Crossroads Church

SOAP = Scripture Observation Application Prayer

Jonna Fantz

S: 1 Corinthians 1:18-31

O: Paul is looking at the cross and seeing how foolish it is to the known world. The Romans would never see Jesus’ act of laying down power as a sign that God had come. In the ancient world, might made right. Caesar was the true savior because he could deliver goods and services, because he won wars, because he could crucify anyone who opposed him. The Jews wouldn’t accept Jesus as their Messiah because when he died on the cross, he proved completely and finally that he was not the Messiah. The Messiah would never die. The Messiah came like King David to conquer. Jesus’ crucifixion essentially proved that he was another fraudulent Messiah-wanna-be. God’s strange wisdom was to come and give up power, not take it. God’s strange wisdom was to choose poor and broken people. God’s strange wisdom was to sacrifice himself rather than demand a sacrifice as all the other God’s did.

This made no sense to most of the ancient world. But to those who were not caught up in the power and worldly acclaim that the ancient world offered, those who were humble, the cross of Jesus became a place of union. We are bound to Christ through that cross, and are now free from sin.

A: Jesus seems like foolishness in our world too. Jesus tells us to turn the other cheek rather than use our power to overcome those who stand in our way. Jesus tells us to give without expecting repayment. Jesus says to mistrust wealth because rather than being our hope for a better future, it can lead us into holes of greed, self-sufficiency and narcissism. Jesus tells us that we can never try hard enough to earn his favor. He already loves us. Our relationship with him is not about earning something, it’s not about Jesus trying to control us and make us behave. Our relationship with Jesus is about setting us free and allowing us to be what God made us to be. Jesus calls us to be servants. Jesus encourages us to normalize suffering. Jesus says that it is in letting go of our own survival instincts that we gain true life. Jesus doesn’t make sense in our world either. The cross doesn’t work any better for the American dream than it did the Roman Dream. I want to try to live by the foolishness of Jesus. I want to see if he might be right about human beings and our society. I want to reject the “wisdom” of America, and embrace the foolishness of God found in Jesus.

P: God help me to live my life as though you are real. Let my life look different from other people’s lives. Let my life follow the foolishness of Jesus, and help protect me from living a normal life.

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