Wisdom of Words - Foolishness of the Cross

“For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel: not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect. For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.” (1 Corinthians 1:17-18)

Paul was preaching to a Greek philosophically familiar and influenced audience. A person was judged by their oratory and rhetoric skills. Grace, eloquence and dialectical abilities were all things these people were accustomed to and looked for in a speaker. It validated their authority and gave credence to the speaker.

Paul had none of those oratory and rhetoric skills because they simply weren’t needed. It’s gilding the lily. As Paul proclaimed to the Corinthians:

“And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power: That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.” (1 Corinthians 2:1-5)

Think about it. How can you improve upon the message of the cross? You can’t. The message isn’t messenger dependent. The message of the cross doesn’t need help; it just needs to be told. Don’t forget the excuses Moses gave God when he found out God wanted to use him as His messenger:

“And Moses said unto the Lord, O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither heretofore, nor since thou hast spoken unto thy servant: but I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue.” (Exodus 4:10)

The word of God is perfect. It will accomplish what it is set out to do. All we must do is spread the word and it will take root and grow where and when God so chooses.

Now as a follow up to that last statement, Paul tells us that the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness. Sometimes we think its in our hands to correct or modify God’s word so as to gain more converts. We forget that the word of God is perfect. We also forget that we can’t save anyone. Only God can. We forget that not everyone will be saved. That’s all part of God’s divine providence, design and will. If we can’t take credit for the convert, then we can’t take the blame for the those who don’t. All we are responsible for is to spread His word.

Can you think of two better messengers of outside of Jesus and David than Moses and Paul? Moses had a speech impediment and Paul considered everything, all of his education, training, lineage, scholastic and religious achievements, he considered all of these things as “dung”. Why? Because Paul knew that all that is ever needed is just the straight forward message of Christ and Him crucified. Anything else is dead weight.

Finally, Paul says, “but unto us which are saved it is the power of God”.

God’s message makes sense to the elect. It is pure folly to everyone else.

Now here is something can be confusing. Paul told the Romans, “Not all that are Israel are of Israel” and “Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children”.

Paul says something similar here to the Corinthians. “But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness; But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God.” (1 Corinthians 1:23-24).

What needs to be understood is that God has His elect, His chosen people. This has been established since the foundation of the world. But His chosen people are not of a specific race, creed, nationality, etc. In the examples above the Jews, Israelite, Greeks, and the seed of Abraham have all been preached to, but none of these groups en masse are God’s chosen, but specific people from each group are.

Paul is driving home the point that when Christ crucified is preached to God’s elect, it is understood that Christ is the power and wisdom of God. But to everyone else, the idea of Christ on the cross is foolishness.

Bill Hitchcock