1 Corinthians 1:10-31 (Pt 3)

1 Corinthians 1:25 (ESV)

For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

As believers we are not to brag about our own tribe, or the particular leaders we follow. They are only fallible humans. Neither do we brag about our wisdom nor our spiritual power. We have no wisdom but that which is from God. We have no power but that which we possess in Christ. We brag not about our own wisdom and/or spiritual power, but in the wisdom and power of God.

Over the years God has raised up some incredibly intelligent individuals in the church. As a young man in Bible College the arguments of Francis Shaeffer and C. S. Lewis for the existence of God left my brain spinning. More recently apologists and spiritual leaders like Tim Keller, Ravi Zacharias, and others have written powerful arguments for the truth of the Bible, yet with or without them the Bible is true.

When the Apostle Paul came to Corinth he had just argued powerfully for Christianity in Athens. The response? “We will hear you again about this” (Ac 17:32). Paul’s powerful model for communicating the gospel cross-culturally bore little fruit. In fact, the response was so little that this is what he wrote about coming to Corinth, “I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling” (1 Cor 2:2-3). The Corinthian church was not established because of the wisdom of Paul, but because of the power of God (see 1 Cor 2:5).

Given that foundation, you would think that they would know that their bragging is not in man’s wisdom but in God’s power. Unfortunately we forget so quickly. People start coming. The church starts growing, and we begin to think that it must be because of our great wisdom, skill, or ability. We assume that our new program, or our new pastor, or our new outreach plan is the key to our new growth. Any wisdom and/or power we have is a gift from God. Any growth is a result of his grace. We need to spend less time chasing after new programs and ideas and more time focused on the simple Good News of Jesus Christ. Anything we accomplish is by his grace. We forget that often God’s blessing is in spite of us, not because of us. Our only bragging rights, as believers in Jesus Christ, is the grace and power of God. Let us never forget that.