645 The Folly of Faith - 1 Corinthians 1:18

Do you often catch yourself doing something silly or something that seems to be foolish? Let's talk about that today. 

Hi, I'm Mike Henry Sr with Follower of One. Thanks for joining me on the Follower of One Podcast. Today's passage is 1 Corinthians 1:18, "For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God."

That's from the English Standard translation. The Word of the cross, what we believe, the way the world works according to the Bible, it seem silly to people who don't follow Jesus, to those who are perishing. The Word of the cross is silly or folly, or foolishness some translations say. 

But to us who are being saved, it is the power of God. We demonstrate the power of God when we operate according to his principles and he manages to work things out. He manages to create these ideal results. When we demonstrate the ability to serve other people outside of our job description, and we have peace and joy, and God provides for us, our faith becomes visible to the world. We don't operate according to the same standard as the people who work with us. And that makes Jesus visible. 

The Word of the cross is folly. The Word of the cross is foolishness. When we live according to the commands of Jesus, when we pray for people and when we appreciate them and when we serve them, beyond what our job requires of us, we look a little foolish. We look a little silly, but we then demonstrate the power of God because we are being saved. Our ability to do these silly things is the power of God. 

Today you are the power of God. You can demonstrate the power of God, simply by going outside of your job description. Do something over and above, what's required of you. Go out of your way to serve a coworker. Go out of your way to serve a customer. Do something that can't be explained by anything else, other than the fact that you follow Jesus. And, listen, in case someone asks. One of our goals, as people who follow Jesus are to live in such a way that other people would ask, "Why are you doing this?"

Today in your work situation, you may be prompted to do something that would cause someone else to ask, "Why are you doing this?" The calling of Jesus, or as this passage says, "The Word of the Cross" is folly to those who are perishing. It didn't make any sense at all for the God of the universe to die on the cross for us.

And it won't make a lot of sense in the world's terms for you to get outside of your job description and glorify Jesus in your workplace today. But God will make it work. And I want to challenge you and encourage you, as a follower of Jesus Christ, that's our job. We're not just supposed to stay out of trouble until Sunday.

Our job is to live this cross in the world on a daily basis. I pray that you do that today. I pray that you live the cross of Jesus Christ in your workplace today. 

Thank you for being a marketplace minister. Thank you for considering how Jesus might use you. It is possible that God has a job for you to do this every day in your very space. Let's do it. Let's look for what he has for us to do today and do it because then he will be glorified. 

Also, if you get a chance, check out https://community.followerofone.org. That's our online community.  We're creating a community of people who share this belief that we are each called to be ministers in to our own workplaces.

We want to build a community where we can encourage one another and help one another. Our environment matters. So take a moment and go check out our online community. It's at https://community.followerofone.org. Thanks very much.