Perish Foolishness

¹“For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.” (1 Corinthians 1:18). Perish can mean both to “be destroyed” or to “cause to destroy”. So, if we were to do a somewhat creative reading of this verse, we could say that the preaching of the cross is to those that seek to destroy foolishness. Isn’t getting rid of the foolishness in our lives one of the chief benefits of letting Christ into our lives? Jesus suffered in Gethsemane and on the Cross so that he might learn wisdom and compassion and gain knowledge and understanding through His suffering. He knows exactly how to help us out of whatever predicament we find ourselves in. To follow Jesus is to leave foolishness behind. He knows that strait and narrow way that avoids all of the backsliding and pitfalls that we would normally fall prey to if we did not have Him as a guide. And the best part of the gospel is that Christ starts with a flock full of sheep, but if He has his way, He quickly turns them all into shepherds. Christ does not want only to help us get rid of our own foolishness. He wants us to go out and eradicate foolishness anywhere we find it. If we are true disciples then we know what it’s like to be stuck in a pit of our own foolishness, and also what it is like to experience the joy and relief of climbing out through the power of God. So, let us preach the cross and perish foolishness wherever we may find it, that as many as possible can be saved by the power of God.