“Do not deceive yourselves. If any of you think you are wise by the standards of this age, you should become "fools" so that you may become wise.” (1 Corinthians 3:18, NIV)
In the world we all live in, we have standards by which we measure any number of things.
If you want to know how smart someone is you might ask them what they got on their SATs or what college they went to. If you want to know how successful someone is you might ask how big their house is or what kind of retirement account they have. If you want to know how emotionally stable someone is you might ask if they’ve ever been divorced or how their relationship with their children is.
There are standards all over the place, and the question for a Christian is: by what standard do we use?
A good test case for this—to at least see where your mind automatically goes—is to consider wisdom. For a lot of people in the world wisdom is simply another term for smart or maybe a way of saying that someone has made good decisions along the way. If someone can hold their own in a conversation or debate or they’ve done really well in the financial market the world might call them wise because they’ve displayed great wisdom in those areas.
There’s a problem, however, for someone who says they worship Jesus and lives in the world—as we all do. And that problem is what Paul said about wisdom in 1 Corinthians 3. In Paul’s understanding the standards of this age (or world) are backwards. They’re all messed up. The world can’t see true wisdom because it has no way of recognizing it. In fact, by using the standards the world uses, true wisdom—the wisdom taught by Jesus and the apostles—is foolishness.
Paul makes that point clear when he says, “you should become ‘fools’ so that you may become wise.” To be a wise Christian often means that the world is going to see you as a fool. So, then Christians all over the world have a decision to make. Are they (we) going to use the standards of the world or the standards set forth in Scripture. Would we like the world to call us wise or would we rather the world call us fools and yet know what true wisdom is?
If we want the wisdom of the world, Paul tells us what else else comes with it. “For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God’s sight. As it is written: ‘He catches the wise in their craftiness’; and again, ‘The Lord knows that the thoughts of the wise are futile.’ ” (1 Corinthians 3:19-20, NIV)
If, however, we’re fine with being seen as fools in the world’s eyes so that we can lay hold of true wisdom, Paul tells us what else comes with that, too. “So then, no more boasting about human leaders! All things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future—all are yours, and you are of Christ, and Christ is of God.” (1 Corinthians 3:21-23, NIV)