I Corinthians 1:18-2:16
Dear RTB’ers,
Yesterday I commented that Paul had spent a year and a half in Corinth (plus a second trip some years later), so he knew the Corinthian people to whom he was writing. And to these people he wrote that not many of them were wise or strong or of noble birth (v. 1:26). Suppose we reverse his “not many”; then it follows that Paul knew that some of these people were wise, some were strong, and some were of noble birth. Imagine Paul speaking to us today, knowing all of us, and knowing that some are wise, some are strong, and some are of “noble” birth. What would he say to us? The same thing he said to the Corinthians: God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, … so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. (1:27-29) Paul is taking our pride out of the picture. Our pride is our foolishness, is our weakness, is low and despicable before God. Instead He offers us His Spirit: Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. (v. 2:12) And with that Spirit,
“What no eye has seen, nor ear heard,
nor the heart of man imagined,
what God has prepared for those who love him”—
these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. Setting aside our (my!) pride allows us to see God’s creation, including ourselves and all those around us in a wholly different light. Later we will learn that “the greatest of these is love” (13:13). I daresay that the lowest of these is pride. Your thoughts?
Blessings!
Fred