things which are despised (d.chang chap 1)

paul starts off greeting the church in the Corinth, saying that he thanks God because he can tell that these people have been blessed, and that it is apparent that God has changed them and made them and called them as His own. he says that Christ has been confirmed in them (they are evidence that God really works), that they "come short in no gift" (v. 7), and that they are "eagerly waiting for the revelation of of our Lord Jesus Christ" (v. 7). i like the phrasing of that last part, about waiting for a revelation of God. i think this is really the only thing that it would take for people to believe or for people to really want to go farther in relationship with God - seeing who God is.

paul mentions that he had not been sent by God to baptize, but to preach the gospel, and not preach the gospel out of the wisdom of his own words. if he had been preaching out of his own wisdom, then the cross would have been made of no effect. essentially, if he had been able to preach out of his own strength, then he wouldn't have needed God. and he goes on to say that when God died, He was changing the way the world works.

He was saying that He was going to "destroy the wisdom of the wise, and bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent." it goes on to say that people stopped turning to God because they started relying on their own strength, their own wisdom of the world. and to be able to believe in God, you have to turn from the wisdom of the world, because if you believe in God, you are believing in something that doesn't make sense. something that is foolish, irrational.

paul keeps going, saying that not many people who are mighty and wise are called by God. and how God has chosen the smallest things, the foolish things, in the world to build His kingdom. He picks the nobodies and uses them to overcome the "somebodies" in the world. the ones that nobodies pays attention to, the ones that nobody wants to befriend. these are the ones who will be made into someones. the first will be made last. the last will be made first. God is changing the way the world works.

what is so scary to me is that paul says that God will put to shame the ones who are wise and mighty. more than that, paul says God will use the weak and foolish to do so. now, i think this would be very comforting to people who are miserable and looked down upon and not valued, but to most people who are trying to be somebodies, it's really scary. the people that you feel you are better than will put you to shame.

it's a little like that movie that the youth group is apparently going to watch on Friday night, called Facing the Giants. a football team of nobodies finds themself in a championship game that they weren't supposed to be in, against a menacing, proud and arrogant, strong football team that cannot be beaten. and the team of nobodies comes through. not out of their own strength. out of miracle. God calls the nobodies, God has chosen the things that are despised in this world. He used Gideon, the lowest member of the lowest family in the clan to bring the Israelites out of a seven year bondage. not because Gideon was good enough or had strength - he didn't. because Gideon had faith.

i don't think it is necessarily talking about anybody who is wise or mighty being brought down by God and put to shame. i think it is talking about people who place a lot of stock and confidence in their wisdom and might. this is why it is important that paul says earlier that he is preaching the gospel not out of the wisdom of his own words. because he doesn't place a lot of value in what he knows - he places a lot of value in knowing the value of the cross and what it means that Christ has died for him.

if God has chosen the weak and the foolish... as weird as it might sound, it kind of makes me want to be weak and foolish. and i think this is done easily enough by simply not living the way the world wants to live. not giving in to the way the world operates (the world puts a lot of pride and confidence in being able to say that you are stronger, smarter, better than someone else, but paul is saying that God will totally reverse this hierarchy in the end). i think if you try to go against the world, it will give you a headache and make you feel really miserable... but i think it'll bring you closer to God. if you go against the world for Christ's sake - then this is faith. it says in 1 John that this is the only thing that can overcome the world.

so i guess the application is... if you God instead of the world, the outcome might be a lot of pain, a lot of hurt. but if you are truly seeking God, then things are going to be okay. if you let yourself be a fool for God's sake (while being humble at the same time, not putting on a show), then you will be God's chosen.

and i guess the question is... how do i stand before God? what kind of messages do i send to God? do i tell Him that i am mighty and wise and that this is what makes me better than others, or might i say that i am so desperate for God that i don't care what other people think or say about me, just as long as i really get to God? and would you go through that humiliation just to be chosen by God? it really is a test of faith.