But God has chosen the foolish things of the world, that he may put to shame the wise; and God has chosen the weak things of the world, that he may put to shame the strong things;
Paul has just told the Corinthians that a crucified Christ looks foolish to the world. Now he turns the argument on them. Look at the church itself. Who did God call? And why did He pick the people the world overlooks?
Paul moves from a plain fact about the church to God's reason behind it.
The Corinthians still clung to their old admiration of man's wisdom and power and rank. So the apostle tells them to consider their calling. The assembly of God in front of them was the clearest evidence: not many of them were wise by human standards, not many powerful, not many high-born... But the apostle goes further and shows that it is not only a fact among men (v. 26) but a purpose on God's part (vv. 27-29)... His judgment is clear on the thing that always tends to capture the hearts of Christians. They love to count up the wise and the world's grandeur in their own ranks, as if anything of the sort could add glory to Christ. Did not God choose the lowly and despised things of the world... so that no flesh might boast in the sight of God?
The choice is not random. It matches the message Paul preached. That message had already set aside every human advantage, religious or intellectual.
The apostle has set aside the religious flesh of the Jew and the intellectual flesh of the non-Jew. He did it by presenting the cross and the preaching of the cross. Now he sets aside the pride of the flesh by presenting the calling of God... So a blind beggar put the wise Pharisees to shame. Simple fishermen shamed the wise rulers of Israel so completely that they had to say, "What shall we do?"
The cross itself is the foolish thing at the heart of that message. God meant it to look shameful:
The world despises the cross; and God meant it to be a despicable thing — a gallows... There, on the basest thing in the world, He has hung salvation.
Does this mean God is against clever or capable people?
Did God shut such people out for no reason? No. At least some of them did believe the gospel... God does not condemn intelligence or human ability. But by the preaching of the cross He strikes the death-blow to man's pride and confidence in these things. Some refuse the cross because it hurts their pride. They will not come down and admit that God is really greater than they are.
This is not a new method. Israel's history is full of victories won by means that looked absurd.
God used something foolish to bring down the walls of Jericho: rams' horns, blown round a powerful fortress. The people marched round it for seven days, and the walls fell. God used weak things to rescue Israel and turn back the enemy armies: Shamgar's ox-goad, Gideon's three hundred men, Samson's jawbone.
God does sometimes take up people the world values. But He breaks them first.
God uses two kinds of instruments to do His work. First, those who have no value in themselves... But He also takes up instruments which are of great value in the eyes of men and to themselves. People looked up to Saul of Tarsus. He was learned, religious, energetic and careful to do right. To all appearance he lacked nothing that God could use. Yet God lays hold of him, strikes him to the ground on the way to Damascus, and, so to speak, breaks the vessel to pieces. Then He says, Now I can use him.
God's choice of the foolish is not the end of the story. The same chapter says where their wisdom now comes from.
The very passage that tells us "God chose what is foolish in the world" at once adds, "because of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God" (1 Cor. 1:27, 30). Sadly, our own imagined wisdom often stops us from benefiting from the wisdom from above — the wisdom of our Head. It is good for us to admit our foolishness and cast ourselves on the wisdom that is in Christ our Head. Then, however unintelligent we are by nature, He will give us wisdom for every detail of our life and service.
- Chosen, not accidental. Not many at Corinth were wise, powerful or high-born. That was not an accident. God chose it so that no one could boast before Him.
- Chosen to match the cross. God hung salvation on the most despised object in the world. He calls people the same way He saves, with nothing of human glory attached.
- Chosen, not because ability is bad. God does not condemn intelligence; He aims at the pride that refuses to admit He is greater than we are.
- Chosen through breaking. Sometimes God takes up someone the world admires. First He breaks their self-confidence, as He did with Saul of Tarsus.
- Chosen to receive. Those who admit their foolishness receive Christ as their wisdom, with guidance for every detail of life and service.
and the ignoble things of the world, and the despised, has God chosen, [and] things that are not, that he may annul the things that are;
God's choice at Corinth cut against every human scale of value. Why would He pick the low and the despised, and use such "nothings" to cancel the things everyone counts as real?
Paul is not just reporting who happened to believe. One writer marks the step from a plain fact about the Corinthians to a purpose in God.
The apostle goes further and shows that it is not only a fact among men (v. 26) but a purpose on God's part. He chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise men. He chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong things. This is how clearly He passes judgment on what always tends to capture the heart of Christians. They love to count the wise and the great people of the world in their own ranks, as if anything of that sort could add glory to Christ.
This is the extreme term in the verse. One writer names what God has already set aside.
As to "things which are not" (v. 28) … the apostle takes it as an extreme case in the whole scene of God in Christendom. God has brought to nothing all of heathenism and Judaism.
What is nothing to human reckoning is not nothing to God. His way of choosing matches the way He speaks and creates.
He "calls the things that are not as though they were" (Rom. 4:17). He chooses "things which are not" (1 Cor. 1:28). Things which are not to us, exist for Him.
The cancelling is not theory. The leaders who questioned the first preachers in Jerusalem found untrained men they could not answer.
They perceived that they were ignorant and unlearned men. But, though they despised them from the heart, they could not deny the plain evidence of miraculous power that backed their teaching. "Things which are not" began to shake the throne of present power. Pilate was afraid before the words of One who admitted that He was indeed a King, yet said His kingdom was not now of this world. And Felix trembled and Agrippa felt ashamed before Paul, a chosen servant and a minister of things unseen. For a time he broke down the stubborn wickedness of men who, if they thought of God at all, thought of Him only as someone like themselves. It belongs to God to "call the things that are not as though they were." In the same way, through the effective power of the heavenly calling, He makes present things nothing in the eyes of those who live on His word.
Men had already thrown every word in Paul's list at Jesus. The same writer traces each description back to Him.
In truth, all five of these descriptions belong first and chiefly to Christ. Though He was God's chosen and holy One, He was "despised and rejected by men."… "He has a demon, and is insane; why listen to Him?" "As for this man, we do not know where He comes from." These sayings show what worldly judgment thought of God's wisdom in human form, in its day of opportunity.… The "chosen of God and precious" was, and still is, the One rejected by the builders of this world.
The same principle reaches beyond who is saved.
Not only has God chosen such to be His saints, but also in His work He chooses such as His servants.
God's way of choosing leaves nothing to be proud of. One writer contrasts how we act with each other and how we stand in Christ's presence.
The flesh must glory in something — birth, riches, or intellect. But in the presence of God neither believer nor unbeliever can glory in these things. Sadly, in the presence of one another we may try to lift ourselves up by birth, riches, wisdom, or achievements. But in the presence of Christ we are ashamed of the very things we glory in before one another.
- Chosen — The low and despised in the Corinthian church were not there by accident. God chose them on purpose.
- Nothing — "Things that are not" is the extreme term in Paul's list. What counts as nothing to people is real to God, who calls the things that are not as though they were.
- Christ — Foolish, weak, low, despised, nothing — all five words fell on Jesus first. The builders of this world rejected the One God chose and prized.
- Shaking — Untrained men left the Jerusalem council with no answer. Pilate feared, Felix trembled, Agrippa felt ashamed. God makes present things look like nothing to those who live on His word.
- Silenced — Birth, wealth and intellect give no ground for boasting. In Christ's presence we are ashamed of the very things we parade before each other.