It seems like the people that God uses the most are the people who are willing to climb trees like Zaccheus or get out of boats in the middle of the lake like Peter or follow stars like the Wise Men or chase lions like Benaiah! Translation: they are willing to look foolish.
I Corinthians 1:27 reveals God’s modus operandi: God deliberately chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise.
Nothing has changed. God still uses fools.
Faith is the willingness to look foolish. And the reason some of us have never experienced a miracle is because we're not willing to look foolish. If you aren't willing to look foolish God can't use you. Why? Because God uses the foolish things. So let me say it like it is: if you aren't willing to look foolish you're foolish.
Don’t tell me Noah didn’t feel a little foolish building an ark when rain wasn’t in the forecast for another 120 years! Don’t tell me David didn’t feel a little foolish going to war with a slingshot. Don’t tell me Benaiah didn’t feel a little foolish chasing the king of the beasts. Don’t tell me the Wise Men didn’t feel a little foolish when Jewish border agents asked them the reason for their visit. Don’t tell me a professional fisherman named Peter didn’t feel a little foolish stepping out of the boat in the middle of the lake. And don’t tell me Jesus didn’t feel a little foolish hanging half-naked on the cross in front of him family and friends.
But faith is the willingness to look foolish. And the results speak for themselves. Noah was saved from the flood. David defeated Goliath. Benaiah killed a lion in a pit on a snowy day. The Wise Men found the Messiah. Peter walked on water. And Jesus was raised from the dead.
I Corinthians 1:27 reveals God’s modus operandi: God deliberately chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise.
Nothing has changed. God still uses fools.
Faith is the willingness to look foolish. And the reason some of us have never experienced a miracle is because we're not willing to look foolish. If you aren't willing to look foolish God can't use you. Why? Because God uses the foolish things. So let me say it like it is: if you aren't willing to look foolish you're foolish.
Don’t tell me Noah didn’t feel a little foolish building an ark when rain wasn’t in the forecast for another 120 years! Don’t tell me David didn’t feel a little foolish going to war with a slingshot. Don’t tell me Benaiah didn’t feel a little foolish chasing the king of the beasts. Don’t tell me the Wise Men didn’t feel a little foolish when Jewish border agents asked them the reason for their visit. Don’t tell me a professional fisherman named Peter didn’t feel a little foolish stepping out of the boat in the middle of the lake. And don’t tell me Jesus didn’t feel a little foolish hanging half-naked on the cross in front of him family and friends.
But faith is the willingness to look foolish. And the results speak for themselves. Noah was saved from the flood. David defeated Goliath. Benaiah killed a lion in a pit on a snowy day. The Wise Men found the Messiah. Peter walked on water. And Jesus was raised from the dead.
14 Comments:
Great thoughts, Pastor Mark. Very true. Abraham was foolish to leave everything he knew behind to go to a land he'd never seen, but God honored his faith. God blessed my step of faith to leave all behind in Michigan and move to central Florida.
Thanks for reminding us that our faith is supposed to make us stand out a bit.
Not to break the bubble or be contentious... but what if you stepped out in faith, felt pretty foolish, and God seemed absent in it all? Does it mean you made a mistake, did it wrong, didn't have enough faith? Cuz it can be pretty heartbreaking when a person genuinely walks in faith, and unlike David or Peter or Zaccheus, their hopes are not realized.
Great Post!
We are launching a church in Ohio with no building, no money, no denomination, and no pastor! We are definitely fools for Christ.
We know that there is a chance that this whole thing could go nowhere, BUT the changes He is making in us are so worth it!
So, Alice, I'm not sure what your situation was, but perhaps the work He did in you (submission, willingness to follow, etc.) has value beyond comprehension. I guess it's more about trusting that His hopes were realized, instead of yours.
Awesome post Mark, so true and thanks for sharing!
Alice,
Been there and done that :) Church plant in Chicago failed. Godipod didn't materialize the way I wanted to. It's lonely. It's depressing. And it's often part of God's process. I'm still not sure if I got it right or got it wrong...should I have even attempted those things? Hmmmm. Not sure. But that doesn't change the truth: God uses the foolish things. Obbviously, it's tough to discern if it's "you" or "God." And we'll make mistakes. But the key is not letting those wrong decisions keep us from making the right decision the next time around.
Mark
I love it, Mark! Just yesterday I found this great quote from William Sloane Coffin, “I love the recklessness of faith. First you leap, and then you grow wings.”
So cool to be a fool for Christ!
Dont understand, The Wise Men if infact wise should have been foolish. Peter was following the Messiah, what reason did he have to feel foolish and Jesus, the Son of God,who knows everything how can he feel foolish.
It is important remember when we step out in faith that our desire is for God himself not the worldly benefits/affirmation. What God has planned for our stepping out in faith may not be what we have planned. Paul set out for Spain. He never made it but he was right where God wanted him all the way and most of those place weren't particularly nice.
Read a quote by an unknown author, but posted on Twitter by @prodigaljohn last week, "Anything worth doing is worth doing badly until I've learned to do it better." I just don't want to get in the middle of something God has called me to, look around, feel foolish and not have the nerve to see it through to completion. Then I think I've been foolish for nothing and God doesn't get the glory He so deserves.
Enjoyed the concept. We all need to have times when we are fools for Christ. The Holy Sprirt will give us strength when its our time.
Mark, thanks...I needed that. I've been feeling like a fool lately, like the one person who posted previously about planting a church w/no money, no people, nothing except vision from God and faith the size of a mustard seed. For 3 years we've been camped out in an impoverished inner-city community in upstate NY, trusting that God has sent us...most months barely scraping by financially, reaching out to the homeless and "the least of these." All the while, others in ministry, sho started when we did (or after) seem to be miles ahead of us. I sometimes wonder if we're really supposed to be here. Then God sends me little signd, like a single mother w/3 kids, being abused by her boyfriend and put our of her apartment by city code enforcement, or a rowdy bunch of neighborhood kids who need nothing more than someone who is willing to sacrifice and hour or two per week and play ball with them. Wht would a grown man with a master's degree give up everything to do sucha thing? Sounds foolish to me and to most folks who look at it from a human perspective
I just posted "Digging Ditches for God" a brief studies on 2 Kings 3. How foolish did these soldiers feel when Elisha told them to dig ditches when God said that water is coming but they won't see wind nor rain?
I'll be a fool for Christ before I'm wise to the world.
It seems like Pastor Batterson took a step of "faith" hoping to not look like a "fool" by posting something so out of the ordinary on the World Wide Web for the whole world to see. Well, my brother Pastor Batterson, after reading your intriguing letter from the Catalyst monthly about Leonardo Da Vinci and your new book coming out (Primal), it made me click on your blog. I began to read the first post and was ABSOLUTELY blown away. I have to say this was the answer to my prayers because I was thinking that to make an impact for Jesus on people in life, you have to "look" perfect and "be" perfect because He was. You can't possibly look foolish because then no one will take you seriously because you will be known as a fool. But it was like a light bulb went off in the mind of my spirit when I read this. As for some encouragement for you taking a step of "foolishness", our Father just used you in Washington D.C. to touch the heart of a 25 year old man whom you have never met in the small town of Fayetteville, GA because of your out of the ordinary comment on the World Wide Web. Praise God from whom ALL blessings flow!
It seems like Pastor Batterson took a step of "faith" hoping to not look like a "fool" by posting something so out of the ordinary on the World Wide Web for the whole world to see. Well, my brother Pastor Batterson, after reading your intriguing letter from the Catalyst monthly about Leonardo Da Vinci and your new book coming out (Primal), it made me click on your blog. I began to read the first post and was ABSOLUTELY blown away. I have to say this was the answer to my prayers because I was thinking that to make an impact for Jesus on people in life, you have to "look" perfect and "be" perfect because He was. You can't possibly look foolish because then no one will take you seriously because you will be known as a fool. But it was like a light bulb went off in the mind of my spirit when I read this. As for some encouragement for you taking a step of "foolishness", our Father just used you in Washington D.C. to touch the heart of a 25 year old man whom you have never met in the small town of Fayetteville, GA because of your out of the ordinary comment on the World Wide Web. Praise God from whom ALL blessings flow!
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