussion about wisdom. The Lord may call foolish men and women to himself, but he doesn’t leave them that way. Once He has His fool, he gradually makes him wise. If the fool must die, what takes his place? James offers insights that are helpful.

“But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and tell lies against the truth. This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic.” – James 3:14-15 (LEB)

It kind of boils down to what kind of wisdom is increasing in your life. There’s wisdom that comes from above, and then there’s a demonic wisdom that may have an appearance of good, but it springs from bitter jealousy and selfish ambition. How can you discern the difference? James answered in the following verse that this demonic wisdom is characterized by disorder and evil.  Zoom out and look at your circumstances. Are they characterized by chaos and disorder? Are you a calming influence in your relationships, or do you tend to stir things up? If you tend toward disorder and stirring things up, you do not possess the wisdom from above. The fool is not dying.

But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceful, gentle, obedient, full of mercy and good fruits, nonjudgmental, without hypocrisy, and the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace among those who make peace. – James 3:17-18 (LEB)

If the fool is dying, you will gradually be marked by these things. You will contribute more stability and calm to your circumstances, and you will cultivate and reap peace in all things. Why? Because the Holy Spirit is transforming you from the inside out.

I hope this has been helpful for you as you study this passage. Be sure to comment in the FB group if you have questions or insights you’d like to share. See you next session.