Christians will find themselves in opposition to authorities when they become active.  This is very obvious in Muslim countries where talking about Jesus can get you killed (apart from references to him as Isa the prophet).  However, in secularized democracies we are moving away from a freedom of religion to a freedom from religion.  Many people do not see that their foundational beliefs are not empirically discerned.  The value of reason is upheld by the religious and the irreligious in coming to vastly different worldviews.  However, the insight given to Christians by the Spirit gives Christians the ability to make valuable judgments about the a broader scope of real experience.  Because there is something spiritually amiss with godless perspectives, godless public life is a destructive political force.  The modern redefinition of tolerance is actually aggressively intolerant of the truth ‘God has revealed to us by his Spirit.’

1 Corinthians 2:6-10

⁶We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature, but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. ⁷No, we speak of God’s secret wisdom, a wisdom that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began. ⁸None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. ⁹However, as it is written:
   “No eye has seen,
      no ear has heard,
   no mind has conceived
   what God has prepared for those who love him”^[b]— ¹⁰but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit.
      The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God.

Questions

1. What does Paul speak to the mature?
2. What has been true about God’s wisdom before the time of Christ?
3. Who searches all things?
4. What truths do you know that your neighbours do not?
5. How do you interact with people who do not know God’s wisdom?

Going Deeper

Observation

1. Initially what term qualifies both the wisdom and the rulers that Paul’s message is not of?
2. What is the future of current, accepted wisdom and the present rulers?
3. What would the authorities of Paul’s age have not done if they understood spiritual truth?
4. What has no eye seen or ear heard?
5. What does the Spirit search?

Interpretation

1. What do you think the difference is between the message Paul speaks to believers and the message he speaks to unbelievers?
2. Why did God keep the message of Jesus and the cross somewhat obscure in Old Testament times?
3. In what age is Paul living?
4. Why do most popular ideas fade away?
5. How does a love relationship generally give a deeper insight into that person’s view of reality?

Application

1. Where do you hear a deeper message than the self-help advice given in books or on TV?
2. Freud said that the root of most people’s problems is that they are sexually repressed.  How has an unbridled pursuit of sexual gratification without shame helped or hindered western culture since the sixties?  How are Freud’s views still being promoted?  What was Freud missing in this regard?
3. Feminist theorists often say that language itself is male dominated and must be deconstructed so that women and other groups are not oppressed.  How has this view led to an attack on spiritual truth?
4. Are you afraid to express frank biblical truth in your public (or even your private) life?  Why are many Christians in this position?
5. How does voting as a Christian differ from voting as a non-Christian?