The Foolishness of God

This week we beginning a slow reading through 1 Corinthians. With 16 chapters, it fits perfectly with our four chapters per week pace. I hope you will join me in reading slowly, prayerfully, and watchfully through Paul's first letter to the Corinthian Christians this month.

And as I read this morning, I was struck by 1:18:

For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

Foolishness.

Curiously - serendipitously, perhaps - an old song by artist Michael Card has been on my mind for about a week now. I even mentioned it in my Bible study class yesterday. The song is titled, God's Own Fool, and the opening stanza is:

Seems I've imagined him all of my life
As the wisest of all of mankind
But if God's holy wisdom is foolish to men
He must have seemed out of his mind.

The entire song is, of course, a reflection on the earthly ministry of Jesus. And it is a continuing challenge to those of us who would prefer that God's way and wisdom upon the earth would be "common sense," or "good business sense," or "good politics."

But God's ways are not just common sense. God often chooses the weak things of the world to showcase the Divine power. God chooses the foolish things to confound those who think themselves wise.

Quite honestly, this idea scares me a bit. It scares me all the more because this idea seems to keep cropping up in my life, and that suggests to me that God is trying to get my attention about something in particular. Or perhaps God is trying to prepare me for a bit of Divine foolishness. Or perhaps God just wants me to appreciate again how little of life and the spiritual calling I actually have "figured out." The fact is, I'm not exactly sure why this idea keeps bubbling to the surface right now, but I am eagerly watching for how our Living God and Risen Savior and Active Spirit is going to work!

What Divine foolishness is God introducing in your life this week?