Countercultural Wisdom in a Multicultural World

Scripture — 1 Corinthians 1:20-25 (NRSV)

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, God decided, through the foolishness of our proclamation, to save those who believe. For Jews demand signs and Greeks desire wisdom, but we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength.

Devotion

The Apostle Paul lived in a multicultural world. He was a Roman citizen, familiar with the Greek mindset that pervaded the Roman world. But he was also a faithful Jew whose zeal for God’s law shaped his mind and heart.

Paul’s multicultural awareness is seen in 1 Corinthians 1:22, where he writes, “For Jews demand signs and Greeks desire wisdom.” When it came to matters of faith, Jews remembered God’s wonders from the past, such as the miraculous deliverance of the Jews from Egypt. They longed to see such wonders again. Greeks, however, valued the mind. They wanted philosophy more than miracles.

Paul preached the good news of God’s grace in Christ to both Jews and Gentiles. Thus, he continually encountered the Jewish desire for signs and the Greek desire for wisdom. This was a problem, however, because the central tenet of Paul’s message was “Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles” (1:23). Crucifixion would seem to be about as far from a miraculous sign as anything could be. And the notion that God was somehow saving the world through a crucified man would indeed appear to be utter foolishness.

Nevertheless, Paul boldly proclaimed the good news of “Christ crucified.” It’s hard to imagine how a message could be more countercultural, so utterly inconsistent with both Jewish and Greek values. Yet the good news of Christ crucified actually reveals the wisdom of God, a wisdom so different from that of the world. Turning common wisdom upside down, the death of Christ on the cross turns out to be both “the power of God and the wisdom of God” (1:24). In fact, Paul writes, “For God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength” (1:25).

We live today in a world that is, in many ways, like the world of the Apostle Paul. Indeed, our milieu is far more multicultural than that of the first century A.D., owing to the technological wonders of travel, media, and the internet. Thus, we also feel the tension between the wisdom of Christian faith and the wisdom of the world. Though people in our day might not be scandalized by “Christ crucified,” they are often upset by the claim that Christ is the Savior of the World (1 John 4:14). Worldly wisdom says that’s narrow-minded and foolish. Divine wisdom says that’s an extraordinary demonstration of God’s love and grace.

As we seek to follow Jesus in our daily life and work, we will often feel the tension between common wisdom and God’s wisdom. The choice to embrace countercultural wisdom is not easily made. It often leads to criticism and derision. It can seem to others as unneighborly and unloving. Yet, like Christians in the first century, we are called into a relationship with God that turns things upside down (1:24). The wisdom we embrace might look like foolishness. But we would do well to remember that “God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom” (1:25).

Find all Life for Leaders devotions here. Explore what the Bible has to say about work at the unique website of our partners, the Theology of Work Project. Reflection on today’s Life for Leaders theme can be found here: Status in Church and at Work: Friends in Low Places (1 Corinthians 1:18–31).