For Some the Word of God is Foolish

Scripture:

1 John 4:6 We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us, and whoever is not from God does not listen to us. From this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.

Observation:

John and many other followers of Christ had become united with him. Being united with Christ meant that they identified with him and with God. They had become God’s people and were living in him, lives transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Through years of sharing the word John had learned this particular truth. Not everyone was going to listen to what he had to say. Some people would think that his preaching was sheer foolishness. The response of those around him led him to discern a spirit of truth and spirit of error. Jesus, the incarnate word has always challenged us to change our behaviors. We are not supposed to be just like the world and so the call is to live like Christ, in ways which are counter-cultural, and this is the spirit of truth.

Application:

Being a follower of Jesus Christ is becoming less popular these days and maybe that’s a good thing! You see, being a Christian was never supposed to be the popular thing to do, but instead was to be the challenge that would put us at odds with culture. The less popular Christianity might be the greater the challenge to truly be like Christ. No longer is there the option of being a half-hearted Christian. Either you are truly sold out to Christ or not. The world is to look upon Christians as being foolish…but for the sake of Christ.

Now, let me clarify that a moment. This is to be viewed as foolish when it comes to the imitation of Christ who in his love reached out and ministered to the poor, hurting, sinners and tax collectors. There are those who make themselves fools — but not really for Christ’s sake. Somehow they fail to see that Christlikeness is the goal and they will protest and try to argue in ugly ways to a needy and hurting world. No, being a fool for Christ is more about having an attitude of servant leadership and being willing to humble ourselves in service to a needy world than about arguments about faith. It’s giving up the lucrative position to serve others. It’s choosing to give away our funds instead of buying that new car.

We are being called to know God on an intimate level and then live as Christ did in this world. It’s a holiness lifestyle that is all-encompassing, one that screams our testimony because we refuse to buy into the materialism of our world. This is foolish as far as the world is concerned and they have no desire to listen.

Nope, some people just won’t get it. That doesn’t matter. We don’t give up and we keep living in imitation of our Savior, Jesus Christ!

Prayer:

Lord, may I be a fool for you.  Amen.


Thank you to Nazarene Publishing House and Keri Mitchell for helping to create and publish Reflecting the Image. This is not a devotional book, but rather a collection of thoughts and stories which lead us in the direction of reflecting Christ. Click on the image to take you to the NPH bookstore.The book is also available in Kindle format on Amazon.com.