Being a disciple who is wise and powerful (part a)

Good morning, church family.

If you can turn your Bibles or devices open to 1 Corinthians 1,

and we're picking up from verse 18.

For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing,

but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise

and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.

Where is the one who is wise?

Where is the scribe?

Where is the debater of this age?

Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?

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.

For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom,

but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles.

But to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks,

Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.

For the foolishness of God is wiser than men,

and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

For consider your calling, brothers.

Not many of you were wise according to worldly standards.

Not many were powerful.

Not many were of noble birth.

But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise.

God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong.

God chose what is low and despised in the world,

even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are.

So that no human being might boast in the presence of God.

And because of him you are in Christ Jesus,

who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption,

so that, as it is written,

let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.

Well, looking at you this morning,

there's a lot of people here I don't know after six months,

which is a lovely thing,

but I'm assuming that since you belong to this church,

you want it to not only survive, but thrive.

Those are two important words in the life of a church family.

And I'm assuming, therefore, on the basis of that,

you're not just sitting back on your backside

waiting for somebody else to make it survive and thrive,

but you see that you've got a really important part to play in that.

So I'm assuming, therefore, that you each want to be useful

in growing this church, humanly speaking, into the future.

That is, that you each want to make a difference.

That you each want to have a significant impact

on the health and unity of this church family.

But having said that, perhaps you feel stuck.

You think, well, great intention,

but I actually don't think I've got the skills or the ability

or the gifts which are required to be really useful

in this congregation.

So yes, I would love to be useful,

but I just don't think I can cut it.

And so what you find yourself doing is relying on

or remaining in the background,

convinced that others in the church,

those that you might think are upfront people,

the go-getter type people,

they're the ones that will carry the church into the future.

Back in February, I planned this series of four sermons,

plugged in and switched on to Jesus.

Because I wanted to conclude formal ministry here at GECN,

have encouraged you to understand

what a truly helpful disciple looks like on the ground

and how you actually get to be a truly helpful disciple

and what it looks like in the context of, say, this church family.

I want to encourage you this morning

and over the next three weeks,

last week and this three more weeks,

I want to encourage each of you to be convinced

that you will have the most influence in this church family

and make the most difference

in the lives of those around you here this morning

and others who are yet to join the congregation in the future.

As you're not only plugged into Jesus,

that is, as you're a believer,

but as you're switched on to him

in every aspect of life.

Picking up from last week,

as you be what you are in Christ,

that will overflow into expressing Christ

in your interactions at a hundred different levels

in this church family.

being will lead to doing.

You'll be the most,

you'll be the wisest,

most powerful agent for unity and growth

in this church family going forward

as a disciple of Jesus,

plugged in and switched on.

That is, switched on to your identity in Christ.

I said last week,

you have it all,

every blessing in Christ.

He defines you.

Your security isn't him.

Your future isn't him.

Your present isn't him.

So as you understand that

and express that then in an overflow of passion

to see others become more like Jesus

in this church family,

then my friend,

you will be incredibly useful,

incredibly wise,

incredibly powerful in this church family.

And that's something that's open to each one of you

if you're plugged into Jesus.

So let's jump into the text this morning

recapping the problems in the church at Corinth.

Perhaps you weren't here last week,

so I'll recap some of it.

So the situation in Corinth,

young church,

many people had become Christians,

part of this new gospel community

or church family,

but

their old Christian,

their old pre-Christian worldview

was dominating and shaping

their thinking and actions

more so than Jesus.

Again, going back to the heading of this series,

they were plugged into Jesus,

but not switched on.

So worldview

is like the lens of my glasses.

It's the matrix

or the lens

through which you understand the world.

It's a framework of thinking

and understanding

that shapes how you operate

practically in the world.

It determines

how you think of people.

It determines what you think

is important to do.

It determines how you evaluate things.

It determines what you seek after

as the most important.

Well, the Corinthian worldview

in Paul's day

was driven by

an incredible confidence

in human thinking

and ability

to define

and create

the good life

they so much desired.

Corinthian culture

promoted

personal freedom

and happiness.

Promoted pleasure.

These are the measures

of the good life.

I have to stop

and say,

as I said last week,

that sounds so,

so familiar

to the Australian culture,

doesn't it?

So if you want to be

an authentic person

in Australia,

well, you pursue

freedom,

personal freedom,

happiness,

pleasure.

And that means,

essentially,

when you look at it

in practical terms,

that means

each person

does what they like

in order to be

the best possible

version of themselves.

And the city of Corinth

prided itself

on its tolerance

and unity

in inclusive society,

we'd say,

in these days.

Any viewpoint

apparently was accepted

equally.

But when you sort of

scratch into us

a culture like ours,

like theirs,

as is the case with ours,

when you scratch

below the surface,

it's anything

but exclusive

inclusive.

In fact,

this whole notion

of inclusivity

actually thinly

covers

disunity

and dislike.

And so,

what they had

in the church

at Corinth

was competitive

individualism.

So,

yes,

different views,

but they weren't

harmonious.

They were all

vying for

dominance

and preeminence.

They were all

after status.

My view

is the best view

and so,

subtly,

perhaps,

I'm going to

diss your view.

And the worldview

was causing

major problems

in the church.

Factions

dividing over

different personalities,

different emphases,

and competing

to make their

favored personality

dominant

while

perhaps,

as I say,

being a bit subtle,

but they're

passive-aggressively,

perhaps,

we could say.

As they try to make

their favored personality

dominant,

then they're

actually working

to undermine

others,

dismiss others

in the church

family.

And Paul's

antidote,

as we saw

in the verses

1 to 17

last week,

was to remind

the believers

that in Christ

they had a deep

unity.

Why?

Because they were

defined by him.

They were blessed

equally in him,

plugged into Jesus.

As I've already said,

they had it all

and needed to

think and act

practically in the

light of who they

were in Jesus.

And this point

was very simple.

If they're doing

that,

then factions,

divisions,

disunity,

and enmity

would disappear.

How would that

work?

Well,

as they were

focused on

expressing their

indebtedness to

Christ,

and expressing

their being defined

by Christ,

and their security

in Christ,

rather than

expressing all

those things

in terms of

allegiance to

people,

then all those

things would

disappear.

As they focused

on making Jesus

dominant,

and preeminent,

then they

wouldn't also

make individuals

within the church

family dominant,

and preeminent.

In our focus

verses today,

that was read to

us,

Paul presents

the gospel as

a radically new

worldview at

odds with

human ideas of

what is wise

and powerful,

and of who

is wise and

powerful.

His point is

very simple and

very blunt,

I think.

He's really

saying to these

believers at

Corinth,

your old

pre-Christian

worldview is

wrong,

and has no

place in the

church.

Why?

Because it's

actually contrary

to the gospel.

Your old

pre-Christian

worldview,

your Corinthian

culture worldview

is not

grace-based

or Jesus-focused

living.

So,

one aspect,

and it's just

one aspect,

behind their

competitive

individualism

and striving

for dominant

status,

was a worldly

view of

leadership.

If you read

through the two

letters to

Corinth,

you see that

leadership comes

up time and

time and time

again.

A worldly

way of

ranking usefulness

within the

church family.

That's what was

happening in the

church at Corinth.

They were using

a worldly

category of

what was

essential to

the health

and growth

of the

church.

And so,

a wrong

understanding of

wisdom and

power was

destroying the

church,

diminishing the

lordship of

Jesus,

because it

was taking

them away

from Jesus

and putting

the focus

on individual

people.

So,

let me give

you a little

bit of a

glimpse into

what wisdom

in Corinth

was deemed

to be.

In Corinthian

culture,

wisdom was

about self

promotion.

The person

who was

confident and

out there,

particularly with

the ability to

win arguments,

to out-argue

those around

you, to

impress others

with your

words and

with your

demeanor and

with your

aggressiveness,

perhaps, in

argument.

That's wisdom.

power was

the reward

for wisdom.

Because as

you were

dominant by

taking others

down, then

you became

powerful and

influential.

And so

power was

actually very

transactional.

To remain

powerful, to

get powerful,

you actually

had to use

and at

times even

abuse other

people to

gain dominance

over them,

to gain high

status, to

gain reputation.

It was a

very powerful

aspect of

Corinthian

culture.

And boy,

oh boy,

do we see it

in our own

Australian

culture these

days.

It drives

social media,

doesn't it?

But when you

look at it,

it's pretty

ugly.

ugly.

It's pretty

ugly.

Transactional

and

destructive.

Well,

verse 18,

Paul says,

for the

word of the

cross

is folly

to those

who are

perishing.

That word

folly there

is the

word in

Greek,

moron.

the word

of the

cross is

absolutely

moronic

to those

who are

perishing.

That's how

unbelievers

think about

the gospel,

isn't it?

It just

makes no

sense to

unbelievers

to talk

of Jesus

being God's

son.

And then

to add to

that that

God's son

would be

crucified as

a criminal.

And all of

that in

order to

secure

forgiveness

and make

us people

acceptable

to God.

And then

add to

that

resurrection.

And then

add to

that

modeling

yourself

on this

Jesus

who was

defeatist

and who

urged

self-sacrifice

and generosity

towards other

people.

Putting other

people before

your own

rights.

It was

moronic

to the

unbelieving

mind.

people will

only take

advantage of

you if

you try

to be

selfless

and generous

towards

others.

You can't

do that.

You have to

stand up for

yourself.

Stand up for

your own

rights.

Take

people down

before they

take you

down.

The gospel

is moronic.

Their

assessment of

the gospel

you see

was based

on their

own

wisdom.

What was

that wisdom

telling them?

That well

I have

inherent

goodness.

And that

if I do

the right

thing with

my inherent

goodness

then I

have already

what I

already

deserve

and I

can earn

God's

acceptance.

So

it's

moronic

to talk

to me

about needing

to be

saved.

Needing

to be

rescued.

Because

I'm bad.

But

against that

you see

believers

have come

to understand

their

rebellion,

their guilt,

their helplessness

before God's

justice and

gladly accept

Jesus as

God's powerful

means of

salvation.

And there

the second

part of

that.

The word

power there

is dunamis.

That's the

word we

get dynamite

from.

So that

which

unbelievers

consider

moronic

is

actually

God's

dynamite

that

blasts

us free

from our

sin,

clear out

of hell

into heaven.

There's

no point

of overlap

between those

two worldviews,

is there?

What

unbelievers

despise

will always

be central

to believers?

And when

God's people

are operating

practically

in line

with God's

wisdom and

power,

they will

always be

totally at

odds with

the world

around them.

And don't

we feel that

particularly

in this time

in our

culture?

Paul illustrates

this point with

three case studies

of disastrous

consequences of

worldly wisdom

and power.

Verse 19

refers back to

Isaiah chapter

Isaiah 29 · chapter mention

29.

In Isaiah's

time,

God's people

were facing

invasion,

imminent invasion,

by the ruthless

Assyrian

army,

which hitherto

had swept

all resistance

before them,

brutally

and ruthlessly.

God says

to his

people,

trust me,

I will

care for

you and

I'll

protect you.

God's

people,

in their

own

wisdom,

decided that

that wasn't

good enough.

And so,

contrary to

God's

explicit

statement,

they went

and formed

a political

military

alliance with

Egypt.

That's

where our

security

and future

will be.

Well,

you can go

and read it

for yourself.

But essentially,

when push

comes to shove,

the Egyptians

did nothing.

But God

destroyed the

Assyrian army

miraculously

overnight and

delivered his

people.

Paul's point?

Their wisdom,

their own

wisdom,

almost destroyed

them.

But the

Lord graciously

and miraculously

delivered them

as promised.

Verse 22a,

that the

Jews

demand

signs.

Well,

I think,

what does that

mean?

Well,

it's a little

bit hard to

know.

I think this

is what it

means.

The Jews,

in their

wisdom,

were convinced

that Messiah,

when he would

come into the

world,

would do

spectacular

things.

And so,

their measure

of Jesus'

ministry was

in terms of

show us

more spectacular

things,

because that's

what we

expect that

God would

do through

his Messiah.

Give Israel

dominant status

among the

nations.

But when

they confronted

Jesus,

Jesus,

he was not

spectacular.

And his

message appeared

to them as

one of

defeat.

So,

in their

wisdom,

they rejected

Jesus and

missed out on

the salvation

that they had

waited for for

generations.

man's wisdom

against God's

wisdom.

And verse

22b,

the Greeks

seek wisdom

in a similar

process.

I think that's

what Paul's

saying here.

In a similar

process,

the Greeks

decided,

well,

the gospel

is just

weird.

It's

certainly not

intellectual

enough for us

Corinthians,

who pride

ourselves on

learning and

philosophy.

And again,

it just

doesn't fit

with our

idea of

how God

would do

things in

this world.

It didn't

leave any

room for

people's own

cleverness,

for people's

own ability

to impress

God.

Paul's point,

once again,

their so-called

wisdom was

in danger of

making them

miss out.

on the

very thing

they needed.

And in

verses 21,

Paul, I

think,

saying,

look, you

guys in

Corinth,

you've got

the same

choice to

me.

So he

says to

them,

where is

the one

who is

wise?

Where is

the scribe,

the great

writer?

Where is

the debater

of this

age?

Again,

high status,

high dominance

in

Corinthians

society,

being able

to use

your words

to achieve

great things.

Has not

God made

foolish the

wisdom of

the world?

For since

in the wisdom

of God,

the world

did not

know God

through wisdom,

it plays

God through

the folly

of what we

preach to

save those

who believe.

life.

Practically,

the church

in Corinth

needed to

decide who

and what

was important

in the

church.

Would they

do it based

on their

old pre-Christian

ways of

thinking?

And there's

already evidence

they were doing

that in the

church with

the factions

and divisions.

Their old

pre-Christian

ideas of who

was wise and

who was

powerful.

Or would

they frame

their thinking

and actions

in light of

God's wisdom

and power

displayed in

Jesus?

In 23,

24,

and 25,

Paul, I

think,

affirms his

choice of

God's wisdom

and power.

But we,

it might just

be Paul and

his companions

or it might

be we

collectively

as believers,

but we

preach Christ

crucified,

a stumbling

block to

Jews and

moronic to

Gentiles.

But to

those who

are called,

both Jews

and Greeks,

Christ,

the power

of God

and the

wisdom of

God.

For the

foolishness of

God, if

such a thing

could even

exist, it's a

hyperbole,

for the

foolishness of

God is

wiser than

men.

And again,

the hyperbole,

the weakness

of God is

stronger than

men.

In other

words, it's a

no-brainer,

says Paul.

It's a

no-brainer.

Paul's not

aiming to

make God

number one

on his

agenda.

Rather, he

recognizes that

God is in

Jesus, has

set him a

complete new

agenda, a

complete new

worldview.

Therefore, to

change the

gospel message,

move away from

the so-called

foolishness of

Christ crucified

would be to

reject God's

wisdom, would

be to promote

competitive

individualism,

would be to

give worldly

wisdom dominant

status, even

though it

leads to

destruction.

people.

And the

weird thing is,

I was having

two conversations

this morning

before church,

two guys at

least in this

church know

what is to

be in another

church where

precisely that

has happened.

world.

Well, in sharp

contrast to the

destructive impact

of worldly

wisdom, Paul

describes the

Corinthian

Christians as a

case study in

God's wisdom and

power.

And this, I'm

just going to read

it again, it's

going to take extra

time, but I'm

going to read it

because it almost

speaks for itself.

He's just asking

them to reflect on

this issue of

wisdom and

power.

It's almost as if

he said, look,

just guys, just

stop for a minute

and look around

the church family

you're now part of

in Corinth and

just ask, where's

the wisdom and

power evident?

For consider your

calling, brothers.

Not many of you

were wise according

to worldly

standards.

Not many were

powerful.

Not many were of

noble birth.

But God chose

what is foolish in

the world to

shame the wise.

God chose what is

weak in the world to

shame the strong.

God chose what is

low and despised in

the world, even

things that are not

or of no consequence,

to bring to nothing

things that are.

So that no human

being might boast in

the presence of God.

He is the source of

your life in Jesus

Christ, whom God

made our wisdom, our

righteousness, our

sanctification and

redemption.

Therefore, as it is

written, that the one

who boasts, boasts in

the Lord.

So just look around.

Just do a brief survey

of the church family

around you and you

will see that God

doesn't pick

intellectuals.

He doesn't pick

influential people.

He doesn't pick

people of status

necessarily in our

society.

He doesn't pick the

best educated people.

There's nothing about

the church family in

Corinth, says Paul,

that's elite or

highbrow or

preeminent.

In fact, says Paul,

the point of the

gospel is that

quite unremarkable

people are saved

and become incredibly

remarkable people in

Christ.

And that proves that

God doesn't care for

the values and

assessments of this

world.

The end point of

that, here's the

really practical term,

the end point of that

is no believer can

big note themselves

as a Christian,

either because of

their personality or

because of their

understanding or

because of their

actions.

In fact, says Paul,

if you want to

brag, and that

bragging was one of

the baseline features

of Corinthian culture,

Paul says, well,

okay, let's just

look at the word

bragging.

If you only brag,

if you only boast,

well,

boast about Jesus.

Because that's the

only thing you have to

boast about.

The only thing you

have to boast about

or brag about is

God's amazing grace

in saving you.

Friends, I hope you

see Paul's point here.

The categories that

matter in God's

church are not

being clever,

not being necessarily

naturally gifted,

not being

influential as our

society would

call influential,

not being

sophisticated as our

society would deem

sophistication,

but those who

happily show God's

wisdom and power

by reflecting

the character

and death and

resurrection of

Jesus.

people.

And that, my

friends, is every

one of you here

who is a believer.

So putting Paul's

argument together,

verses 2 to 9,

we're not far from

being finished.

Jesus defines you

as a believer

individually and

together as a

church family.

And it's Jesus and

the gospel in verses,

that's verse 2 to 9,

and it's Jesus and

the gospel in verses

10 through to 31,

that should define

their thinking and

actions in respect of

each other and in

respect of the

message.

So, circle

back around to my

introduction.

The most important

takeaway from these

verses, I believe.

You will be most

useful in this church

family.

You'll be most

powerful in this

church family.

You'll be

outstanding in

wisdom in this

church family as

you strive to

promote Jesus.

As you strive to

be like Jesus

before others.

That will be

wisdom and power

that, humanly

speaking, will not

only help this

congregation survive,

but will make it

thrive.

if you can do

that, if you can

see those things as

the defining

categories of

everything that

happens in this

church family,

then you have

every reason to be

confident moving into

the future.

Remember, you have

everything you need

in Jesus to be

grace-based and

Jesus focused.

Making, as I say,

your own involvement

in this church a

model of God's

wisdom and power.

And qualifying you,

therefore, also, my

friend, to challenge

others when you see

worldly wisdom or

worldly means of

power creeping into

this church family if

and when that

happens.

you, individually,

each one of you,

has a responsibility

to make sure the

church survives and

thrives by being

grace-based and

Jesus focused.

And the overflow of

all that will be the

deep unity, verse 10,

that we spoke about

last week.

So, simple, very

simple, practical

question.

You need to look at

your own engagement

in this church family

and ask, are you

predominantly driven

by grace-based,

Jesus focused

categories?

Or are you

predominantly driven

by human categories

of who and what is

important in the

church?

So, let me just

tease that out a

little bit.

You need to ask

yourself, who is it

in the church that

you value?

What is the

personality in the

church you think,

yeah, they're the

people I want to be

like?

Who is it you

desire to be around

in the church family?

Yeah, I just need to

hang out with this

person because he

will, his grace-based

or her grace-based

Jesus focus will just

flow over onto me and

that's exactly what I

need.

Or are you still

drawn to the high

profile people?

The cool people?

Maybe the fashion-savvy

people like myself?

The nice people like

Simon?

It's really bad when a

pastor holds a grudge,

isn't it?

The successful people.

The people with formal

positions in the

church.

The people, perhaps,

who just talk enough

about godliness and use

the language of the

Bible but don't really

actually challenge you

to change your views,

change your behaviors.

Churches are full of

people like that.

Are you applying God's

wisdom and power to

your relationships?

I talked about that

last week, especially

broken and strained

relationships with your

brothers and sisters in

this church family.

Or as I said last week,

are you living happily

with spiritual

disfigurement because we

got spiritual breaks,

we got relational breaks?

See, at the heart of the

gospel is reconciliation.

The reconciliation that

God effected between us

and him is far, far more

costly and profound than

anything we will be called

to do in reconciling with

brothers and sisters that we

fall out with.

It's the model of carrying

offense at a personal level

rather than demanding

rights.

That's God's wisdom and

power.

It's forgiving when the

person who's offended you

isn't necessarily truly

repentant.

That's God's wisdom and

power.

It's a challenge to us.

We need to address

hurts and differences on

the basis of God's wisdom

and power.

Reminding yourself as you

engage at that level that

you have so much in common

in Christ.

You actually have the

platform from which you

can resolve those issues.

Last Sunday, as I wound

up, I asked, based on

verse 10, about the idea

of knitting together, I

asked each of you to be

knitters.

Yep, and that included the

blokes.

You need to take the lead in

this church family in being

knitters.

Well, today I'm asking you

to be braggers, boasters.

Make it your goal to be

known in this church as

someone who just boasts

incessantly.

not about your own

abilities, not about your

clever use of words, not

about your grievances with

others and how I gave them

a bit of a rev up and I

took them down and I

sorted them out and they'll

never speak to me like that

again.

But boasting about being

shaped and blessed in Christ

together with every other

believer in this church

family.

Would that we were a

congregation of boasters in

that context.

Well, pray with me, please.

Lord, we just get it so

wrong.

We know what's right, we

want what's right, but we

get it so wrong.

We just default back and

under pressure, we default

back into that old pre-

Christian way of

thinking and evaluating and

acting.

Help us to be grace-based

and Jesus-focused.

Help us to be those who

boast in nothing other than

our identity in Christ,

our security in Christ,

and our unity in Christ.

in Jesus' name we pray.

Amen.