Message of the Cross

“For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” (1 Corinthians 1:18)

We’ve had a lot of roadtrips during our marriage. Kerri and I love them! When we drive I always see the road signs for each little stretch of the road where a group or organization was cleaning up the road. Many of the groups listed that take care of that section of the road look for ways to help others, but these groups exist first for their members.

To loosely quote William Temple, the church is the only organization in the world that exists for the benefit of those outside itself. But here’s the funny part – to many of those who the church is seeking to help, their message of the cross is “foolishness” (1 Corinthians 1:18). The Gospel, to the lost and unsaved is absurd and foolish by nature. They don’t often see themselves as lost or as needing help. 2 Corinthians 4:3-4 says that the gospel is veiled to those who are perishing and that the “god of this age” has blinded them.

That sure seems like a valid description of our society -people blinded and deceived. So as Christians that can sound like a hopeless task – carrying a message that we’re told will be foolishness to those we are bringing it to.

No wonder some Christians give up with domestic missionary work – it is so much more satisfying to travel to another country or area where they are thirsty for the Gospel. The reality is that for most of us we don’t have the resources to go do that. Some of us get to go on a missionary trip for a couple week, but when we look back on our life, how will those few weeks compare with what we did in the everyday here and now to those right around us? We traveled to where people were thirsty yet failed to recognize those drowning right around us.

We also need to recognize what Paul says here – he doesn’t write that we are the ones saving people, but they are saved by the “power of God.” He does the saving, not us. That’s like my workshop being proud of how it fixed something, a pot being proud of the meal it cooked, or a camera being proud of the photographs it took. They are merely tools in the hand of their master.

We are also merely tool in the hands of God. When we read in the bible of people being used by God or that He has called into a relationship with Him, you find it’s always God who initiates. He is the power that helps the non-believer to see His glory, grace and mercy. We are merely the tools He uses and our job as Christians is to stand at the ready and see how He would use us in everyday life to those right around us.