Avoid Worldly Wisdom
August 21, 2022
Commentary
Our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit and not some building or temple where the believers meet as it was in Old Testament days. Paul is warning the Corinthian believers that if they use cheap materials in building the temple, God will destroy it (vv. 16-17). The builder will see the loss of his labor, but he himself will be saved, like a burning stick that is snatched from the fire. Paul carefully contrasts the wisdom of this world (vv. 18-20) with the wisdom of God (vv. 21-23). What these Corinthian Christians have done in pretending to be wise by the standards of the world is making them look foolish in the eyes of God. Paul says, “You must stop exalting men, put an end to divisions, deny any wisdom that you think you have, and instead embrace God’s wisdom and riches.”
Paul was not telling the Corinthian believers to neglect the pursuit of knowledge, but he was warning them that so-called worldly wisdom is not wisdom at all. The Corinthians were using worldly wisdom to evaluate their leaders and teachers. They were more concerned about the presentation of the message than they were about its content. The world depends on education and the promotion of important people. What the Christian needs to depend on is prayer and the Holy Spirit’s power with humility, sacrifice and service. Most of the leaders in the early church were ordinary men who had no special education.
Perhaps we cannot help but have personal preferences when it comes to the way different men minister the Word of God. But we must not allow these personal preferences to divide us like the Corinthians did. In fact, the preacher or teacher I enjoy the least may be the one I need the most.
Application
My ministry or work will never go any deeper than I have gone myself. It is useless to ask God to work through me until He has first worked in me. I have a choice of seeking worldly wisdom or the wisdom that only God can give me.
1 Corinthians 3:16– 23 (NET)
16 Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you? 17 If someone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him. For God’s temple is holy, which is what you are.
18 Guard against self-deception, each of you. If someone among you thinks he is wise in this age, let him become foolish so that he can become wise. 19 For the wisdom of this age is foolishness with God. As it is written, “He catches the wise in their craftiness.” 20 And again, “The Lord knows that the thoughts of the wise are futile.” 21 So then, no more boasting about mere mortals! For everything belongs to you, 22 whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future. Everything belongs to you, 23 and you belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God.