Devotion for August 8, 2022

Go Be Foolish!          

1 Corinthians 1:8-31 

And, we are STILL here!  Every time I think that Covid is behind us and that the days are safe, the virus rages again.  Many of us are wounded and weary.  Many of us are grieving and fearful.  And many of us, in our most honest and deepest thoughts wonder, “What in the world is God up to?”

These days are challenging.  We are not okay.  Many pastoral leaders are weary and struggling.  Many church folks are too.  We share with one another our fears.  We share with one another that we aren’t quite sure what to do, how to lead. We say to ourselves and sometimes out loud, “These days are crazy!  These times are just FOOLISH!”

And when we get to the “foolish” part, we should pause and remember this passage!   God has called us to love God and to love ourselves and to love our neighbors!  God has called us to go be foolish.

Yet, amid raging economic pressures, these days are crazy.  Amid continued racial and gender injustices, these days are irrational.  In the midst of rising gas and food prices, a senseless war in the Ukraine, and government instabilities, these days are just insane.  And the preacher says, “Love God, love self, love one another.”  Well, that’s just plain FOOLISH!

And, when we get to the “foolish” part, we should pause and remember this passage.   In verse 8, Paul reminds us that God will give us the strength to endure the insanity of the world.  In verse 18, Paul reminds us that God’s love for us is deemed crazy by those who don’t understand.  And in verse 25, Paul emphasizes that what the world deems as “crazy and foolish” is just the wisdom of God being played out in the world.  The foolishness of God to many is actually the WISDOM of God at work!

But the truth of this passage and the truth of our calling as Jesus followers is to love God completely and to love others as much as we love ourselves!  (See Matthew 22: 37-40)

So, do we set rules to control the crazy?  Do we make foolish laws to keep people in line?   Or do we live what we know, do we love those on our pathway, and unleash God’s truth?

Being a Christian is never easy!  Being a leader in a community of faith is even more challenging!  However, only as we love God, one another, and humble ourselves will we ever approach God’s intended purpose for us.  (See Micah 6:8)

God is looking for “ordinary” folks to do extra-ordinary things!  That seems crazy; yet this concept in Scripture plays out repeatedly.  This seems foolish to many.  BUT, perhaps, this is the wisdom of God at work in the world.  Go be extra-ordinary.  Go be foolish!

This week’s devotional is brought to you by Bo Prosser, Spiritual Direction Coach Manager for the Rural Clergy Fellows with Campbell’s Center for Church & Community.