The Foolishness Of God Series

Several years ago, there was a Mensa convention in San Francisco, whose members have an IQ of 140 or higher. They were having lunch at a local café when they discovered that their saltshaker contained pepper and their peppershaker was full of salt. How could they swap the contents of the bottles without spilling and using only the implements at hand? Clearly this was a job for Mensa! The group debated and presented ideas, and finally came up with a brilliant solution involving a napkin, a straw, and an empty saucer. They called the waitress over to dazzle her with their solution.

“Ma'am,” they said, “we couldn't help but notice that the peppershaker contains salt and the saltshaker—”

“Oh,” the waitress interrupted. “Sorry about that.” She unscrewed the caps of both bottles and switched them (Sherman Lee Burford, Tuskegee Institute, Alabama; www.PreachingToday. com).

When it comes to repairing broken relationships, the world has a lot of complicated solutions. On the other hand, God has a simple solution, which makes the wisdom of this world look absolutely foolish.

Do you want to repair a broken relationship? Then I invite you to turn with me to 1 Corinthians 1, 1 Corinthians 1, where God gives us His simple solution.

1 Corinthians 1:18-25 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. For it is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.” 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? 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 (ESV).

Here, the Bible contrasts the foolishness of the cross with the wisdom of the world and urges you to…

REJECT THE WISDOM OF THE WORLD.

Discard the solutions of sinful human people. Scrap the perspective of your culture when it comes to human relationships.

The “word of the cross” (verse 18) is a message of forgiveness and self-sacrifice, but the world says, “That’s folly.” Literally, that’s moronic. If I give up my own rights, if I let the other person have his or her way, then they will walk all over me. I’ll become a doormat. You want me to forgive and sacrifice myself when I “know” I’m right? The idea is moronic. It’s absurd!

But it is only absurd to those who are perishing (verse 18 says), literally, to those who are destroying themselves. The verb is in the middle voice. That means it is something they do to themselves. When people refuse to forgive, when people refuse to give up their own rights in an argument, then they are only hurting themselves; they are only smashing themselves like clay pots against a stone wall.

So set aside your own human wisdom. Take the advice the world gives you and smash it to smithereens. That’s what God does. Look again at verse 19

1 Corinthians 1:19-20 For it is written, “I will destroy [or smash] the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart [or set aside].” 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? (ESV).

God turns the wisdom of this world upside down. He makes it absolutely foolish.

Haddon Robinson describes a time when he was trying to fix his garage door. He came to a screw he had to get loose, and the more he worked to loosen that screw the tighter it seemed to get. A neighbor came over and saw his plight. He looked for a moment or two and said, “Oh, this has a lefthanded thread. It's a reverse screw. You have to tighten or loosen it going in the opposite direction.” Haddon Robinson said, “It took me fifty years to find out how screws work, and now they change the rules.”

Then he said, “There's a sense in which all the Bible is kind of a reverse screw. Everything in the culture that seems right, in the Bible comes out wrong. The way up is the way down. The way to spiritual wealth is to acknowledge your spiritual poverty. The way to live is to die. The way to rule is to serve. I mean the screw just doesn't work right. It's just incongruous.