Tuesday, March 12

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For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.  - 1 Corinthians 1:25

I remember the first time I learned in school, what an oxymoron is. I thought, "that's pretty cool!"  You know what they are, two words that seemingly contradict each other, i.e. jumbo shrimp, honest politician, pretty ugly, etc.  When I read this oxymoron, "foolishness of God," I can’t help thinking that this is the ultimate oxymoron!  God being foolish - that is impossible (isn’t it?)  

But as we look deeper into this and think through the Bible about all the seemingly foolish ways of God, the term takes on new meaning.  Even a cursory reading of the Bible shows us that apparently God does not like to do thinks according to the conventional wisdom of the day.

He seems to like having the odds stacked against His people and against His plan that He might show the mightiness of His power, that whatever the odds are, that no matter how winless the situation appears to be, He will select the most unlikely person and the most unusual plan to fulfill His purposes.

1. He chose Abraham, an idolatrous nomad, to be the man through which He would bless all nations.
2. He had an old man named Noah build a giant barge on dry land in the middle of a drought.
3. He chose Jacob, who lied to his father and cheated his brother, to be the one through whom the Israelites would get their name.
4. He picked Moses, an excuse-making shepherd with a speech impediment to lead Israel out of Egyptian bondage.
5. He called Gideon, an insecure, hesitant farmer to lead 300 men against 135,000 Midianites.
6. He chose Samson, a woman-chasing, self- absorbed judge to kill thousands of Philistines and deliver His people.
7. He anointed David, a shepherd boy, and he youngest of his family, to become Israel’s greatest king.
8. He selected Esther, an insecure girl in Persia, to save the Jews from extinction.
9. He decided that a teenage peasant girl named Mary would be the mother of God!
10. He chose to use an instrument of torture and death to be the means through which He would take away the sins of the world!?

Think about this for a moment; if God were to somehow put you in charge of developing the plan of salvation for the entire world, would you do any of it this way?  Would you choose any of the people or methods that God used?  I seriously doubt it, you would probably find the wisest, strongest, most influential people to be the leaders and champions of your plan of salvation.  Yet over and over again throughout the Bible, God uses things that are foolish and weak to the world, to shame the wise and the strong.  

If you are wondering why God chooses to do things this way, Paul actually gives us the answer...

Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. 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 Corinthians 1:26-31

Now imagine for a moment that those words are written about you...imagine that you are one of the weak things God has chosen to shame the strong, you are one of the foolish things God chose to shame the wise...It is because of Him that you are in Christ Jesus!  When you place your trust completely in Jesus and what He accomplished on the cross, the wisdom and power of God is on display in your life for the world to see!

Jeff Frazier