Fools for Christ’s sake.

1 Corinthians 4:9-13, For I think that God has exhibited us apostles as last of all, like men sentenced to death, because we have become a spectacle to the world, to angels, and to men. We are fools for Christ’s sake, but you are wise in Christ. We are weak, but you are strong. You are held in honor, but we in disrepute. To the present hour we hunger and thirst, we are poorly dressed and buffeted and homeless, and we labor, working with our own hands. When reviled, we bless; when persecuted, we endure; when slandered, we entreat. We have become, and are still, like the scum of the world, the refuse of all things.

Even in Paul’s day, there were those who proclaimed Christ as a solution to whatever ails you. Today we hear those who proclaim a so-called gospel of prosperity, that coming to Christ supplies temporal abundance. The problem with this is of course, the Bible, wherein we find that these original Apostles, all but one, died a martyrs death refusing to recant the good news of Jesus Christ raised from the dead. And the one who was spared died an exile to the island of Patmos! Paul knew without a doubt the way of the cross, for he was routinely persecuted for his faith, walking the way of the cross. Are we willing to stand, to be His witnesses, even though we become as the scum of the earth as did Paul and the other martyrs?

We ask for strength to be Your witnesses in our own time, Lord Jesus!

ESV Lectionary