I believe that all Christians should be fools for Christ. That's right. It says so in the Bible. And the way I look at it, if the Good Book says it, then it has to be true.
"Where does it say that?" you may ask. In the first letter to the Corinthians that Paul wrote. Verses 18 through 27 uses the word "foolish" several times. To be more specific, in verse 21 it says that, "...it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe." Then in verse 25 it becomes even more specific when it says, "For the foolishness of God is wiser than men..." Finally, in verse 27 it says, "But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise..."
Alright, so I don't have a Doctorate of Divinity hanging on my office wall. But, "we are fools for Christ's sake," Paul says as he writes to the Corinthians. How would you interpret what Paul says? As far as I can tell, Paul is saying that God is foolish to choose for his workers the kind of lamebrains, misfits, nit-pickers, odd ducks, stuffed shirts, pompadoured overdressed egomaniacs and closet sensualists that he has.
It also seems to me that God is foolish to send us out to speak hope to a world that plods along with the conviction that things can only get worse. He is also foolish to have us speak of loving our enemies when we have a hard enough time loving our friends and even our own kin. It seems that he is also foolish to have us talking about life to a world that seems to be so in love with violence and death. Just turn on the TV at any given time. And what about the largest majority of video games being produced? You would think that violence and death was meant to be entertaining! And finally, doesn't it seem rather foolish that God is foolish to send us out in this journey called "life" without any road maps?
Such is the foolishness of God. But then Paul says that "the foolishness of God is wiser than man." To show you how true Paul's statement was, let me take just one year, the year I was born, and show you how foolish man was that year.
Even prior to 1942, Hitler, and those following his doctrine of hatred, had methodically and relentlessly established a climate of hatred against the Jews. The years of this systematic dehumanizing process paved the way for what was known as Kristallnacht -- "Night of Broken Glass" -- the confiscation of property and the suppression of individual liberty, leading eventually to the extermination camps.
In 1942, with the entire world looking on, the Ordinance Regarding Identification of Jewish Apartments (marking them with the Star of David) began on April 17. That same day Jews were also banned from using public transportation. Now, here's where man's foolishness actually turns stupid. A month later, on May 15, Jews were banned from keeping pets. No dogs, no cats, not even a goldfish. It gets even more foolish/stupid. Before the month is up, Jews were banned from using non-Jewish hairdressers.
Before the year was over, on June 19, laws allowing for the confiscation of electric appliances, typewriters and bicycles owned by Jews were enacted, as well as laws forbidding them to purchase books (October 9). Not only were those in Hitler's camp foolish, but they were downright ignorant. Just look at any of these laws mentioned and tell me how any of the things confiscated or denied access to could have possibly been used to overthrow the Nazi party.
On July 1 of 1943, all Jews were denied protection by the courts. But by then, as far as the Jews were concerned, laws were no longer an issue.
Now remember, Paul did say that, "God has chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise." I have not as yet been able to figure out why God allowed Hitler and his goons to do what they did back then, so perhaps I'm with so many others who are among the "confounded wise."
On the lighter side of foolishness, which is the side I prefer, let me say that this "confounded wise" man likes to ponder such foolish things as:
* We can learn a lot from crayons: some are sharp, some are pretty, some are dull, some have weird names, and all are different colors, but they all exist in the same box. (Yes, we all have our differences.)
* You may have heard this before, but when I look in the mirror, I am so thankful that wrinkles don't hurt.
Allen Stark
Special to ASSIST News Service
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