The First Letter from the Apostle Paul to the chuch of God in America.
(Adapted from the NKJV 1 Corinthians)
CHAPTER ONE
My Dear church of God in America,
My dear saints! Grace and peace to you from Jesus Christ our Lord.
As I sit writing this, or should I say, as I dictate to our wonderful brother in the faith, Sam, I cannot help but to pause for a quick prayer of thanksgiving. It seems like every time I think of you all, I cannot help but thank God for the grace you have found in Christ Jesus. He truly has blessed you, not only with salvation and a good testimony, but with so much knowledge as well. Not only that, but the spiritual gifts God has given you is nothing short of a miracle. I have no doubt that when Christ Jesus is at last revealed, He will find you blameless. Isn't God faithful? Not only to hold you in fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ, but in fellowship with each other as well. Do not underestimate that fellowship.
I truly wish I were writing under different circumstances. I would not be so inclined to remind you of my position of leadership as an apostle of Jesus Christ, which was given to me by God Himself. For it is with that authority I write to you know, begging you to listen to correction.
My joy for you turned so quickly to sadness when I heard of the countless division among you. When the people in your communities see only constant disagreement, what are they to think of your faith? By definition, followers of Christ are supposed to be likeminded. I have even received letters informing me that there are often heated arguments among yourselves as to whether you are followers of me, John Piper, Andy Stanley, Tim Keller, Mark Driscoll or Christ! I was completely speachless.
Is Christ a savior of division?
Was Andy Stanley the one who hung naked on a cross for you? How about Piper, Keller or Driscoll?
Do you baptize in my name?
I thank God that I only baptized a few of you, so that you do not get confused and think that being baptized by me somehow makes you "a follower of Paul."
My ministry is simply to preach the gospel. I'm not even eloquent when I preach. At times like these I am grateful, or perhaps even more of you would be distracted from Christ since you seem so prone to follow eloquent speakers. The world is obsessed with wisdom, and the cross if foolish to such people. But not to me. Not to us, America. The world looks at the cross and laughs, but we know it represents the power of God. It's just like Isaiah, the prophet wrote so many years ago.
"I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent."
Where are your psychologists? Where are those who handle the tiniest details of religion? Where are the traveling debaters? They think they are so very wise, but in God's eyes they are stupid. When God looked at our planet, He saw how much we relied on our humanly wisdom, so in His own wisdom, He decided to save the lost through what appeared to us as foolishness.
You see, scientists require scientific evidence, and psychologists require wisdom from books, but we preach about a filthy wooden cross and blood and nails and a tomb. The scientists stumble over such simplicity and the psychologists mock it. But to those whom God has chosen, it is a powerful wisdom. Because the foolishness of God, if there were any, would still be wiser than the greatest thinkers' wisdom. The weakness of God, if there were any, would be stronger than the strongest of men.
Look at yourselves, brothers and sisters. You are called by God, yet there is little about you physically that the world would deem "strong" or "powerful." You see, God rarely calls such types. Look around at the "hottest" models or strongest athletes. Rarely are they the ones God has chosen. Our dear brother, Russell from Seattle is a wonderful example. (For those of you who do not follow sports, I apologize for the sports analogies I often bring up.)
Russell is not many people's first choice in an athlete, especially of his position, yet The Lord found it fitting to use him, despite his worldly weaknesses.
Why?
Because God has chosen to use things and people that the world views as useless, to show how little the world actually knows. God has chosen the weakest people to show earth's strongest how weak they really are. God has chosen the lowest class citizen and the unwelcome immigrant and the unpopular kid who passes through high school in shadows.
Again, I ask, why?
He has done this so that each of us may not have any pride in ourselves. That we should not focus on ourselves. But that we should find glory in God, both now and when we are finally in His presence.
Brothers and sisters, look at the wonderful example we have in Jesus Himself. He was just like us. Born into a nobody family in a unknown town in a dirty barn. His father worked carpentry, and his mother wasn't anyone famous either. He was murdered in the most humiliating and painful way. Naked and bloody for all the world to see.
This is the wisdom of God.
And the world mocks it.
But not us. Here, in this humility. In this weakness we find righteousness. We find growth toward holiness. We find redemption and hope.
I'm reminded of the words of the prophet Jeremiah, who said, "He who glories, let him glory in The Lord."
