Fools?

'The fool says in his heart "There is no God"'

So begins Psalm 14. And we probably think, yes, that's right - only a fool would say that God doesn't exist, after all, we can see his purpose and order in creation; and everyone has an inbuilt sense of right and wrong (or conscience), even if some have been dulled or ignored completely.

Yet, the next few verses of the Psalm say that we are all fools, because we live as if there is no God:

'The LORD looks down from heaven on the sons of men to see if there are any who understand, any who seek God. All have turned aside, they have together become corrupt; there is no-one who does good, not even one.' (Psalm 14, 2,3)

This isn't just so nice a thought, after all! Now some might say that this isn't really a proper interpretation of the Psalm, because the Psalmist then goes on to say that God is present in the company of the righteous, and that the 'sons of men' are different to the 'sons of God'. Fair enough. But in Romans 3, when Paul is arguing that 'all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God', he quotes this verse to prove that it's not just the Gentiles who are sinners, but also the Jews!

So all of us are fools, because we live as if there is no God, we have lived in sin.

But the gospel means that those who believe are 'fools for Christ'. How is this? Well, because 'the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God' (1 Corinthians 1:18).

To those who don't believe, the suggestion that God would become a man, would die on a cross, and that, through that apparent weakness and defeat, that our sins could be paid for, that we could be reconciled with God, that we could gain eternal life is all a lot of nonsense, and all foolishness from start to finish.

Let the world think as it will - I am happy to be a 'fool for Christ' and believe!

So are you, who are reading this today, are you a fool, who thinks there is no God and live as you wish? One day this world will finish, and judgement will occur. Or are you a fool for Christ, trusting in the apparent foolishness of the message, which is indeed the power of God?