We are fools for Christ’s sake...

- 1 Corinthians 4:10

The Bible speaks about three types of fools.

The first fool is the fool-proper. This is the person who denies the existence of God; The fool says in his heart, “There is no God” (Psalm 14:1).

The second type of fool is the fool-maker. This is King Jesus, the one that the world despised, and mocked, and crucified. When King Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up,” (Jn. 2:19), everyone from Pilate to the High Priest thought that Jesus was a fool. Three days after his death, everyone who rejected and doubted Him was made to be a fool. “Raise it up,” He did!

The last type of fool is the fool-bearer, the type of person Pual describes in our text this morning. What does the Apostle Paul means when he says, “we are fools for Christ’s sake...” (1 Cor. 4:10)? Paul is describing someone who counts everything (including his good works and all his religious practice) as loss compared to the all-surpassing worth of knowing Jesus as Lord.

So, here’s the question all who profess to follow Jesus must ask: Will we be ashamed of believing what the Bible teaches when the world calls us fools?

Will we out-rejoice the world and show satisfaction when we are insulted? Will we be like Paul, who said in 2 Corinthians 12:10, “For the sake of Christ, I am content with insults.”

Will we respond like the apostles when they were shamed as fools in Acts 5:41? “They left the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy of being shamed for the name.”

Or what about Acts 16; beaten with rods, stripped, thrown in jail, midnight, and they’re singing! Paul and Silas are singing! Absolute fools for Christ!

Will we obey Peter’s letter when he says in 1 Peter 4:13–14, “Rejoice if you are insulted for the name of Christ, because the Spirit of glory and of God rest on you”?

Are you willing to be considered a fool-bearer for Christ? Or, better yet, are you considered a fool for Christ? Your answers to these two questions are very revealing.

Your prayer today, “Lord, I am ready and willing to be considered a fool for you.”

Press on,
Pastor Harp