The Weak are the Strong

“For you see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called:  But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are:  That no flesh should glory in His presence.”  I Corinthians 1:26-29

Who have been and who are now the great preachers of the gospel?  Going back to Genesis, we find Abraham, who was just an ordinary man whom God called to produce a nation of people who would honor Him.  Even before Abraham, Noah was found to be a righteous man who was mocked for building an ark to save his family from the coming flood.  David was a shepherd, the youngest of eight sons of Jesse.  God chose him to be king over Israel when he was a teenager.  Gideon was the “least” in his family, but God chose him to be a judge over Israel and defeat the Midianites.  There was a woman named Deborah who also was a judge.  Women were considered second-class citizens by the men of that time, but God saw her as an obedient servant.

In the New Testament, we see that the disciples of Jesus were mostly fishermen and one hated tax collector.  Paul, an unlikely candidate for preaching the gospel because of his prior pursuit and arrest of Christians, became one of the most well-known gospel preachers of all time.  He was a tentmaker by trade.  Most of the 20th and 21st century great preachers had humble beginnings.  All of the preachers that I have sat under over the years came from poor or lower middle-class families.  Considering what Paul wrote concerning those whom God called to preach, we have to wonder about modern day preachers who become extremely wealthy, however, a pastor should not have to struggle to make ends meet.  His church should support him sufficiently enough so that he can devote his time to the work of the church.  In some smaller churches, the pastor is forced to work a secular job because there are not enough funds collected to pay him a sufficient salary.

It is also a fact that those who are ordinary, everyday people are drawn to the gospel more so than the rich and noble.  Jesus said that “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God” (Matthew 19:24).  He didn’t say that it was impossible, but many wealthy people trust in their riches rather than in the Lord.  I don’t know what statistics would show, but I would guess the great majority of believers would be found to be middle class or lower as far as economics, education, and social standing are concerned.  Of all the world’s richest people, I have never heard any of them praising God nor speaking of their faith in Christ.  I am sure there are some, but they are few and far between.  In doing tax returns in years past, the more money that a family made, the less they gave in charitable contributions.

The religious leaders of Jesus’ day considered themselves to be the most highly educated and wisest men among the masses.  They couldn’t understand how a seemingly common Man like Jesus was garnering such a following among the people.  After Jesus was resurrected and ascended back to His Father in heaven, it was the common people like the disciples and Paul who carried on Jesus’ gospel.  The law was all the religious leaders had, and they didn’t know how to deal with the change in people’s hearts that the gospel was bringing about.  The law was a tangible way to measure obedience, but the law written on people’s hearts was intangible.  The people of Israel were supposed to share the LORD with other Gentile nations, but they hated Gentiles.  In their way of thinking, why would they want to share their “glory” as God’s chosen people with those outside of Israel?  At times they had been extremely disobedient and turned away from God.  They didn’t want Him, but they didn’t want anyone else to have Him either.

God had a solution for their hard-heartedness.  He planned from the beginning to bypass the Jews in letting the Gentile world know of Him and His plan for their salvation.  The Jewish leaders thought this plan was preposterous, a complete turning from the law, and the worship of One whom they had crucified.  They considered Gentiles as less than nothing, but God found these outcasts, giving them opportunity to become His children as well.  The Jews bragged about their chosen status with God, but God made reconciliation for people with Himself in a manner about which no one could boast.

To be right with God can’t be done on our own.  It is all God and none of our feeble attempts to make ourselves acceptable to Him.  To do “good” works in order that God would accept us into His kingdom is an insult to God.  Of course, after we are accepted through repentance and trust in Christ, we are expected to do good works as representatives of Jesus Christ.  Paul wrote, “He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord”.  This was a shortened version of Jeremiah 9:23-24:  “Thus saith the LORD, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches: But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth Me, that I am the LORD which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight, saith the LORD.”  When it comes right down to it, the most important thing in the world is not riches, power, or fame, but to know the Lord in the free pardon of sin and be committed to Him.