Such Foolishness
We preach Christ crucified… For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom,
and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.”
1 Corinthians 1:23, 25
Dear Friends,
I got stuck on an Instagram comparison again. These comparisons are more rare these days as I’m more confident in my own belovedness gained through Christ instead of gained through wisdom, education, homemaking, religious fervor, child-rearing, and the like. But sometimes I catch myself doing a deep dive into public pages of photographed perfection and I wonder about all I’m doing wrong or could have done better. The effort other people seem to put towards their family’s godly living, religious traditions, ritual prayers and mediations—the faith-filled, meaningful making parts of life—are beautiful and inspiring. But when I look to someone’s highlight reel as my example to follow or emulate, my focus and attention quickly becomes misplaced.
Sometimes the wilderness can refocus my attention. When the religious constructs, the pastors and priests, the head-coverings and praise band, the theological and dogmatic answers, the rituals and traditions and my favorite pew gets stripped away, my gaze is pulled away from my own effort and onto the cross.
On this third Sunday in my Lenten wilderness I’m recognizing once again that it’s not my effort, strength, religious perfectionism, morning devotions, afternoon rosary prayers, the number of Our Father’s, how nicely my children behave/look/dress, or my good works that binds God’s heart to my own. To believe my religious effort makes me worthy somehow is what Paul calls “wisdom of the world.”
In the wilderness, I’ve felt the loving hand of God reaching towards my face, redirecting my gaze away from what isn’t to what is. My gaze peals away from my own effort and strength and onto Christ crucified—such an embarrassment for God. Christ crucified? The foolishness of the cross? The cross was the most mortifying and shameful way to die. What opposite from religious perfectionism.
Friends, there’s no ivory tower elitism found in the foolishness of Christ crucified. There’s no formula to make sense of such an embarrassing death. There’s no ritual, tradition, or moral effort that can fully grasp this deeply irrational example the cross gives us all.
Thank. God.
“But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong… so no one may boast before him.” 1 Cor. 1:27
May this wilderness redirect my focus away from what looks like holiness and perfection and back onto Christ Jesus, crucified and risen, who is my holiness and hope and perfection.
With (love),
Bethany