Daily Manna, Year Two · Day 173 · June 22
Not Many Noble
“But God hath chosen 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;”
Would you have joined the church at Corinth?
Paul counts heads before he makes his point, and the count is not flattering: "not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called." In Corinth those words described where the law put you, as well as what people thought of you. Rome had destroyed the old city and then rebuilt it about a century later as a Roman colony, settled largely by freed slaves. The city ran on rank, the way other towns run on trade. Everyone in that church knew where they stood, and so did everyone who chose to stay away.
Listen to what Paul says God did with that list, because it climbs line by line: "the foolish things of the world to confound the wise," then "the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty." Then he adds "base things of the world, and things which are despised," and last of all "things which are not, to bring to nought things that are." Those are the people who count for nothing at all.
Now set our world beside theirs, without pretending they are the same. Our world moves more. A reputation can be rebuilt, and a qualification can be earned late in life. In Corinth, a person's place was fixed by birth and by law. Much of what we call being a nobody would have looked like freedom to a freed slave there.
Paul gives the reason for God's choice: "That no flesh should glory in his presence." God chose that list for what it makes impossible in the room, which is boasting. Then Paul says where the boasting goes instead: "of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption." James asks the same thing: "Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith?"
So if you belong to the second half of that head count, your being there is no sign that something is wrong with you. That is how God designed His church. Nobody in the room earned a place, so nobody can lose it by being ordinary, and everything you lack, Christ has been made for you.
Daily Manna runs on a two-year cycle. The year one reading for day 173 is Grace and Peace (Philippians 1:2).