Thoughts from The Bible

Thoughts from the Bible

Monday, 04 November 2024 09:15

The Foolishness of the Gospel to the World
by Sarah Wootten

“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,” (1 Corinthians 1:18, ESV).
Imagine we took a survey of people from all sorts of religious backgrounds and asked them this question, “Who gets to go to heaven?” Many of us would be shocked to find that there would be a common thread among many professing Muslims, Buddhists, agnostics, Hindus, and even professing believers. In fact, I think the majority of mankind would say that “good people” get to go to heaven. Of course, they would all use different vocabulary and religious texts to make their point, but that seems to be the general belief of many (if not most) people – “good people” go to heaven. But God says otherwise in His Word. He says that there is no one who does good, not a single person (Romans 3:10). We cannot arrive in heaven due to our goodness because none of us are good. We would never make it.

My point is this: the wisdom of the world and the wisdom of God don’t match. In fact, the world considers God’s message of salvation foolish.
Men have always considered the gospel to be foolish. Consider the first century Jews. Even though God had told them about 700 years prior to Jesus’ birth that God’s servant would suffer and die for their sins (Isaiah 53), they couldn’t comprehend this. They expected their redeemer to come and be a king with military strength who would defeat all of their enemies, like King David did. Instead, they killed the One who came to save them from their biggest enemy – their own sin. To the Jews, Jesus being crucified as the way that God saves His people is a stumbling block (1 Corinthians 1:23).

Or think about the Greeks. During the first century, the Greeks were preoccupied with the pursuit of knowledge. Remember, the writer of Acts describes the residents of Athens as those who “would spend their time in nothing except telling or hearing something new,” (Acts 17:21, ESV). They wanted to hear the next new thing that would give them something to debate about and fill their heads with knowledge. So here comes this “philosophy” that God came as a man, was crucified, raised from the dead, and those who trust in Him have eternal life. To the philosophical mind that focuses on reason and logic, that’s foolishness. How can one sinless man save millions, thousands, a hundred, or even two sinners? How does that cosmic scale of good versus evil work? It’s foolish to the Gentiles (1 Corinthians 1:23).

And even today, Christians are regarded as fools by the world because of our belief in the gospel message. With today’s scientific advancements, how can we still believe in a virgin birth, a man who calmed the seas with His words, and a God who came as a man to the earth and then died? To the world, it sounds ridiculous. Therefore, people have tried every other way possible to reach God. We’ve created religions, built tall structures, prayed to the sun, tried to be good, meditated, reasoned, and I’m sure a plethora of other things. Men have never been successful in their pursuit of God by trusting in their own wisdom (1 Corinthians 1:21). So what does God do? God destroys the wisdom of the world by designing a gospel that appears foolish to the world, and through that “foolish” gospel, He saves (1:20, 27). To the world, the gospel is offensive, repulsive, and embarrassing. A bloody Savior on a cross isn’t attractive. We like to follow people with power and prestige, not one who appears weak. But Jesus came in humility, and He was crucified on a cross. To the world, that’s not a sign of strength or wisdom, but of foolishness.

However, it pleased God to save in this way because when the saving message is foolish, it’s not appealing to the world. And if it’s not appealing to the world, then no one would ever choose to follow God based on his own reasoning. No, the Spirit is the One who has to open the blind eyes and cause us to see. God does all the work in salvation; therefore, He receives all the glory for it.