Read: 1 Corinthians 1:26-31

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. 1 Corinthians 1:26-29

The apostle is dealing with the wisdom of the world versus the inscrutable, marvelous wisdom of God. These believers who were living in ancient Corinth were exalting the wisdom of the world. The Greek custom of philosophizing about everything had penetrated the church and they were dividing into various factions, following certain men, quarreling, boasting, dividing, glorying in men’s ability and men’s power, men’s insight and men’s wisdom.

To deal with this the apostle shows us how God works. He sets it in very simple contrast and he uses these Corinthians themselves as his Exhibit A. He says, Look at yourselves, consider your own call, look what has happened in your own life. He then points out two rather obvious, but very important, facts they were evidently overlooking in their thinking. First, he says, There are not many mighty among you, are there? Fortunately, Paul did not say any mighty. Lady Hamilton, who was an evangelical believer among the English nobility in the early part of this century, used to say she was saved by an m, because if it had said not any mighty or any noble, she would not have made it, but the m changed it all and let her in. There in Corinth there were a few who had some standing in the community, but not many. Many of them were slaves, perhaps, unknown people, plain, ordinary people, like you and me.

Some of them were weak, the apostle says, i.e., they had no political or military clout; they were not men of influence; they had no in at city hall. They were without power, apparently, to affect life around them, but God chose them. They were made up of what we would call the working classes — artisans, tradesmen, the little people of the world. So, if you are feeling that nobody recognizes you, you ought to rejoice that you are a Christian because power and influence are not necessary to be greatly used of God. God delights in setting aside the impressive things of men.

Continue reading Ray Stedman – Not Many →

Read: 1 Corinthians 1:18-25

For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written: I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate. 1 Corinthians 1:18-19

The theme of this section is the power of the cross, and Paul is going to show clearly what the cross does in human thinking and in human affairs. The cross has become the symbol of Christianity today. Women wear it on chains around their necks; we use it as decorations. We have become so familiar with the cross that we have forgotten much of the impact it had in the first century. It was, for these early Christians, and for those among whom they lived, a horrible symbol. If you had used it then as a symbol it would have made people shudder. We would get much closer to it today if we substituted a symbol of an electric chair for the cross. Wouldn’t it be strange driving across this country to see church steeples with electric chairs on top?

The cross is significant in Christianity because it exposes the fundamental conflict of life. The cross gets down below all our surface attempts at compromise and cuts through all human disagreement. Once you confront the cross and its meaning, you find yourself unable to escape that final judgment of life as to whether you are committed to error or committed to truth.

We must understand what Paul means by the word of the cross. First of all, it means the basic announcement of the crucifixion of Jesus. There are many religious groups based upon various philosophical concepts. But when you come to Christianity you do not start with philosophy, you start with facts of history that cannot be thrown out. One of them is the incarnation of Jesus, the fact that he was born as a man and came among us. Another of the great facts of our faith is the crucifixion. Jesus died. It was done at a certain point of time in history and cannot be evaded. This is part of the word of the cross. He did not deserve it, but by the judgment of the Romans and Jews alike he was put to death for a crime that he did not commit.

Continue reading Ray Stedman – God’s Nonsense →