PAUL: A FOOL FOR CHRIST - Becoming a Fool
April 15, 2018
1 Corinthians 3:18 (p. 794)
Introduction:
There was a time, right before I left Louisville to come to Lexington I was meeting with a young man named Nick at Starbucks every week…He was dating my best friend’s daughter and Nick was a committed atheist. He would call himself an agnostic… “saying I just don’t know.” But he had a serious anger towards God. Nick had grown up in a rigid legalistic religious home…He’d been constantly reminded of Hell, but shown very little love and grace…He’d been baptized when he was 11, but only out of extreme coercion from his grandfather, a preacher. When Nick was 18 he left home for college…and he ran as far from those Hell fire and brimstone roots as he could get.
He loved to meet and talk about religion and the Bible, but mostly it was to argue and defend his secular point of view. Nick was smart…He liked to debate. He would tell me the most influential book he’d ever read was called, “The God Delusion” by Richard Dawkins.
I made a deal with Nick that I’d read it…if he’d read Josh McDowell’s “Evidence that Demands a Verdict.”
I kept my end of the bargain…Here is how this book and it’s author are promoted on Amazon:
A preeminent scientist - and the world’s most prominent atheist - asserts the irrationality of belief in God and the grievous harm religion has inflicted on society, from the Crusades to 9/11.
With rigor and wit, Dawkins examines God in all his forms, from the sex-obsessed tyrant of the Old Testament to the more benign (but still illogical) Celestial Watchmaker favored by some Enlightenment thinkers. He eviscerates the major arguments for religion and demonstrates the supreme improbability of a supreme being. He shows how religion fuels war, foments bigotry, and abuses children, buttressing his points with historical and contemporary evidence. The God Delusion makes a compelling case that belief in God is not just wrong but potentially deadly. It also offers exhilarating insight into the advantages of atheism to the individual and society, not the least of which is a clearer, truer appreciation of the universe’s wonders than any faith could ever muster.
This book is 464 pages that focuses mainly on why God cannot exist and why Evolution or Natural Selection is a much more rational answer to human existence.
This “preeminent” scientist spends his life and work trying to intellectually prove that God doesn’t exist…That God is the delusion of the masses.
My young friend Nick did not want to believe in a God who could send people to Hell…so he chose the wisdom of Richard Dawkins and Stephen Hawkings who said,
“What I have done is to show that it is possible for the way the universe began to be determined by the laws of science. In that case, it would be necessary to appeal to God to decide how the universe began. This doesn’t prove that there is no God, only that God is not necessary.”
You see both science and faith require a belief system in things we cannot completely prove…the difference…and it’s not intellectual…is that one requires a relationship…If we are accidents of science I am accountable only to myself…If I am created by God then I have been created for a purpose…And we know that purpose is to have a relationship with Him.
No wonder the Apostle Paul writes: “Do not deceive yourselves. If any of you think you are wise by the standards of this age, you should become “fools” so that you may be wise.” (1 Cor. 3:18)
We do not need to put our intelligence on the shelf when it comes to loving God and following Christ, but God’s Word clearly says there is a difference between knowledge and wisdom.
I. KNOWLEDGE WITHOUT GOD MAKES A PERSON ARROGANT
Clearly Richard Dawkins and Stephen Hawkings are learned and intelligent men. My young friend Nick was sharp as a tack…but their knowledge was used as a rejection of God and His Word, not a foundation for a relationship.
The Apostle Paul…who studied under Gamaliel, and other great teachers of his day said, “The Wisdom of this World is foolishness in God’s sight. God catches the wise in their craftiness. The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise are futile.” (1 Cor. 3:19-20)
Paul wrote to these same Corinthians…some who had extensive knowledge about the Law of Moses…and said, “We all possess knowledge, but knowledege puffs up while love builds up. Those who think they know something do not yet know as they ought to know. But whoever loves God is known by God.” (1 Cor. 8:1-3)
Knowledge without discernment of the Holy Spirit equals a secular view of everything including creation…watch this short interview between Ben Stein and the scientist and author we mentioned before, Richard Dawkins.
SHOW VIDEO (2 MINUTES)
“Aliens developed enough to develop the technology to seed life on earth through evolution…and they came here and seeded life on earth!!!”
Which takes more faith to believe? Aliens (where we have no explanation of where they came from) or a loving Creator, designed and made life out of nothing?
The difference, as I explained to my buddy Nick, is that with God there’s a reason for our creation and it’s about relationship. Intelligence isn’t the issue…accountability is!
But we also learn that Biblical knowledge without love leads to arrogance and judgment of others.
This entire chapter is about people who claim to be Christians but live worldly lives…It’s about arguing and dividing themselves up over who had the best teacher.
1 CORINTHIANS 3:1-9 (p. 794)
So you understand let me give you a quick paraphrase… “I’m better than you because Paul taught me…I’m part of his group…you’re stupid, Apollos is much wiser and a better teacher…I follow him…both of you are idiots…Peter preached on Pentecost…I’m part of his group, the originals.”
It’s some of these same folks who knew the law of Moses, taught it and said, “If you eat food sacrificed to idols you’re not really one of us!!!”…Paul writes:
1 CORINTHIANS 8:1-7 (p. 797)
Basically…“There’s no such thing as an idol god…just one God…Jesus…don’t hurt other people by eating it…or not eating it…food doesn’t bring us closer to God…It doesn’t matter…People matter.”
Food sacrificed to idols, the color of carpet, the style of music, the translation of the Bible, when we take communion in the service…and a billion other opinion issues are not salvation issues…and “your knowledge about it isn’t more important than the unity of the body of Christ.”
If you become a bully and use your opinion as a hammer to divide, like these Corinthians, knowledge has puffed you up…instead of love building up. You are operating like the world, not like a spiritually discerning child of God.
Our purpose as God’s people is not to become arrogant people demanding our opinions be honored, but to become:
II. SERVANTS WHO BUILD THE HOUSE OF GOD…TOGETHER
While the Corinthians were arguing about which group was the best because of which teacher they followed…The Apostle Paul was much more concerned about the “Big Picture,” the Kingdom of God growing.
“The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labor. For we are co-workers in God’s service; you are God’s field, God’s building.” (1 Cor. 3:8-9)
The world says “You’re a fool” if you don’t put yourself first…and protect your own turf!”
And Jesus says, “If anyone would follow me they must deny themselves, take up their cross and follow me.” (Mark 8:34)
He also said, “Whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it.” (Mark 8:35)
Losing your life for Jesus and the gospel makes no sense to the world…it’s the exact opposite of how you achieve personal success. Its stupid…it’s foolish.
But if you follow Christ its essential and the only way we become servants and build his house.
The reason most churches don’t grow spiritually is because Christians refuse to become mature. We claim to be believers in Christ, but refuse to deny ourselves, sacrifice ourselves, and live like Jesus on a daily basis.
We build our own kingdoms and refuse to be co-workers with Christ and others for the gospel…we stay mere infants in Christ.
We cannot forget the only thing that is worth building our lives on is Jesus Christ.
He is the only foundation…The Apostle Paul shares this truth…
1 CORINTHIANS 3:12-17 (p. 794)
Every single day we have an opportunity to build for God. Jesus has given us a firm foundation of forgiveness, grace and love.
We can extend the gold of generosity to a single mother, the silver of sacrifice to a hurting widow, the costly stones of our time to someone who needs to share their pain.
Or we can just look like we’re building the Kingdom…We can put up the wood structure of busyness, we can stack the hay of appearance…we can put in a straw attendance, occasionally.
But one day, what we’ve built will be revealed for what it is…our motives will be uncovered…some will receive a reward…and some will just barely run out of the fires of hell…I wonder if they’ll look back and see their friends and family there?
Here’s the challenge…you can treat people with arrogance over food sacrificed to idols…you can deny your creator and find another theory that removes God from the relationship. You can tear down others…or you can build upon the foundation of Christ…maybe some people will call you a fool…but one day you’ll hear “Well done my good and faithful servant…enter into the home I’ve built for you.”
John the beloved Apostle wrote…“This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus.
A story is told of a little boy who wanted to meet God. He knew it was a long trip to where God lived, so he packed his backpack with cupcakes, several cans of root beer and started on his journey to meet God.
When he had gone about 3 blocks, he saw an elderly woman sitting on a park bench watching the pigeons.
The boy sat down next to her and opened his backpack.
He was about to take a drink from his root beer when he noticed that the lady looked hungry. So he offered her a cupcake. She gratefully accepted it and smiled at him.
Her smile was so wonderful that he wanted to see it again. So he offered a root beer as well. Once again she smiled at him.
The boy was delighted!
They sat there all afternoon eating and smiling without saying a word.
As it started to get dark, the boy realized how tired he was and wanted to go home. He got up to leave but before he had gone no more than a few steps, he turned around and ran back to the old woman, giving her a big hug. She gave him her biggest smile ever.
When the boy arrived home his mother was surprised by the look of joy on his face. She asked, “What has made you so happy today?”
He replied, “I had lunch with God.”
Before his mother could respond he added, “You know what? She’s got the most beautiful smile in the whole world!”
Meanwhile, the elderly woman, also radiant with joy, returned to her home.
Her son was stunned by the look of peace on her face. He asked, “Mother, what has made you so happy today?”
She replied, “I ate cupcakes in the park with God.” And before her son could reply, she added, “You know, he is much younger than I expected.”
Spend time with God this week!
