As Paul continues to address the error the believers in Corinth had adopted, he arrives at the matter of divine wisdom versus human wisdom (1 Corinthians 1:17-25). Paul highlights a sharp distinction between the two with the purpose of explaining to the Corinthians that God’s wisdom is not like the world’s, and that they are in fact in opposition.
No different than in our day, the Corinthian society was filled with various ideas that sought to compete with or enhance the simple message of the gospel.
Based on Paul’s response to the letter the Corinthians had written to him, we can conclude that they likely believed that public speaking should be innovative, skilled, clever, and eloquent to be persuasive. This was the standard in their day ( Acts 17:16-21 ). Paul has to remind them that when he came to them, he did not come in wisdom or superiority of words taught by human minds, but in demonstration of the Spirit and power (1 Corinthians 2:1-4, 2:13, and 2 Corinthians 11:6). Paul wants to avoid employing human schemes that could potentially lead some to follow him without actually following Christ. He cautions the Corinthians that the pursuit of human wisdom and its use in the preaching of the gospel makes the message of the cross ineffective (1 Corinthians 1:17).
Jews and Greeks alike were not satisfied with the simplicity of the gospel. It was foolishness to them. Jews wanted signs and Greeks wisdom. God destroyed their wisdom by offering a crucified Messiah, an affront to their spiritual status and their sophisticated intellect. Paul reminds the Corinthians of how God responded to Israel’s reliance on their wise men by quoting the book of Isaiah, in which God tells Israel that because of the hypocrisy in their hearts, their wise men would perish and their discernment would be hidden (29:13-14). He also tells them that the knowledge of their enemies, wise men of their day, would be made folly (44:25). In the same manner, God responds to first century Jews and Greeks and reminds them that there isn’t a wise man or a scribe who is a match to Him, that no man can know God through the wisdom of the world, and that it is purely and only through the gospel that anyone can know Him and be saved ( 1 Corinthians 1:21). We would be wise to heed this warning.
The church in our current society is no different than in Paul’s day. In some churches, demands for signs and wonders are still being made, and the adoption of secular ideologies such as psychology, social justice, the seeker friendly movement, etc. not only influence the church’s mission, but define it. In faithful churches, the pursuit of eloquent, articulate, and superior speech can lead to a temptation to minimize the power that is found in the cross alone.
Man is still seeking to know God and make Him known on his own terms and by his own means. As the church of Christ, we can’t allow this mentality to permeate our thinking and our gatherings. This worldly wisdom is temporal and insufficient to lead people to God.
Paul’s exhortation offers regular people, like us, great encouragement in our evangelistic efforts. We do not have to have a carefully crafted speech or be a gifted speaker in order to offer the hope of the gospel to people. We don’t have to fill our churches with special speakers, programs, and events that will attract crowds. We have been called to proclaim the simple message of a crucified Messiah, and this is all that is necessary. A Messiah who left His throne in heaven and condescended by taking human form and walking among us. A Messiah who not only suffered hunger, thirst, and exhaustion, but also suffered the betrayal of His friends, ridicule by those He loved, and ultimately a gruesome death on a cross. All this for the purpose of saving an undeserving people from the penalty of their sin, which is death and an eternity in hell. Christ alone is the power and the wisdom of God and the only way to Him (1 Corinthians 1:24, John 14:6).
by Lil S.
