These first two chapters of 1 Corinthians are so good. Paul is writing a letter to the church at Corinth to address many struggles going on inside the church. I love that he starts by establishing a foundation of powerful truth about God's kingdom. The kingdom that God is establishing, he explains, does not work as the world works. In fact, it is opposite of everything the world would say. Paul goes so far as to say that the message of the cross is foolishness to the world.
It was foolishness to the people of Paul's time because the Jews expected a triumphant Messiah and instead saw Jesus crucified. The Greek and Roman Gentiles could not comprehend that a crucified man could also be a Savior. They were seeking a Savior who fell in line with the world's standards of a King.
But God's kingdom has nothing to do with the world's standard. And today in a world where we are bombarded with lies about making a name for ourselves, building our own kingdoms, and living for our own comfort, the message of the cross is still foolishness to the world. Lay down your life? Give your money away? Give up your comforts? Go to the unreached? Talk to your neighbor? This is foolishness to those outside of Christ. But if we follow Jesus, who did not come to be served but to serve and give His life as a ransom for many (Mark 10:45), then our lives will look foolish to the world as well.
It's not easy to live a foolish life in the midst of a world chasing worldly wisdom. It is hard to serve others and not myself. It is hard to give and not store up. It is hard to not seek fulfillment in temporary comforts. It is hard to get my identity from Christ and not from the world's standards. It is hard to open my home, to pursue intentional conversation with my neighbors. It is hard to pour my life out for the sake of others knowing Jesus. But because I trust fully in the promises of God, I know that it is good and it is worth it. And by the power of the Holy Spirit in me, I can press on. My life is a mist. I want it to matter for eternity. I want to be part of God's kingdom and His redemptive work. I want to experience more of Jesus and pursue the life that He offers me. I don't want to miss out on what He has for me.
And He promises to use us, the weak and lowly and despised, to bring Him glory because we boast only in Him and in the cross of Christ. So may we be people who live foolish lives, boasting not in ourselves or in what we have to offer or in what we have done, but only in Jesus and what He has done to rescue the world!
But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things - and the things that are not - to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him. It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God - that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. Therefore, as it is written: 'Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.' " (1 Cor. 1:26-31)
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