God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are.

1 Corinthians 1:28

The church at Corinth gave too much honor to men of higher learning and homiletic ability.  This is why, while rebuking them for their cliquish devotion to those who had taught and baptized them (1:10-17a), Paul taught them that Christ had sent him “to preach the gospel, and not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power” (1:17b).  He then reminded them that the people and concepts which the world considered to be wise tended to be shown as nothing but foolishness when compared to the wisdom of God (1:18-25).

Now he reminds them that, for all their enthrallment with wise men, scribes, and debaters (1:20), such men were scant among their own number.  “For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth” (1:26).  Christ had promised that it would be difficult for the rich to enter the kingdom of heaven (Matt. 19:23-26).  This is not to say that there were none who were highly educated or of substantial wealth or importance within the church (see Acts 13:6-12; 17:4-12, 18, 34; Rom. 16:23).  However, they were the exception to the rule.  Brad Price wrote in his commentary on 1 Corinthians: “According to verse 26, most members of the Corinthian congregation were not from the upper class of society (the socially elite)…The Christians at Corinth were from the lower strata of society (common people) who did not hold positions of power and did not have wealth and influence.”

Paul gives the reason behind this in verses 27-29:  “But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.”  The Corinthians needed to understand that true salvation and true wisdom – the true right path to a better life here and eternal life afterwards – would not be found by following the ideas and philosophies of those whom their peers considered to be great.  We in the church today must also realize that the celebrities we tend to exalt in sports, politics, education, and entertainment are not following the right path and do not hold the true solutions for our greatest problems and concerns.  The “great and powerful” of Paul’s day, just like the “great and powerful” of today, ultimately consider the humble teachings of Christ to be “foolish,” “weak,” “low and despised.”  Ultimately, the ways of God’s Word which they disdained will “shame” them.  The “things that are not” (i.e., a “nobody” like a carpenter from Nazareth who saved the world by suffering a crucified criminal’s death…a message the world deems worthless) will “bring to nothing things that are” (i.e., the “somebodies,” the people whose views and messages humanity deems important).  All of this is done “so that no human being might boast” in God’s presence.  No one will stand before God’s throne on Judgment Day and give credit for their salvation to their Ph.D., wealth portfolio, high IQ, athletic ability, speaking ability, political ideology, or philosophical worldview.

To help the Corinthians away from this misguided mindset, Paul now reminds them in verses 30-31:  “And because of (God) you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that, as it is written, ‘Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.’”  Quoting Jeremiah 9:23-24, in which the Lord had condemned “the wise man boast(ing) in his wisdom…the mighty man boast(ing) in his might…(and) the rich man boast(ing) in his riches,” God through Paul wanted the Corinthians (and us today) to realize that from the eternal perspective, only one thing will matter in the end: whether we are “in Christ Jesus” and have truly embraced the “righteousness and sanctification” which are found by obeying him.  Since ultimately the “redemption” Jesus offers us through his grace and our faithful obedience will far outweigh anything else, we must realize that following Jesus’ ways in the New Testament is what true “wisdom from God” is all about.

— Jon