Wisdom

The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are being destroyed. But it is the power of God for those of us who are being saved. It is written in scripture: I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and I will reject the intelligence of the intelligent. Where are the wise? Where are the legal experts? Where are today’s debaters? Hasn’t God made the wisdom of the world foolish? In God’s wisdom, he determined that the world wouldn’t come to know him through its wisdom. Instead, God was pleased to save those who believe through the foolishness of preaching. Jews ask for signs, and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, which is a scandal to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles. But to those who are called—both Jews and Greeks—Christ is God’s power and God’s wisdom. This is because the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength. Look at your situation when you were called, brothers and sisters! By ordinary human standards not many were wise, not many were powerful, not many were from the upper class. But God chose what the world considers foolish to shame the wise. God chose what the world considers weak to shame the strong. And God chose what the world considers low-class and low-life—what is considered to be nothing—to reduce what is considered to be something to nothing. So no human being can brag in God’s presence. It is because of God that you are in Christ Jesus. He became wisdom from God for us. This means that he made us righteous and holy, and he delivered us. This is consistent with what was written: The one who brags should brag in the Lord! (1 Corinthians 1:18-31, CEB)

I think about a tomato when I read the beginning of this passage. A tomato is a vegetable, or at least I was taught that, but in reality, it is a fruit. So knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit, wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad, and philosophy is wondering if ketchup is a smoothie.

But honestly, does the ways of God make sense? There has to be someone in and someone out right? I mean everyone can’t be a part. That doesn’t make sense.

We think we understand the ways of God and try to set up boundaries to keep those who are in in and those who are out out. But when we actually look at what God is doing and follow it, we see our boundaries are done away with, and when we think God has excluded those we want to exclude, we have merely put ourselves in the place of God and for the one who did this, it did not go well. (For those wondering, that was Satan, and he was cast out of heaven…)

We need to not see God’s ways according to our wisdom because God’s wisdom doesn’t need to be comprehended by us to be right.

Be a fool for God and love unconditionally, as God loved you.

Loving People. Loving God.