Foolishness

1 Corinthians 1:18

For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

If you search for the definition of foolishness you will get "folly: the trait of acting stupidly or rashly" I've read this verse many times but today it just stuck out to me.  The first two Chapters of 1 Corinthians, Paul kind of harps on this idea a lot.  While this would have definitely applied for those living in the Roman empire, but is this true of our Gospel within United States.  For those living in Rome accepting the gospel and living for Jesus meant physical persecution, it meant losing status, money, and in many cases your lives.   Some of Jesus' most profound statements were filled with this idea of worldly foolishness:

Luke 9:23-25

“Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it.  What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit their very self? 

For that time in itself this statement was shocking, but what about today?  Looking around the world we see this very much to be true in places like the Middle East and China, where Christians are being heavily persecuted for their acceptance of Christ. I've read multiple times of governments. not just religious leaders, sentencing men and women to death because of this Gospel. So I ask, is this true of us in the U.S.?  Are we preaching this same Gospel, the one in which Paul throughout scripture says is "The power of God" or are we preaching a Gospel of safety and prosperity?  If we are preaching this gospel that is the power of God, that is foolishness to those who are perishing, what would our country begin to look like?  Preaching the Gospel should not create lukewarmness.  As a young life leader I find it odd when other "christians" consider it foolish giving up time as a college student to hang with high schoolers. It upsets me to hear so many "christians" consider it foolish to give up money, time, and comfort to bring the gospel to dangerous places. If the Gospel is truth, and 90% of us say it is, why are we so stagnant?  Only the unbeliever considers the Gospel foolish. So how much do we consider this gospel to be the power of God? I know if you would ask the thousands of people (throughout history as well) who have/are giving their lives to this gospel, I dont think the word foolish would appear in their description of what they were doing. So lets do something about it, lets not hold back truth, lets love radically, lets pray continually, and lets go kick this world in the butt with the Gospel of Power!

(As a note of this post, I very much feel in many aspects of my life that I do not live a life which I fully consider the gospel as the power of God (for example being bold in moments which are hard to be bold in). This scripture is quite convicting and I thought I would share thoughts. Also Im not the best person at writing down and organizing thoughts... so if this is jumbled and in some parts doesnt flow well im sorry)