Read 1 Corinthians 1:18-2:5
What if you saw a church that had an electric chair mounted on its steeple? In his book The Cross and Christian Ministry: Leadership Lessons from 1 Corinthians, D. A. Carson pointed out that “The same sort of shocked horror was associated with cross and crucifixion in the first century. . . . Crucifixion was reserved for slaves, aliens, barbarians. Many thought it was not something to be talked about in polite company. It is this cultural distance from the first century that makes it so hard for us to feel the compelling irony of 1 Corinthians 1:18.”
This instrument of capital punishment is essential to the gospel. The “message of the Cross” thus makes no sense in the eyes of the world. How could an executed criminal be the Son of God? But the wisdom and power of God is not like that of mere human beings. He has a way of overturning expectations and flipping perceptions (1:18–21, 25).
In this epistle’s original context, both Jews and Gentiles would have been offended and confused (1:22–24; see Rom. 9:33). Jews, picturing God as a Divine Warrior (Zeph. 3:17), would have been expecting a Messiah arriving in power to deliver them. Greeks would culturally have been expecting logic, persuasive rhetoric, and related proofs of human wisdom. The gospel matched neither paradigm.
Paul applied this insight to the Corinthians (1:26–31) as well as to his own ministry (2:1–5). From the world’s point of view, following Christ is weak and foolish. What reason, then, did the church have for behaving in such a prideful and quarrelsome manner? Pagan orators competed for adherents, but this made no sense for Paul and other church leaders within the Christian faith. Christ alone is the source of our redemption. He “has become for us wisdom from God” (1:30)!
APPLY THE WORD
Books about leadership are built on business or corporate paradigms and make skillful use of human wisdom. But as Paul taught in today’s reading, church leadership should march to a different drumbeat. One good example is The Cross and Christian Ministry: Leadership Lessons from 1 Corinthians, by D. A. Carson.
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