In the opening chapter of I Corinthians, Paul had a lot to say to the church in Corinth. He wanted believers to know the difference between earthly wisdom and power and the wisdom and power of God. Paul used his opening comments to set the stage for gaining that understanding.

Paul wrote, “The message of the cross is foolish to those who are headed for destruction! But we who are being saved know it is the very power of God” (I Corinthians 1:18). The power of God to save people requires that we abandon earthly qualifiers to make that happen.

“So where does this leave the philosophers, the scholars, and the world’s brilliant debaters?” (vs. 20). We don’t come to Christ because we gain a particular world philosophy or obtain an advanced degree or listen to a brilliant debate. We come to Christ only by faith in Him.

“Since God in his wisdom saw to it that the world would never know him through human wisdom, he has used our foolish preaching to save those who believe” (vs. 21). The message of the Cross is foolish sounding to the world. It finds no place within earthly definitions of wisdom or power.

“Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God. This foolish plan of God is wiser than the wisest of human plans, and God’s weakness is stronger than the greatest of human strength” (vs. 24-25). If we want to walk in the power of God’s wisdom, we will need to embrace the issue of sounding foolish to those trapped in disbelief. That foolish-sounding message is where the power of God is released and can open a closed mind.

“Few of you were wise in the world’s eyes or powerful or wealthy when God called you (vs. 26). The calling of God did not use earthly wisdom, power, or wealth to bring us to salvation. It was our coming to Jesus and leaving behind everything to embrace Him and His message.

There is a by-product of our choice to follow the message of Jesus. That choice will diminish the importance of what an unbelieving world holds as important, “God chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise. And he chose things that are powerless to shame those who are powerful. God chose things despised by the world, things counted as nothing at all, and used them to bring to nothing what the world considers important” (vs. 27-28).

As Paul set the stage for his continuing discourse with the Corinthians, he was bringing clarity to a very gifted and complicated church. We need to use Paul’s words to reorder our thinking about the Lord and what qualifies us to speak in His name. God’s Kingdom is not scholarly or influential according to the standards of the world. It is of another Kingdom that requires a simple message about Christ, a message the simplest and least powerful among us can confidently share. It is in that simple message that the power of God is displayed in ways that have changed the world.