Boasting only in the Lord

In the famous children’s movie, Toy Story, toys are secretly animated with life. None of the humans know that toys can talk so when kids are around, they just act like normal toys. Then when the humans leave the room, they come to life and interact like normal people. They talk, have personalities and have a deep interest in the happiness of the kid that owns them. The character, Buzz Lightyear, (a brand knew children’s toy with a lot of cool features) has a warped view of reality. He wrongfully assumes that he is a real space ranger. His improper view of reality leads him to do silly stunts throughout the movie and leads to a lot of problems for the rest of the toys. As the movie goes on, he begins to accept that he is not a real space ranger but actually just a toy space ranger. Once he accepts this, his role with the rest of the toys improves.

His character is a great illustration of what happens when we have an improper view of ourselves.

Buzz thought he was a space ranger accomplishing great missions, when in reality he was completely dependent on someone else. Similarly, we often think we are accomplishing things through our own wisdom and strength when in reality every good thing comes from God. - ChatGPT

Today we’re going to see from 1 Corinthians 1:26-31 that when we understand who we really are and who Christ really is…

We can live Humbly because God is sufficient for all that we need to accomplish.

This passage closely connects to the point that Paul made in last weeks passage. In verses 18-25, Paul says that the message really doesn’t make sense from a worldly perspective. In our verses today, Paul point out that the people God has chosen don’t make sense from a worldly perspective.

1 Corinthians 1:26–31 KJV 1900

26 For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: 27 But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; 28 And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: 29 That no flesh should glory in his presence. 30 But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption: 31 That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.

We can live Humbly because God is sufficient for all that we need to accomplish.

The idea of “accomplishing things” is not expressly written out here but the application is the most needed for today. So often when we do something, that is when we feel good about ourselves. In a sense this is a proper feeling because there should be a satisfaction that comes with accomplishing something. The issue is that often we assume it was us who did it because we think of ourselves as capable of good on our own. The goal is to live in a humble recognition of the fact that we cannot produce good on our own.

1 Corinthians 1:26 KJV 1900

26 For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called:

God calls the unequipped.

The word calling (v. 26) is a key word here. It limits the context of the rest of these verses to that of salvation and their “coming to Christ experience”.

This applies to us because many of us can be characterized as wise, mighty, or influential. Are we willing to stop pursuing our influence, success, and wisdom once we are saved?

Obviously the call to salvation is not a call to set aside all of those things all the time. Salvation and wisdom are not mutually exclusive, but those life pursuits are really not synonomous with a kingdom centered life and that is hard for us to accept.

It has been so hard for many to accept that they have come up with their own theology that allows for these attributes to be the center of their life and thereby made them synonymous with the Christian life.

The question we must ask is have we made these pursuits the center of our life?

God humbles the world because He is the only source of real ability.

1 Corinthians 1:27–28 KJV 1900

27 But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; 28 And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are:

God can use anyone.

Maybe you are sitting here today and feel like a failure;

You feel like your circumstances aren’t fair…

You feel like you’re not good enough for the people that you love…

You feel like everyone around you has it together and you don’t.

Paul is saying that God takes people like us and works through us.

1 Corinthians 1:29 KJV 1900

29 That no flesh should glory in his presence.

When you accomplish something good, recognize that it is Him who has worked through you.

What would a life lived where we give God credit actually look like?

Our tendency is to think of ourselves as pretty capable.

Not only do we think of ourselves as some noble, wise, or influential person, we try to look the part to. This leads to a number of problems:

by not being real with people, we have put up a wall that prevents ministry and fellowship from taking place.

It also contributes to our shame because we feel like a poser all the time.

It also contributes to others shame because they assume that you have it all together.

The point is, when we put up a front (to ourselves and others), we are building more walls that God has to tear down.

What happens is, God is constantly having to humble us in order to use us, and we get caught in this cycle of constant failure, followed by self-preservation.

When we give God credit it our life, our live starts to be filled less with striving and more with faith.

1 Corinthians 1:30 KJV 1900

30 But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption:

God equips the unequipped.

In verse 30, Paul tells us that it is God’s doing that we are in Christ Jesus and Jesus is wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption for us.

What that means is that we are identified with Christ even though we don’t deserve it. Even though we are unrighteous and lack wisdom, Jesus does that for us. We may feel unredeemed at times because of what we have done but its not based on our work because Jesus is doing that work in us.

When we look at this verse in its context as a whole we see that we don’t have to “boast” because Christ already is those things that we are trying to pursue.

The world says “pursue wisdom,” Christ says “I am your wisdom.”

The world says “become righteous”, Christ says “I am your righteousness.”

The world says “fix yourself”, Christ says, “I am working in you.”

In our lives, allowing Christ to equip us looks like:

Asking him for wisdom before we go into situations where we are tempted to rely on our own knowledge and ideas.

Next time we feel shame, we can remember that He is the one who has already forgiven us.

Conclusion

We can live Humbly because God is sufficient for all that we need to accomplish.

Everyone of us is relying on something, it could be our wisdom or righteousness, or we could be relying on Christ.

When we are convinced that we have the ability to accomplish what we want to do, it puts God in a position to constantly humble us.

God can’t work in someone who is convinced of their own ability. He wants us to be reliant on Him.

This is why we so often run into struggle, we are convinced that if we try a little harder we wont fall again and in doing so we push God’s hand away.

Buzz's turning point came when he stopped pretending to be a space ranger and accepted what he really was.

The turning point for many Christians is similar. It is when we stop pretending that we are wise enough, strong enough, or good enough on our own and finally acknowledge our dependence on Christ.

ChatGPT

1 Corinthians 1:31 KJV 1900

31 That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.

The goal of this passage is not that we think less of ourselves merely for the sake of feeling small. The goal for us to think more of Christ.

Paul isn't trying to destroy confidence; he's trying to move our confidence toward Jesus Christ.

It is not about what we have accomplished, it is about what he has accomplished and that is why we can boast in Christ.

So the question is, who are we going to rely on this week?

Are we going to rely on ourselves and just keep trying to get better, or are we going to trust Jesus to do the work in us?