Column by Bro. Terry Ivy
“But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise.” (1 Corinthians 1:27) The Lord doesn’t always seem to play fair according to our limited understanding. The Prophet Isaiah instructed us that God’s ways are higher than our ways. We have a way of looking at the encapsulation of ‘now,’ while the Lord sees the past, present, and future connected together.
This is good news, as all who have come to Christ are thankful that God did not cast us aside when we were running from biblical truth. The Lord sees not only what we are, but what we have been, and what we are going to be. Let me illustrate this with a true story.
John was a young man who had dabbled into the drug culture in California. He was also an outstanding musician and worked in several famous bands on the West Coast. John had reasons to believe that God was pursuing him. Events had begun to happen in his life that pointed him to the Scriptures and Jesus Christ.
Eventually, John decided it was time to go to a church and investigate what the Christians were saying. Being unfamiliar with the church culture of the Baptist church he attended that first Sunday, John stumbled into some awkward situations. First, it was apparent he was an ‘outsider,’ as his dress and exceptionally long hair did not fit the dress code and grooming of the Sunday morning crowd. On top of that, he walked in with a cigarette dangling from his lips. No one said anything!
John walked to the front row and took a seat. When the music started playing, he leaned over to the person next to him and said, “That organ is out of tune extremely bad.” His ear and experience with music was making it hard to endure sour notes.
Then it was time for the morning offering, and the ushers began to pass the offering plate. John, not sure what this was for, and being the first one to receive the plate because he was on the front row, thought they were presenting him with an ashtray. So, in total innocence, he thumped the ashes of his cigarette into the offering plate and passed it along to those sitting beside him. Others just looked in bewilderment.
Eventually, John found his answers from the preaching of the gospel that day. He surrendered his life to Jesus Christ, and the Lord began changing him from the inside out. After some time, the Lord called him into ministry, and he was involved with leading thousands of people to Christ in California and North America.
Only God can make a silk purse from a sow’s ear. Church history is filled with examples of men and women who did not fit the religious mold when coming to Christ. We must give them grace and time while God changes them the way he changed us. Yes, God is still in the business of… Confounding the Wise.
