"For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness."
I know it's not entirely biblical to claim that God takes care of drunks and fools, but is there really no truth in it?
People in the church seem to get a bit puffed up. Happens to me too of course: all that getting dressed smart and going out early on Sunday morning. Singing hymns, praying nobly worded prayers aloud, and minding my p's and q's. Glossing over all kinds of rebuffs and rebukes in the interest of fellowship. Taking care to pray for people I have come to dislike quite a bit or, anyway, people who I only ever see on Sunday mornings.
Then there is the intellectual pride. Bible scholars who study Scripture and read only clever books about religion, forming opinions, reaching eschatological positions, and plotting out a course (the only right one of course) through the cluttered minefield of exegetics. Refusing to enter into any assembly that departs from one's unique understanding of the Word.
Haughty, dismissive and cruel? I have noticed those qualities from time to time.
Like little children, drunks and fools seem to tick to a different beat. Foolishness is an integral part of the human condition: our ridiculous conceit, investment strategies, and dietary routines. Strutting about as though we owned the show instead of bowing our heads and knee before the King of Kings... always, whether at the alehouse, on the street, or at the race track.
I'm not praising foolishness per sé, merely recognising that adopting a spontaneous and simplistic approach to the world may appear as foolishness oftentimes, but perhaps brings less of a stink to the nostrils of God than our strutting and posturing.
As for drunkenness, it is a sin of course, but a lot of those church folks could benefit from taking the edge off from time to time and maybe taking a trip to the bars and fleshpots. After all, didn't Jesus Christ frequent the people in those establishments?
He wasn't stuck up at all, and, while I know it has a metaphorical application, He did turn the water into wine at the wedding feast so He was not just God incarnate, he was also the man - the kind of guy you need at a wedding feast.
I know it's not entirely biblical to claim that God takes care of drunks and fools, but is there really no truth in it?
People in the church seem to get a bit puffed up. Happens to me too of course: all that getting dressed smart and going out early on Sunday morning. Singing hymns, praying nobly worded prayers aloud, and minding my p's and q's. Glossing over all kinds of rebuffs and rebukes in the interest of fellowship. Taking care to pray for people I have come to dislike quite a bit or, anyway, people who I only ever see on Sunday mornings.
Then there is the intellectual pride. Bible scholars who study Scripture and read only clever books about religion, forming opinions, reaching eschatological positions, and plotting out a course (the only right one of course) through the cluttered minefield of exegetics. Refusing to enter into any assembly that departs from one's unique understanding of the Word.
Haughty, dismissive and cruel? I have noticed those qualities from time to time.
Like little children, drunks and fools seem to tick to a different beat. Foolishness is an integral part of the human condition: our ridiculous conceit, investment strategies, and dietary routines. Strutting about as though we owned the show instead of bowing our heads and knee before the King of Kings... always, whether at the alehouse, on the street, or at the race track.
I'm not praising foolishness per sé, merely recognising that adopting a spontaneous and simplistic approach to the world may appear as foolishness oftentimes, but perhaps brings less of a stink to the nostrils of God than our strutting and posturing.
As for drunkenness, it is a sin of course, but a lot of those church folks could benefit from taking the edge off from time to time and maybe taking a trip to the bars and fleshpots. After all, didn't Jesus Christ frequent the people in those establishments?
He wasn't stuck up at all, and, while I know it has a metaphorical application, He did turn the water into wine at the wedding feast so He was not just God incarnate, he was also the man - the kind of guy you need at a wedding feast.
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