November 8 - Hi, my name is Rob, and I’m Weak and Foolish

 Read today’s texts first: Job 33; 1 Corinthians 1-3

MAXIMize YOUR DAY

The church is a spiritual organism that will shrivel and die if only nourished by human strength and wisdom. 

We think our world is as perverse as it can get.  Corinth, however, was a centre of idolatry and perversion.  Of its 12 temples, one was dedicated to Aphrodite, the goddess of “love,” employing 1000 temple prostitutes.  “Corinthianize” referred to sexual immorality and “Corinthian sickness” referred to venereal disease.  And yet out of this corrupt environment, God quickly separated to Himself (sanctified and made holy) a strong, gifted church.  This letter addresses some of the cultural (worldly) baggage they brought into the church.

But who is it that God called.  The Jews typically looked for power, the Greeks, wisdom.  Instead, they were introduced to the cross of Christ, a stumbling block to the Jews and foolishness to the Greeks.  Followers of the cross share those same characteristics: we are also weak and foolish.  Our only boast is in the Lord.  It is from this place of dependence on God, Paul first addressed the Corinthians (2:3) and writes to them now.  It is the premise from which he addresses their petty pride, their tendency to compare themselves to each other instead of aligning themselves with the real Source (3:7).

The great preacher I referred to yesterday has since fallen hard.  He was eloquent, successful, and set up to fail.  He might have started to believe his own press.  His story illustrates a letter I read recently from our Foursquare missionary in Cambodia, who learned a valuable lesson in selecting leadership.  We often look to the Sauls, the strong, smart, tall, good-looking standouts.  But this missionary discovered that the Sauls among us can severely undermine the church.  The church is a spiritual organism that will shrivel and die if it is only nourished by human strength and wisdom.  We need to look for the Davids, men and women after God’s own heart.  They are often overlooked in the natural world, but their reliance on God allows them to operate at a supernatural level.

“Lord - that is the genius of the cross.  What looked like the ultimate expression of weakness and foolishness proved to be just the opposite, confounding all the hordes of hell (if they’d only known - 2:8).  What looked like defeat was Your path to exaltation.  And it’s the same pathway for us. “Lord, my name is Rob and I’m weak and foolish.  May I never forget that I am only strong and wise when I die to my own abilities and allow Your resurrection life to flow through me.”