The Message of the Cross Divides

In one paragraph

Carl preached through 1 Corinthians 1:18 through 2:5, working through Paul's argument that the message of the cross divides all of humanity into exactly two groups. The sermon kept returning to one central claim: what looks like foolishness to the world is, to those being saved, the power of God. Before getting into the text, Carl asked the room to stop seeing the cross as a piece of jewelry or...

Read together

1. Psalm 147:1 quoted at the opening as a call to sing praises to God
2. 1 Corinthians 1:17 the verse from the previous week that sets up the wordplay leading into this week's text
3. 1 Corinthians 1:18 the thesis sentence that the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing but the power of God to those being saved
4. Isaiah 29:14 quoted as Old Testament support for God destroying the wisdom of the wise and bringing to nothing the understanding of the prudent
5. Acts 17 referenced as the occasion when Paul argued before the Epicureans and Stoics using their own poets and arguments
6. Acts 18 referenced as the account of Paul's time with the Corinthians
7. Jeremiah 9:23-24 cited as background for Paul's point that the wise, mighty, and rich should not glory in those things but in knowing God
8. Ephesians 2:8-9 quoted to show that salvation is by grace through faith so that no one can boast before God
9. 1 Corinthians 2:1-5 Paul's account of coming to Corinth in weakness and fear, preaching only Christ crucified without persuasive human wisdom
10. 2 Corinthians 10:5 quoted as the source of the phrase taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ, destroying speculations raised against the knowledge of God

Talk about it

1. Carl described the cross as something deeply offensive in the first century, more like an electric chair than a piece of jewelry. How does thinking about it that way change the way you hear the message of the cross?
2. Carl talked about solipsism, the natural human tendency to see everything from our own perspective, and said that if we only ever see things from our own point of view, we will be damned. Where do you notice that pull in your own life, and how does the message of the cross push back against it?
3. Paul writes that the message of the cross divides everyone into only two groups, those who are perishing and those who are being saved. How do you respond to the idea that all the other divisions we make between people, race, class, education, gender, come down to just those two?
4. Carl pointed out that Paul says not many wise, not many mighty, not many noble are called, but not none. What do you think makes it harder for someone who is powerful, wealthy, or highly educated to accept something by faith rather than by reason?
5. Carl closed with Pascal's idea that God has given enough light for those who want to see and enough obscurity for those who do not. What do you make of that, and how does it shape the way you think about people in your life who find the message of the cross foolish?