Wise Folly

“For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe.” 

—1 Corinthians 1:21

Preaching. To some, it is complete foolishness. Some man up front, shouting at people, telling them about the Bible. But the preacher is God’s representative to the people, and their representative to God. It is through the preaching of the Word that lives are transformed. As Paul said in Romans 1:17, “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.” There is a mystery that takes place when a man ascends to the pulpit to extol the Word of God. Those who hear the word of God receive the faith to believe. Not all do, but there are some, there will always be some, because God’s Word will not return empty but will “accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it”—Isaiah 55:11.

As the Word is opened and the people stand, there is a rumbling in the souls of men and women, like Ezekiel prophesying to the valley of dry bones. Outwardly there may be nods and “Amens” from the congregation, but war rages within hearts. For God’s Word is like a fire (Jeremiah 23:29), a hammer (Jeremiah 23:29), and is “living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart”—Hebrews 4:12. It is the MRI that shows the inner workings of our soul. As the Word is preached, faith comes, hearts are convicted, and men and women cry out for deliverance. The Word that brings conviction invites confession, and then comfort. It is through preaching that God’s wisdom is seen, but the world does not recognize it, it cannot recognize it, for to recognize it would mean coming face to face with the truth of God’s Word, and turning away from the sins that it loves so much. They love their sin too much to embrace the loving and suffering Savior.

What about us? Are we placing ourselves under the teaching of the Word of God on a weekly basis? Or are we placing ourselves around people who tell us what we want to hear? It is through hearing God’s Word preached that we are transformed, and we must make every effort to be in a church that values and preaches God’s Word unapologetically. Anything less is like having a Band-Aid placed over the skin when cancer permeates the body. God’s Word is the scalpel that cuts out the cancer of sin.

May God give us hearts that seek to hear, understand and apply His Word so that we might help root out the disease of sin that plagues our souls! May God’s Word cut us to the heart—not so that we might be hurt, but so that we might be healed and live the way that He desires and intends us to live! It is foolish to the world, but to us, it is the very power of God! Amen.