Tuesday, February 12, 2008

A Fool

Do people think you're a fool? Sometimes I wonder if I'm viewed that way. We're really defined by our actions. Our actions are brought about by our thought process and how we handle situations. We consider our choices based on our wisdom or maturity.

I was reading in 1 Corinthians 1:18 and following about foolishness and wisdom. This is what I think. The Bible has things to say that really don't make a whole lot of sense to us. Most of what God says in it the world considers foolishness. I mean, come on...who would ever look out for someone else instead of ourselves? Advertisements sell to me what I think I need. We're considered a consumer driven society. We go so far as to forget about people who don't have anything and distance ourselves from them so we won't feel guilty about having more. We even relieve ourselves from our guilt by saying we're "blessed" so we won't have to lift a finger to help people who have less, the poor, hungry, homeless, and naked. We give to charity to ease our consciences so we won't have to personally meet the needy. God says to take care of the poor...in a parable in Matthew Jesus says that when we feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and meet the needs of the least we do it unto Him.

The world doesn't take care of the poor but feels sorry for them. In Acts the early church had no poor people among them...that's a new concept...sharing...foolishness. For us to even consider doing anything like the early church did is foolishness, right? We keep to ourselves and there are poor among us. Wait a minute...no there isn't! The poor aren't among us but are somewhere else on the other side of town. We've even distanced our church buildings from them! Does that mean something's wrong with what we're doing with God's church? Does that mean we're missing something?

Does this sound foolish to you? If it does, then most likely we have been corrupted with the world's wisdom. You see, the stuff that God wants the church to do and become, God's wisdom is foolish to the world. The world would never do something like that. God would. On the other hand, the world's idea of wisdom is foolishness to God. We have to ask ourselves a very important question: who considers me a fool? God or the world?

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