GOD’S WAY OR MAN’S WAY; THE MESSAGE OF THE CROSS
God’s way verse man’s way
1 Corinthians 1:17-2:16
I was listening to K-Love Radio last week and heard that a Church in Chandler, AZ was starting a new church service called “Man Church”. The reporter from K-Love spoke about this new concept of church in a positive light and encouraged us listeners to check out the ministry website. What was reported by K-Love Radio alone sent shock waves through my body. To investigate the church and its new ministry for “men” for myself, I decided to look up this church’s website. The following question and answer is what I found on their website. If this does not shock you as a born again believer, then I do not know what will:
What is “Man Church?”
“Man Church is church the way a man expects it to be done. No singing, short sermon, time to talk with other guys, no women present, and coffee and donuts. That’s the way men want to do church. The topics of discussion will have a definite manly focus – being the best possible husband, father, employee, leader – being a real man. In fact, every aspect of Man Church is geared for men – not like any other church you have seen. This ain’t your mama’s church!”
Here are my thoughts from the Bible regarding the church in Arizona’s quotes: “Doing Church the way a man expects it to be done”, and “That’s the way men want to do church.”
The book of 1 Corinthians is actually a letter written by Paul, the Apostle, to the Christians (Believers) of the Church in Corinth, Greece. Paul is writing this letter to them because he had heard that there were divisions and problems in the church and he wants to instruct them concerning these things. Also, he will be answering some of the specific questions which they had written to him concerning various problems and issues which they were facing.
When reading this book, you discover that many of their problems were due to the fact that they were spiritually immature; indeed, Paul had called them “baby Christians.” And, Paul exhorted them to stop going over the basic fundamental (“milk”) teachings of the Gospel, as important and as necessary as those teachings are. Rather, he told them that it was time for them to go on in their spiritual growth and to begin taking in the “solid food” of mature Christians and to begin to live in the light of those “solid food” truths of Scripture.
In light of this “MAN CHURCH” that is starting and getting headline news from K-Love Radio, let’s look at one of those “solid food” teachings, which Paul recorded in 1 Corinthians 1:17-2:16. In these verses, Paul explains to them some “solid meat” information about the message of the Cross and about REAL wisdom and power.
Why did Paul need to teach them about Wisdom and Power? He needed to do this because the culture and lifestyle of the people in the city of Corinth, Greece, placed its emphasis on man’s knowledge, wisdom, and learning. The Greeks esteemed men who were wise and knowledgeable and they believed that things were obtained and achieved through man’s efforts and power. Also, in Corinth, pagan worship of many different gods and idols was common and, indeed, immoral lifestyles and evil and wicked practices were part of these pagan worship rituals. The Greek value system was based on human thoughts, human wisdom, and human effort, and their goal was to obtain and satisfy their own individual desires. Therefore, the emphasis of the Greeks in general, and of the Corinthians in particular, was on man’s wisdom and knowledge, on self, on education, on learning for the intellectual pride it provided, on physical beauty, oratory, art, and sports. (Does this sound a lot like the culture in which we also live today? Does this not sound very much like “MAN CHURCH?”
Yes! Yes it does!
And, it was in such a culture as this that the Christians in Corinth (and we today) find ourselves. And since they were not yet spiritually mature in their understanding of the Gospel message of the Cross of Christ, they did not understand that REAL Wisdom and Power is NOT from or through man, but instead it is from and in God, Jesus Christ, their (and our) Lord and Savior.
Paul, in these verses, 1:17-2:17, is now going to address this situation and teach them what real Wisdom is and what the message of the Cross is and…. Let’s see what Paul has to say to these “baby” Christians who are living in an immoral, corrupt, pagan society which placed its emphasis on man and man’s intellect, wisdom, knowledge, and desires.
The 2 kinds of Wisdom are the Wisdom of “the world” and the Wisdom of “God.” And hopefully you noticed that these two types of Wisdom are very different! They each have a different goal, purpose, emphasis, and focus. In fact these are so different that they actually clash. And, obviously, this was one of the main problems the Christians were facing in Corinth. They were living in a culture where the Wisdom of Man was the focus and was highly prized and esteemed, yet, they were learning from Paul and the other Apostles and teachers who had come to their Church that the Wisdom and Power of God was entirely different, indeed it was OPPOSITE to what the “world” thought and honored! What a dichotomy. What a problem. What were they to DO! How were they to live in a culture like this?
And, it was not just Wisdom that was different depending on whether it is the Wisdom of Man (the World) or the Wisdom of God. Paul is showing them, in these verses, that Foolishness, Power, and Weakness are also different depending on the perspective in which they are viewed (i.e. from Man’s perspective or God’s perspective.)
What did Paul say was the PURPOSE of his ministry? It was to “Preach the Gospel. And, HOW was he to do this? (1:17) Paul was instructed to not use human wisdom because if he did, those words of human wisdom would cause the cross to be emptied of its power.
“Words of human wisdom” would cause “the cross of Christ to be emptied of its power.” What does that mean? Well, in order to answer that, let’s think about it a bit.
First of all, we know that Paul’s ministry was to preach the Gospel, which is, of course, the message about Jesus’ death on the cross and His resurrection from the Dead. That, in a summary form, is what the “message of the Cross” is! So, Paul, in giving this “message” is actually saying that the Gospel teaches that Salvation can ONLY be obtained by believing that Jesus died on the cross to pay the penalty for sin and accepting that substitute sacrifice as a free gift. That is God’s WAY. And, that is why the message of the Cross is POWERFUL, because the way of the Cross is the ONLY way to obtain salvation. Jesus purchased our redemption by dying on the Cross.
But, MAN’S way of obtaining and purchasing salvation would be by trying to do it himself by works. Yes, Man thinks he can use his own human (1: 17) Wisdom and Work his way to God. Man thinks that the teaching that “the Cross is the ONLY way to be saved” is (1:18) foolishness. So, instead of coming to God in the way that God provides and requires, man thinks that God’s way is foolishness and wants to substitute works and human effort and “trying to do good deeds” to earn his way to God.
God, however, says this method does NOT work, and indeed, it empties the cross of its
(1:17) power or effect when you try to attain salvation through human effort.
“Salvation is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast.” Paul said that in Ephesians 2:8. Know that Salvation is a gift. It cannot be earned. Accepting Christ’s death on the Cross as a substitute for sin is the ONLY way to Salvation. That is WHY the Cross has Power! That is the POWER of the Cross. It is the WAY. The ONLY WAY to salvation.
But, the Greeks, and all those who are (1:18) foolish and are perishing, i.e., not saved and are, therefore, dead in their sins and destined for eternity in Hell. (And yes, there is a literal Hell) say, “no, this cannot be. We can figure out a way to get to heaven. We can use our minds, our works and effort, our intellect, our wise words.” God, however, says, “No, you can’t. There is only ONE way to be holy and righteous and acceptable in My sight and to be able to come into My presence and that is through the Cross, through the atoning substitutionary death of Jesus on the Cross to pay the penalty for sin.”
And, this DEBATE has endured down through the centuries. The Greeks and the Corinthians are not the only ones who have tried to get to God through human wisdom and works. And, this effort by man to reject God’s way and to try to “do it my way” continues today.
WE MUST TAKE A STAND AS THE CHURCH AND STOP DOING CHURCH MAN’S WAY!
