Reflection
This is my reflection about Christianity and ministry in the past few weeks in my own context:
1. I live in a society where God is extremely hated - they hate us attributing good things to God, they think that God is an "evil" idea created by "evil" people to control others, they think that religion is stupid and all teach the same thing - follow an "unquestionable supreme being" who is not there
2. People hate being told that there is such a thing as absolutes and prefer to say that their own way is the absolute
3. People would kill (socially, emotionally, rationally, physically) to stop others talking about God
4. People want Christian morality without the One who created the moral
5. Saying "Jesus is the only Way, Truth and Life" is like saying : look at me, I'm a bigot and I don't use my brain for the good of the society
6. Each and everyone of them desperately needs the True Gospel
7. I've got an impossible and extremely dangerous job!
The conclusion is: there's nothing new under the sun, what I've seen is what I've been forewarned continually. It's stupid for me to try to do ministry with my own strength and wisdom, I have to trust in Him who is Sovereign. And yes, I'll be hated and I'll feel isolated, but "meh!" - Jesus died on the cross, why should I expect better treatment?
"18 The message about the cross doesn’t make any sense to lost people. But for those of us who are being saved, it is God’s power at work. 19 As God says in the Scriptures,
“I will destroy the wisdom
of all who claim
to be wise.
I will confuse those
who think they know
so much.”
20 What happened to those wise people? What happened to those experts in the Scriptures? What happened to the ones who think they have all the answers? Didn’t God show that the wisdom of this world is foolish? 21 God was wise and decided not to let the people of this world use their wisdom to learn about him.
Instead, God chose to save only those who believe the foolish message we preach. 22 Jews ask for miracles, and Greeks want something that sounds wise. 23 But we preach that Christ was nailed to a cross. Most Jews have problems with this, and most Gentiles think it is foolish. 24 Our message is God’s power and wisdom for the Jews and the Greeks that he has chosen. 25 Even when God is foolish, he is wiser than everyone else, and even when God is weak, he is stronger than everyone else.
26 My dear friends, remember what you were when God chose you. The people of this world didn’t think that many of you were wise. Only a few of you were in places of power, and not many of you came from important families. 27 But God chose the foolish things of this world to put the wise to shame. He chose the weak things of this world to put the powerful to shame.
28 What the world thinks is worthless, useless, and nothing at all is what God has used to destroy what the world considers important. 29 God did all this to keep anyone from bragging to him. 30 You are God’s children. He sent Christ Jesus to save us and to make us wise, acceptable, and holy. 31 So if you want to brag, do what the Scriptures say and brag about the Lord."
1 Corinthians 1:18-31
1. I live in a society where God is extremely hated - they hate us attributing good things to God, they think that God is an "evil" idea created by "evil" people to control others, they think that religion is stupid and all teach the same thing - follow an "unquestionable supreme being" who is not there
2. People hate being told that there is such a thing as absolutes and prefer to say that their own way is the absolute
3. People would kill (socially, emotionally, rationally, physically) to stop others talking about God
4. People want Christian morality without the One who created the moral
5. Saying "Jesus is the only Way, Truth and Life" is like saying : look at me, I'm a bigot and I don't use my brain for the good of the society
6. Each and everyone of them desperately needs the True Gospel
7. I've got an impossible and extremely dangerous job!
The conclusion is: there's nothing new under the sun, what I've seen is what I've been forewarned continually. It's stupid for me to try to do ministry with my own strength and wisdom, I have to trust in Him who is Sovereign. And yes, I'll be hated and I'll feel isolated, but "meh!" - Jesus died on the cross, why should I expect better treatment?
"18 The message about the cross doesn’t make any sense to lost people. But for those of us who are being saved, it is God’s power at work. 19 As God says in the Scriptures,
“I will destroy the wisdom
of all who claim
to be wise.
I will confuse those
who think they know
so much.”
20 What happened to those wise people? What happened to those experts in the Scriptures? What happened to the ones who think they have all the answers? Didn’t God show that the wisdom of this world is foolish? 21 God was wise and decided not to let the people of this world use their wisdom to learn about him.
Instead, God chose to save only those who believe the foolish message we preach. 22 Jews ask for miracles, and Greeks want something that sounds wise. 23 But we preach that Christ was nailed to a cross. Most Jews have problems with this, and most Gentiles think it is foolish. 24 Our message is God’s power and wisdom for the Jews and the Greeks that he has chosen. 25 Even when God is foolish, he is wiser than everyone else, and even when God is weak, he is stronger than everyone else.
26 My dear friends, remember what you were when God chose you. The people of this world didn’t think that many of you were wise. Only a few of you were in places of power, and not many of you came from important families. 27 But God chose the foolish things of this world to put the wise to shame. He chose the weak things of this world to put the powerful to shame.
28 What the world thinks is worthless, useless, and nothing at all is what God has used to destroy what the world considers important. 29 God did all this to keep anyone from bragging to him. 30 You are God’s children. He sent Christ Jesus to save us and to make us wise, acceptable, and holy. 31 So if you want to brag, do what the Scriptures say and brag about the Lord."
1 Corinthians 1:18-31
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