Worldly Wisdom and Godly Folly
Notes
Transcript
Bible Bowl
Bible Bowl
It was the Summer of 1992. Pasadena. And I was on a team for the “Bible Bowl.”
Some of you maybe familiar with this idea. The idea is a good one: in the spirit of friendly competition you get youth to study Scripture and then have a jeopardy like quiz battle on who learned the most, memorized the most, quickest to find the Scripture, everyone wins.
Well my friend Mark went to this HUGE church… and they did the Bible Bowl as a huge event. There were buzzers, there were tons of teams, there were prizes, and he recruited me to his team.
We memorized the book of Luke and we drilled together weekly for maybe a month or two. And I, being terribly competitive, I sought to memorize every detail in the book of Luke to CRUSH those other pathetic teams of middle schoolers.
You know… in the name of Jesus.
You see where a well-intentioned idea went wrong in me. Nothing on them, just sinfulness in me.
But even something beautiful and wonderful and good - memorizing Scripture, friendly youth group games, it became an opportunity for me to flex my pride, establish my intellectual superiority… and that’s nothing but foul.
All the more foul, actually, when misapplied to the Word of God.
Do you think we ever do that as grownups? Use our knowledge, even our “Spiritual” knowledge, our “wisdom”, our Bible, anything really, use it as a sign of our superiority?
I’m better than you, higher than you because I...
can quote more, can answer more articulately, have more Jesus points. That’s not how any of this works, is it?
And… if it is really spiritual knowledge, wouldn’t it only serve to make us more loving, more gracious, more humble?
But enough about me, let’s talk about how some ancient church were terrible people so we feel better.
Those Quarrelsome Corinthians
Those Quarrelsome Corinthians
Paul writes that they shouldn’t have quarrels and divisions among them… especially these divisions based on who follows who: Paul or Apollos… or even Christ! That’s ridiculous! People claiming to be holier because “Paul” baptized them?!
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.
This is “denominationalism...” a hyper focus on what divides us, what distinguishes us instead of our radical and forever unity in Christ.
He transitions to the subject of wisdom… because the Corinthians are way off in their understanding of how wisdom works.
Worldly Wisdom vs. Godly Folly
Worldly Wisdom vs. Godly Folly
He sets up this dichotomy, this contrast, between the “world’s wisdom” and the “folly of God”. He’s being somewhat sarcastic here, God is not foolish… but the things of God seem foolish when judged by the standards of the world.
The Romans like the Greeks before them, they worshipped wisdom, intellectualism… their heroes are the great orators. Their politicians speeches are still captured and quoted today.
So the Corinthians, remember this is a refounding on the ruins of the Greek city as a colony of Rome. Culturally these are Romans… and they are very well primed to appreciate a great sermon, powerful oration, well chosen words. Maybe that is behind some of the divisions and factions - that boy Apollos can PREACH!
But the gospel doesn’t require Paul’s eloquent words… or mine… or anyone’s. Let all the glory go to God. And so God works through the most surprising of means - the cross.
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.
Our “noblest” ideal… is a convicted criminal. Don’t hear “the cross” as you and I have learned to hear and love it… hear it as a 1st century Roman would hear it. The most shameful of execution methods. Holding that up as an ideal is totally backwards, totally upside down. Totally opposed in every way to the ideals of the Roman culture, and Corinth is through and through a Roman colony.
To look to the cross is to reject the world’s system of value, wisdom, rightness and worth.
And rightly so, for over and over again God says this, here quoted from Isaiah:
For it is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.”
You don’t want to “thwarted.” “defeated, set aside, regarded as nought, declared invalid” It’s not good.
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?
Where is the wise one? The assumed answer is “not here!” Not you! Not among you! The smartest man who ever lived? Probably not Einstein, by the way, probably someone who died in obscurity unknown by anyone… but certainly someone who is now dead. Again, it’s all upside down in the economy of God. Being the “wisest” or the “smartest” or the “richest” is not the path to glory.
Is that how you got saved? Is that how any of us got saved? We “figured it out.” We “solved it.”
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.
For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom,
but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles,
but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.
For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.
“God’s Folly.” The “Wisdom of Men”
“God’s Weakness.” The “Strength of Men”
Does God have folly or weakness? No, not really. That’s really Paul’s point. The weakest thing God ever did is infinitely stronger than the strongest thing that men ever did. The dumbest thing, the most foolish thing God ever did… infinitely wiser that the wisest thing the wisest man ever did. Even wiser than the wisest thing any woman ever did ;)
The Jews expected a conquering Messiah, a triumphant king, so of course they asked for signs. The Greeks, the Gentiles, as we said, they valued intellectual achievement, worldly wisdom: Plato and Socrates and Aristotle.
That isn’t how God chose to save us. Or make us. Or call us.
Hear these words, written to us as surely as to the Corinthians. A bit harsh even, calling us out, but that is sometimes exactly what we need to pierce our pride. To deflate our egos. Undermine our misplaced confidence.
For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth.
Look at you! You’re not so great! Not so smart! Not so good! Certainly not powerful!
You are fools in that way.. but look how God has and is using you.
But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong;
God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are,
so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.
He chose what is low: that is you and me. Despised. Even from nothingness He can raise up planets… He can raise up worshippers… He can raise up a future… He can create out of nothing. Let no human boast… this is what God does.
And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption,
so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”
Then Paul shows us what this actually looks like. How did he actually practice it, experience it?
And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom.
This is powerfully convicting to me… because I spend a lot of time pondering and preparing my words. I would hope for “lofty speech or wisdom.” Great introductions, great stories, great jokes, great transitions and conclusions, turns of phrase. I have books on preaching better, writing better, speaking more good.
Paul is capable of great speech, we know that, we have some of his sermons. More than that, here he is writing what is called one of the greatest letters of all time. He is about to pen, chapter 13, often called one of the greatest pieces of prose ever.
This isn’t a lack of capacity! It is a purposeful emptying, a foregoing of the skill or talent of it, embracing weakness in order that God would be shown to be strong!
What did he do?
For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power,
This is me imagining what this looked like. Paul shows up Sabbath morning (and every day while he was in Corinth).
I’ve preached a thousand times in a hundred cities… but I’m not preaching today from the catalogue.
As a spiritual discipline, he “decided”, committed, to just simply preach Jesus Christ and him crucified.
What did that feel like? Weakness. Fear. Much trembling.
I can imagine that. Feeling unprepared… because he is purposefully foregoing preparation or oration or wordly wisdom and strategies… but instead, solely depending on “demonstration of the Spirit and of power.”
That’s terrifying… because how can he schedule that?!!!
How can he predict that?
The Spirit moves when and how and if He will.... not on Paul’s timetable. So what if he gets up there and says “Jesus died for your sins, believe, and to show it, to prove it, the Spirit will now demonstrate in power!”
What if nothing happens?
I don’t know how exactly Paul presented that, the mechanics of it.
But I know two things:
It worked.
I know how it felt to Paul. “Weakness, Fear and much Trembling.”
Paul purposefully embraced these things. A spirit of weakness, fear and much trembling. We don’t normally hold those up as desirable in any kind of way.
In one sense, he is directly contrasting the strength or pride or arrogance that is driving the divisions among the Corinthian church groups. That’s certainly part of it.
But I think there’s more here:
Weakness - because as Paul will write in 2 Cor 12… in our weakness He is shown to be strong.
Fear - because Fear of God is the beginning of wisdom… but also because stepping out on Faith is fundamentally scary. Fear to the point where not only do you “feel” it… you express it throughout your body in
Much Trembling. This isn’t easy, it isn’t trivial, it isn’t obvious. Paul wasn’t such a man of faith that it all came naturally to him. It felt just as scary to him as it does to you and me, to the point of “much trembling.” Sounds like Jesus in the Garden. Sounds like Abraham walking up the mountain with his son Isaac.
The moments of great faith and great obedience are never presented as easy. They are all weakness and fear and much trembling… and they do it anyway. And God is good. And God is faithful. And the angel shows up, Jesus dies and is resurrected, the Spirit shows up in power!
I am all too often interested in, focused on, seeking worldly wisdom.
How do I know it’s worldly wisdom? When all my friends, Christian and non-Christian, are going to say “Yeah… that makes sense.” “Yeah… that’s a good idea.”
Note that the passage doesn’t say wisdom is necessarily and always foolish. The Bible is crazy full of wisdom, just good ideas for everyday life.
But there is an inherent foolishness, an upside-down economy in the Christian that will never make sense to someone who doesn’t believe.
Give up everything to follow a man who died 2000 years ago? That’s ridiculous. That is foolishness.
We can be wise in many things… as long as it never leads us to boast. We must only boast in the Lord.
Our absolute wisest moments are going to look like foolishness to a watching world. The moments when we surrender everything, give up everything, risk it all, take a stand for Jesus.
The Corinthians were competing for who was the wisest, the holiest, the “best”… just like the city around them. Some of the words were different, but the game was the same. Paul turns it all upside down: don’t pursue the world’s wisdom; pursue God’s folly. This is against our (my) every instinct… but Paul steps forward as an example of what that looks like in his own ministry… and holds up the cross as the epitome of God’s upside down Kingdom. Our “hero” is the executed criminal.
How do we reject the “World’s Wisdom?” In “weakness and in fear and much trembling.”
Walking in weakness, fear and trembling
Walking in weakness, fear and trembling
In particular, as we walk forward as a church… this is our posture before God… and before one another: weakness, fear and much trembling.
As we meet in our coming business meeting. Family meeting. What should our posture be?
Weakness, fear and trembling… before God who is strong, before God who we fear, we respect, we bow… Trembling because we walk the path of faith.
We we come before each other, we walk in weakness, fear and trembling?
There is vulnerability in that. There is incredible humility there. To use the words of our covenant: it is a spirit of sacrifice, submission and trust...
And not, by the way, because you and I are worthy of that sacrifice, or that submission, and certainly not because we are worthy of that trust.
Because He is. I sacrifice for you because He sacrificed for me.
I submit to you because everything that I am is submitted to Him and He told me to submit also to you, one to one another.
I trust you because I trust God at work in you.
Because we hold this promise, quoted in the next verses:
But, as it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him”—
May it be true of us. Today and Tomorrow.