¹⁸ 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. ¹⁹ As the Scriptures say,

“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise
and discard the intelligence of the intelligent.”

²⁰ So where does this leave the philosophers, the scholars, and the world’s brilliant debaters? God has made the wisdom of this world look foolish. ²¹ 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.

1 Corinthians 1:18-21

Dear God, I think the problem with the message of the cross is that it requires humility to hear it. It requires humility to say:

• I am a sinner
• I cannot face life on my own
• I need God
• I need God’s grace in order to have relationship with Him
• I need to lay down my life, rights, and will to pursue Him

I heard about a man a couple of years ago who claims to be a Christian, but said he had never found a reason to ask you for forgiveness. There was a pastor who responded that he didn’t know how anyone could claim identity as a Christian if they had never repented. The part of the Catholic church’s penitent prayer that says, “I have greatly sinned in what I have done and what I have failed to do. Through my fault, through my fault, through my most grievous fault…” If any Christian, protestant or Catholic, sees no reason to say those words then they are part of the foolish world and not part of your redeemed Kingdom.

Of course, the humility doesn’t start or end there. Like I said, there is also the part of the equation that requires us to acknowledge that we need you to guide our lives. Sometimes we need to make the foolish-looking choice in terms of career, family, or church in order to be within your will. Sometimes we need to take what looks like a step back in our human world to take a step forward in your Kingdom coming and your will being done on earth as it is in Heaven.

Father, help me to be foolish for your glory’s sake. Help my wisdom to be unconventional if that’s what you are calling my wisdom to be. Help me to be a source of your light in my community. Help me to cover those who work with me in prayer so that all of us might be bonded together for your glory’s sake and for the sake of your work that needs done here in our town. And help me to be who you need me to be for my wife, my children, and the rest of my family and friends, no matter the cost to me and my own agenda for my life.

In Jesus’ name I pray,

Amen