“We are fools for Christ’s sake…”

 

The same word can have different meanings, for example the word cleave; the word cleave can mean cut off or stick to. The newly married must cleave from their parents and cleave to one (1) another…see?  The word fool has the same chameleon-like trait. Fool can mean evil, boaster, self confident, an empty person, thickheaded, thoughtless, unwise, headless, witless, or …………REBEL.

When Paul calls himself a fool for Christ he is not calling himself evil or thickheaded, unwise, or witless. Paul calls himself a fool or in the Hebrew, a Rebel. “We are [rebels] for Christ’s sake…”  So are you a fool for Christ or not? Are you foolish in respect to this world?

Christ, my Lord was a Rebel, an outlaw, if you will. Christ rebelled against the world system of His day on the earth. Do you rebel against this world’s system or are you a mechanism, a cog, a gear in this world? Christ  was is not and was not of this world. Christ stood out, Christ rebelled against the religious, the political, and the frauds of His days on this earth. Christ was a name caller. Christ used words like serpents, sepulchers full of bones, and whited sepulchers. Christ called the king a fox. Christ was a name caller. Christ rebelled against the world system. Christ rebelled against the world system because He was not of or from this world.

Christ said to His disciples, “…I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.”  The world hates you. Did you know that? The world hates you. Christ said so. The world hates you, the god of this world hates you, he is like a lion, he seeks to see who he may devour. Having said that, are you like some Christ-ians and are friends with this world that hates you and wants to devour you? Then you are a fool, the thickheaded kind and unwise, and in all practicality, your are then evil and at enmity to God!!!

Paul said if a person is friendly with the world that person is at enmity with God or in other words is acting as an enemy of God…if it walks like an enemy and yaps like an enemy…. Reader, we are called to be separate from this world, we are called to be a people separated from this world and separated to be God’s people. We use that word, “separated” but we could use words like sanctified or set apart or even the word different or peculiar, specific, particular, designated, singular, or dedicated to. Or we can simply be blunt or direct (I like that way) DON’T BE LIKE THE WORLD!!! THE WORLD HATES YOU AND THE WORLD HATES GOD!!! DO NOT BE IN THE WORLD, DO NOT BE OF THE WORLD!!!

Christ said specifically that He chose you out of the world or in other words, Christ chose to take… you… out… of… the… world and to bring you into His world, the world of the godly. He warned others not to look back, for if you look back, you are not worthy of Him, saith Christ, remember Lot’s wife… are you a little salty?  Are you worthy of Him? Are you in the world? Do you like the world? are you a friend to the world? If you like the world as it is, then you like how (s)atan runs things….Is (s)atan your god? WOW!!! Will that leave a mark?

I’ve asked before, What makes you different from others who are not in Christ? If you blend in, you are in all practicality…..a practical atheist.  Do others know you are a Christ-ian? Do you care if persons you know are Christ-ian or could become a Christ-ian? Do you invite your friends to church? Friends invite friends to church, at least a Christ-ian would, should, could invite a friend to church. I bet you have no problem inviting others to your home for dinner, or to go out to the movies, or to go shopping, but to invite someone to church doth not cross your mind…is this you?

Persons tell others of movies they have seen and restaurants they have eaten at. Persons tell friends of things they have purchased and persons tell their friends about vacations, etc. FRIENDS TELL OTHERS OF CHRIST!!!  Do you tell your friends of Christ?  This is rebellion against this world.  Others may not want to hear about Christ, but it may be they do, but we are to rebel and tell them anyway.  We are to rebel and be different. We are to rebel and do good works, there unto were we created or re-created. We are to rebel and speak what is true and good and ugly.

The world tells us not to speak of our faith…The religious “leaders” told the apostles not to speak of Christ but they said they must speak of what they have seen and heard and asked, in a rebellious way, should we obey you instead of God….huh? huh? religious person….huh? huh? should we not do what God says….religious person?  Wouldn’t a religious person want us to do what God says? Huh? Huh? Rebellion is Righteous and really, really fun and exciting.

Our rebellious faith should be fun and exciting. Our purpose is to glorify God and ENJOY HIM.  When I was a kid, I played Batman with my neighbour Pam and  I played Star Trek during recess when I was in elementary school, I was Spock.  Today as a “grown up”  I play prophet and priest.  I play Jonah and Isaiah and Jeremiah….I preach and I write and I say “bless you” and “woe unto you,”  I say “thus saith the Lord,” I use words like thee and thy…I rebel with my speech. I rebel against boring, normal, and silly adulthood…. adulthood can be boring. I play prophet and tell persons what they might not want to hear and it is fun and it makes Christ Glad and happy.

C.S. Lewis, quoting Paul said, as an adult one should put away childish things.  Lewis says he wanted to be an adult when he was a child. Therefore, he liked to put adulthood away.  I like that. “Suffer the little children to come to me”, said the Master…I am a kid. I know some persons do not like Lewis but they are silly and in the wrong, they never having read Lewis, judge him anyway, because of what others say. Solomon said it is the fool (not the rebel kind but the thickheaded and unwise kind) that answers a matter before one hears it. I have had online warfare with silly persons who attack Lewis and Billy Graham. These persons know not what they speak of. These parrots simply squawk what others have said.  Online warfare is rebellious and fun and exciting.

Christ would pick fights when He was on the earth.  “You have heard it said….but I say unto you…”  those are fighting words. Christ would talk about the hypocritical Pharisees as He stood and spoke against them in their presence. Again, He called them names.

So? are you a fool for Christ? Will you  or  do you or will you not rebel against this world and it’s god(s)? Will you be a foolish fool in and of the world? I think I will be like a rebellious child. I will (DV) rebel as a child against the world and Christ will allow me to come unto Him.