ZA MAGAZINE // seek truth.

In last week’s article, we looked at Paul’s letter as he tackles the issue of disunity in the Corinthian church. We saw that the divisions were being caused by people who followed one preacher over another, because they were drawn to worldly attributes of the preacher such as their ability to speak well or look good or have smart arguments.

Now, we get to explore the issue a little further. In a different letter, Paul writes, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind” (Romans 12:2). It appears to me that Paul, seeing the Corinthians thinking on very worldly matters of status and flowery speech, is determined to completely change how they think with the next few lines that he writes.

1 Corinthians 1:17-25
17 For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.
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.
19 For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.
20 Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?
21 For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe.
22 For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom,
23 but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles,
24 but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.
25 For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

Think to your schooling, when you had to write a paper for a class. If you had put off the paper and didn’t really do the research, then you would at least do what you could to package the paper well. You’d write a witty intro and draw out the body a bit and try your best at a memorable conclusion. After spending some time on a cover page, you might have even put the report in a nice binder, all for that wow factor. Though the presentation didn’t give you an A, it helped you. Even if you had awesome content, teachers and professors wanted things to be presented well before they’d give you the highest grade.

The world always goes for presentation. But Paul is saying that when it comes to the Gospel, the thing that can save man’s soul, it has nothing to do with that at all! Anybody can sound good, anyone can put together a convincing argument, these have never saved anybody. The most complex Steven Hawking book has never reconciled a single person to God, and the most enlightening self-help book has never removed the penalty of sin from a person’s life. Even the most eloquent Christian preacher has no power to save, unless he preaches the Gospel.

Only this Gospel, the Good News that Jesus Christ died on a cross to atone for our sins so that man might be reconciled to God, has any kind of meaningful power.

The Jews wanted to see signs and the Greeks wanted deep philosophical stuff, because this is an era where the Jews were looking for a powerful political messiah who would come from heaven and throw off the government of the Roman Empire, and the Greeks were in a golden age of philosophy. What do we have today? We still have people who want signs (or “scientific proof”), and we still have people who are sold out to whoever has the most elaborate arguments. While the apostles did accompany the Gospel with signs and wonders, and while Apollos engaged the Jews with masterful eloquence, and while Paul did engage Greek thinkers and hold his own (Acts 17:22-34), Paul is making the point that none of that means anything if the power of the cross is not allowed to shine through.

But this isn’t an admonition to the leaders, it’s to the church at large, and it’s with the problem of disunity in mind. So, Paul is telling the Corinthians that it doesn’t matter how eloquent Apollos is, or how hardcore of a preacher Paul is, or how powerful Peter appears when he speaks. The church should be looking at the core of their leaders’ messages, which is the Gospel. If they did that, they would see that the things that are dividing them are utterly meaningless, and they would again be united under one way, one truth, one life…Jesus!

In verse 25, Paul emphasizes this mind-transforming paragraph by reminding the Corinthians that God doesn’t operate like we do. This reflects a verse in Isaiah (55:8), where God declares, “…my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways.” What unsaved humans regard as utter foolishness is actually more wise than anything our collective consciousness could ever possibly conceive. And, IF God were to somehow have a weakness, it wouldn’t even appear as such because that weakness would still be stronger than anything man has to offer.

This final verse actually transitions us really well to what’s to come in the final part of ZA’s first real miniseries. It sets up the concept that God doesn’t think like we do, and next week we’ll look at how that plays out in the real world and why God sets the rules to be like this. But for now, just remember that the Gospel is the key. The power of God shining through is more important and more effective than the quality of speech or appearance that the person who carries the Gospel possesses. If you are one who spreads Jesus, don’t get your priorities mixed, and if you are one who merely listens to those who spread Jesus, don’t be attracted to the wrong thing!

Grace and peace,
Brendan