17 For Christ didn’t send me to baptize, but to preach the Good News—and not with clever speech, for fear that the cross of Christ would lose its power.
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. 22 It is foolish to the Jews, who ask for signs from heaven. And it is foolish to the Greeks, who seek human wisdom. 23 So when we preach that Christ was crucified, the Jews are offended and the Gentiles say it’s all nonsense.
24 But to those called by God to salvation, both Jews and Gentiles, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 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.
1 Corinthians 1:17-25
Dear God, how bothered should I be by people who don’t believe in you/Jesus?
First, let me tell you I’m sorry. I failed to be here with you in this prayer format yesterday. And you and I both know that I prayed to you several times yesterday. I prayed for people and friends throughout the day. I read these scriptures yesterday. In fact, I wanted to do this prayer journal yesterday on this scripture. And I know you’re not sitting there saying (mean voice overlaid), “Why didn’t you do your prayer journal yesterday?!?” No, I’m sorry to myself because I think I missed something in my day yesterday by not disciplining myself to take the time to do this. I’m sorry if I missed an opportunity you had for me.
With that said, I was setting up my weekly Parents of the Bible Facebook post this morning when I saw just the first line of someone’s post: “Christians and Muslims do not worship the same God!” Yeah, they’re right. We have the same creator of the universe–you. But the God I know is different than the god they know. Honestly, I don’t know the god they know very well, but my daughter knew a young Muslim man very well several years ago, and as they compared their faiths, my daughter said that Christianity was the only one that offered such grace. The Muslim man said, “That’s too easy.”
So I read this passage from scripture and I think about how few people will find you because of their “wisdom” and “understanding” of how you should work and how life should work. Then they see Jesus talking about loving your enemy, being more pure than the letter of the law, but knowing we will fall and offering us grace for it. Loving our neighbor. Giving our lives for others. Our forgiveness from you being dependent upon our forgiveness of others. We will be persecuted for loving you. Embrace it. All these things are an anathema to a lot of the wise. In fact, I can’t help but wonder how the person(s) behind that Facebook post would describe you. Do they worship the God I know, or are they worshiping a different god who is only interested in their political power and that they would have an earthly advantage over their neighbor who has a different god from them? Even though we both claim the label Christian, would they label me an enemy because the God/god we worship is different?
Father, am I worshiping God or god? Do I know the real you (or as much as I can know you)? Help me to find the real you. I want to know how to love you. I want to know how to represent you to the world. I want to know where I have made unintentional idols and purge them from my life or even my psyche/mind. If I’ve made you something you are not, I am sorry. Help me to till the weeds from my soil. Grow your fruit in me so much that it will overwhelm any weeds that try to grow. Be glorified in my life.
I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,
Amen
