CGG Weekly published this essay as “Do We See Our Calling?” on May 31, 2024.
For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called.
—I Corinthians 1:26
We are all aware of what the apostle Paul writes in I Corinthians 1:26-29:
For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, that no flesh should glory in His presence.
A speaker’s usual commentary on this paragraph deals with the fact that God calls “normal” people, even the oppressed and disadvantaged, to display His glory in creating children of God out of what the wise, mighty, and noble would consider inferior materials. In the resurrection, the world’s “great” will be ashamed to realize how much superior these humble people have become than they ever were. They will rue their pride and intransigence before God.
Expounders of this passage also mention that Paul is asking the Corinthians—and us—to appreciate what God has done in calling those of our ilk. We must admit we are “no great shakes.” At our calling, most of us were foolish, weak, base, or despised—or all of them! We were not the renowned scholars, philosophers, leaders, business magnates, famous personalities, and rulers of the world. Few of us hailed from anything north of the lower-middle class. We made many foolish decisions. We had little to no social, political, or financial leverage. Some even come from backgrounds of crime, drugs, and social exclusion of one sort or another. In a word, most of us were societal zeroes, yet God picked us.
Further, the apostle wants us to consider the larger scope of what God is doing as the Great Elector. He wants us to view God’s activity, not just with each of the elect, but with the whole church and world from His point of view. On a deeper level, Paul is asking, “Do we realize what God is up to? Do we perceive the magnificent work He is doing with us? Do we understand how precious our calling is and how significant our part is? Do we truly have a long-term view of why God chose to work with us and what we are to do?”
Context is so important. It is vital to grasp the flow of Paul’s reasoning in this opening chapter of his first Corinthian epistle. To begin with, the Corinthian congregation was a spiritual mess, divided between various groups loyal to certain ministers—Peter, Paul, Apollos—and another group (perhaps self-righteously) declaring they were “of Christ.” But Paul calls for “speak[ing] the same thing” and becoming “perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment” (I Corinthians 1:10). Unity of belief and purpose is paramount.
The rest of the letter brings out a slew of additional problems among the people. The presence of these issues is Paul’s reason for writing the epistle: to provide a godly solution. He did not want to give them mere advice but to correct the source of their problems. In short, the church at Corinth had devolved into spiritual and administrative chaos because of the members’ carnality. Their mounting, unresolved problems made it quite clear. Paul tells them plainly:
And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ. I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able; for you are still carnal[!] For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men? For when one says, “I am of Paul,” and another, “I am of Apollos,” are you not carnal? (I Corinthians 3:1-4)
In I Corinthians 1:26-29, the apostle makes a preliminary conclusion about why they were in this condition: The Corinthians were not truly seeing their calling. While he states it positively, Paul is actually reminding them of their calling, making them focus on it, because they had let it fade from their minds. Had they been considering God’s past work on their behalf and where He was leading them, they would not have experienced the troubles they faced.
The Corinthians were failing to value what God had done. They were not grateful for God’s initiative in yanking them out of a corrupt, ungodly world and offering them first crack at the glory of becoming firstfruits in His Kingdom, ruling with Him for eternity! Their carnality and lack of growth toward sanctification were vivid proofs that they did not appreciate God’s previous or current work to prepare them for inclusion in His Family. They were manifesting a severe lack of appreciation and vision.
The preceding paragraph adds another element. Paul writes, “. . . to us who are being saved [the gospel] is the power of God” (I Corinthians 1:18). However, he continues, the Jews perceive it as offensive, and the Greeks as foolishness. The called appreciate and value it differently because of their new vantage point in Christ. Paul explains:
. . . but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ [is] the power of God and the wisdom of God. Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. (I Corinthians 1:24-25)
The new element the apostle introduces is perspective, implying that the Corinthians had lost their unique perception of life in Christ. Instead, they were falling back on their former carnal perceptions and acting accordingly within the congregation. So, rather than looking at matters with the eyes of Christ and applying godly solutions to their problems, they were “behaving as mere men,” that is, carnally, causing further division and strife rather than unity and peace.
Thus, Paul feels the need to remind them of what God had done in giving them, out of all the people on earth, this new perspective. As he says in I Corinthians 1:30, “But of Him [by His calling] you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God—and righteousness and sanctification and redemption.” Notice how his teaching flows here:
- God’s calling of the individual gives him a new, glorious path toward His Kingdom, which should engender gratitude and obligation in him.
- In Christ, set apart, he perceives things in a new way, through the lens of the gospel.
- In Christ and His gospel, he finds divine wisdom about living in a way that pleases God.
- Using Christ’s wisdom results in righteousness or doing what is good and right.
- Living righteously causes growth toward sanctification or holiness.
- Ultimately, the sanctification process leads to eternal redemption, salvation, and glory.
Do we see our calling? God’s selection of us—and our subsequent acceptance of His New Covenant as our guiding agreement with Him—changes everything. Have we truly realized that? Our old ways should be dead to us; God’s new creation is our priority. As we “press toward the goal of the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:14), we cannot let the world and the desires of the flesh creep back into our attitudes and behaviors. If we do, will we not be behaving, as Paul said, like mere men?
