Foolishness - 1 Corinthians 1:26-31

One of the issues that both the Jews and gentiles has with the gospel message is that of the crucifixion of Christ. Because of the general way which this method of death was viewed, many people didn’t recognize the Savior’s teachings because they couldn’t get over that perceived “weakness.” This concept was a “stumblingblock” to them. Many of the people who heard the gospel being preached perceived it as “foolishness” but Paul teaches, “the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men.”

Surely God has no foolishness or weakness because he is omnipotent and omniscient. But the sentiment of that statement is that any foolishness or weakness that people perceive God to have is still wiser and stronger than anything people can have on their own. It’s like all those times when Satan tries to thwart the plan of salvation, like when he tried to turn us against God’s plan and towards his, or when he got Adam and Eve to eat the forbidden fruit, or when he got Judas to betray Jesus. Satan thought that if he could change just one aspect of one event, then the plan of salvation would be ruined.
But one of the benefits of being all knowing is that these events didn’t blindside God at all, and because He already knew that they were going to happen, he was able to plan accordingly. For instance, when Nephi created a second set of small gold plates even though he knew not why, and then when Mormon inserted them into the abridged record completely untouched, so that when Martin Harris lost the 116 manuscript pages 1400 years later the information would still be there.
I’ve seen this foreknowledge and adjustment play out in my own life many times, albeit on a much smaller scale. There have been so many times when everything was supposed to go one way, but then skewed sideways and I didn’t see it until later, but the hand of God was creating s path for me to thrive even in difficult circumstances. It really is a beautiful thing to see, and even more amazing when I get to participate in it. He has protected me so many times and prepared the path for me in so many expected and many times ill-logical ways, it’s been a great blessing.
This concept can be foreign to us because we are not omniscient, so it doesn’t make sense to us that anyone else can be. Interestingly, Satan wants us to believe that he is omniscient as well, but we can see clearly that he is not by looking at the plans that he creates to try to defeat God. But if we are able to appreciate that God does know all, the end from the beginning, even if we don’t understand it, then we can see the logic and reasonableness of the things that He does.
Paul asks his audience to look at those around them in the faith, noting that “for ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many might, not many noble are called. But God hath chose the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty.”
From the surface this might appear as an insult from God to his followers, but if we know who God is, we know that this is not the case and we can look for other meanings. God isn’t calling his people fools, but he’s pointing out that those whom he has chosen to do his work aren’t kings, they aren’t scholars, they aren’t warriors. The people God calls to do his work are typically just regular people, and in societies where social status is a big deal, they typically aren’t popular among the people.
This begs the question, why does God do this? If he were to get a king to preach the gospel to his people, then he might have far more numeric success. But there are a lot of factors that go into who will be a good servant of God. First a king probably wouldn’t be humble enough to accept God’s will. Even if he was, his preaching to the people might induce superficial acceptance of the gospel out of loyalty to the king or out of fear of disobedience. Deep, lasting conversion would be more difficult to achieve because the people’s motivations might be so convoluted.
God chooses politically and socially insignificant people to do his work because they are humble and because the power of God can shine through them to the entire world. For instance, Joseph Smith was an uneducated farm boy. By all measures he was not important to anyone at all. But God chose him to be the first latter-day prophet precisely for that reason. Joseph was humble enough to consistently repent of his sins, to be chastened by God and not rebel, to be betrayed by his friends and not abandon the work.
Joseph Smith brought forth the Book of Mormon, a 500+ page literary work that references ancient Arab language and culture, that has dozens of different writing and speaking styles, and has borne spiritual testimony of Jesus Christ to millions of people throughout the world. If Joseph Smith had been a college professor, even back during that time, it would be easier to dismiss the Book of Mormon as the fantastical work of a well-read, well-informed, and cultured man of means. But this wasn’t the case at all.
We can watch throughout Joseph Smith’s life how he went from a barely literate dirt farmer to an eloquent man who understood science, sociology, and the nature of faith, religion, and eternity. Did he attend a seminary secretly during that time? No. Did he naturally think up all this stuff by himself? Certainly not. Then who taught him all this? God did. And if God did it for him, why not us? And that’s exactly the point, he can do that for us as well, step by step while we prepare ourselves and work within the bounds that he gives us as the time.
We can see this pattern happen over and over again throughout the history of the church and the scriptures. We can see if on large scales such as Joseph Smith and Thomas S. Monson or on smaller scales like ourselves and others that we serve with. Whom God calls, he qualifies. God gives us the power and knowledge and strength to do his work and we start out so weak that it’s really a miracle that anyone is able to do anything at all.
The IM quotes Elder Boyd K. Packer as teaching, “The Church has no professional clergy. The call to leadership positions worldwide is drawn from the congregation. We have no seminaries for the training of professional leaders. Everything that is done in the Church- the leading, the teachings, the calling, the ordaining, the praying, the singing, the preparation of the sacrament, the counseling, and everything else- is done by ordinary members, the ‘weak things of the world.’” It is through this strengthening of his servants that God’s power is able to shine through and not only enrich our lives but the lives of those whom we serve.