Foolish Wisdom

   Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. For it has been declared to me concerning you, my brethren, by those of Chloe’s household, that there are contentions among you. Now I say this, that each of you says, “I am of Paul,” or “I am of Apollos,” or “I am of Cephas,” or “I am of Christ.” Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?
I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, lest anyone should say that I had baptized in my own name. Yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanas. Besides, I do not know whether I baptized any other. For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of no effect.
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,And bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.” Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. For Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom; but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.
1 Corinthians 1:10–25 (NKJV)  

Since the so-called Enlightenment, rationality has reigned as a the final arbiter of truth. And indeed our science and understanding has made great strides under this model. We have advanced in a few hundred years more than in the previous few thousand. But it should be noted that this appeal to the natural and material rational understanding of the world can only be valid to the extent that the world is natural, material, and rational.

What if that underlying presumption is wrong? The Scripture says that it is. The Scripture says that God exists above nature. That He is not material. And that His rationality is above ours. In such a world, using only that limited tool box would result in some wrongly answered and unanswered questions.

The Gospel proclaims a message beyond what is natural, material, and rational. The Supernatural God and His Divine Son, Savior, and Redeemer. His Sublime life and sacrifice. His Miraculous Resurrection. A Gospel standing on human reason will sway and fall with human reason. But a Gospel standing on God's Wisdom must stand forever. This is not new for our modern age. It has always been what divides those who rely on God for Salvation from those who are resigned to perishing.

When Jesus Isn't Nice

   Now the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. And He found in the temple those who sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the money changers doing business. When He had made a whip of cords, He drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen, and poured out the changers’ money and overturned the tables. And He said to those who sold doves, “Take these things away! Do not make My Father’s house a house of merchandise!” Then His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for Your house has eaten Me up.”

So the Jews answered and said to Him, “What sign do You show to us, since You do these things?”
Jesus answered and said to them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.”
Then the Jews said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?”
But He was speaking of the temple of His body. Therefore, when He had risen from the dead, His disciples remembered that He had said this to them; and they believed the Scripture and the word which Jesus had said.
John 2:13–22 (NKJV)  

The cleansing of the Temple can seem a little shocking. Jesus throwing over tables and literally whipping people goes against the kind (and sometimes effeminate)  portrayal of Jesus in popular media. But the media is not to be blamed. This is the very same way Jesus is most often portrayed by his own people. The worlds nicest man. But sometimes Jesus wasn't nice. Jesus was confrontational. He offended people, and hurt their feelings. He insulted them sometimes. He was uncompromising. In fact the religious elite conspired, bribed, rigged, and manipulated to have him killed.

What can we conclude from this? That nice isn't godly. That getting along isn't the same as good. Being liked isn't the same as being loving. Remember Jesus perfectly executed the Father's will. Sometimes being obedient to God means that people aren't going to like what you say... or what you do... or what you think. In fact, the Lord said we ought not be surprised when the world rejects us and even hates us. Maybe the opposite idea is true also. When the world loves us and no one is offended or insulted and everyone thinks of us as night, we should ask ourselves if it's because we are not in the Father's will.