These are words that describe a variety of people. People you know. People you see out and about, sometimes on the street corner. People...like...you.
What's the "status quo" these days? I tend to lose track not caring to keep up with all the fads that go in and out of style. The colloquialisms that seem to become hip only to be reduced to "old-school" and less fashionable within days or weeks of their infancy into existence #trend
#culturalContext_pt1
Remember these phrases: da bomb/off da chain, crucial (which was 'hip' originally), grind (grizzy), fresh, phat, keepin it real...whazzup?
Have you ever known someone who would seem to always go "against the grain"? What about an individual who never seemed to align themselves even though you could tell "everyone else was doing it"? This isn't high-school peer pressure we're talking about. This is an obvious choice to not be on top of your game and know what's "hot". Let's not forget those who have no swag (the web 2.0 version of cool) because the way they approach everything is weird or doesn't make any sense at all...Just. Plain. Foolish.
1 Corinthians 1:18-21(MSG)
18-21The Message that points to Christ on the Cross seems like sheer silliness to those hellbent on destruction, but for those on the way of salvation it makes perfect sense. This is the way God works, and most powerfully as it turns out. It's written,
I'll turn conventional wisdom on its head,
I'll expose so-called experts as crackpots.
So where can you find someone truly wise, truly educated, truly intelligent in this day and age? Hasn't God exposed it all as pretentious nonsense? Since the world in all its fancy wisdom never had a clue when it came to knowing God, God in his wisdom took delight in using what the world considered dumb—preaching, of all things!—to bring those who trust him into the way of salvation.
Day in and day out I find myself "working for the Lord" pondering how silly it is of me to take on such a task. One which could cause a number of side-effects, many that I may have never considered. There's the obvious ones which I got used to growing up as a kid which included being laughed at/made fun of/ridiculed or seen as the oddball. Let's face it, if you're not doing what they do or like what they like and the "majority" of people do...you just might be a tad bit foolish.
In this context, being foolish isn't the normal everyday "lack of wisdom". Here it is more of a willingness to be who you are without compromise. Understanding that when you say or do things which seem naive and "to the contrary" of what is expected, people gon' look at you funny. Believing in and having hope for something in which you are convicted that the odds really aren't as high as they seem OR even if they are, you'll go on believing until life shows you otherwise...by life I mean outcomes, that which plays itself out naturally.
For example, I'm a Jacksonville Jaguars fan AND I live in Steeler Country, but why was it so hard to believe that the Jaguars could beat the Steelers on Week 6 during their matchup? Depending on who you talked to we had NO chance [in hell] of winning.
Life didn't show me otherwise, but showed Steelers' fans and the rest of the league exactly how vulnerable the Steelers really are. They held on strong in the first half, but the second half belonged to the Jaguars. What was an upset came down to being a scramble for holding on to what little of a lead the opposing team did have [a mere 4 pts].
How foolish is that? Who would've thought the Jaguars would be able to push back in the 2nd half...let alone bounce back and beat the arch-rival of the Steelers the very next week in what seemed to be the "best of the worst" of football on Monday night.
#culturalContext_pt2
Side Note: Who would've thought a junior senator from Illinois would go on to become the President of the United States after serving ONLY 2 years in the senate....ha, who would think a country town boy from Jacksonville, Florida would be accepted and eventually graduate from Carnegie Mellon...Who would've thought you [fill in the blank]...I could go on for days.
Here's my point:
Had I gone out shouting from the rooftops, street corners, and my seat at Heinz Field that the Jaguars were going to win, I'd be looked at as if I was crazy, insane, and any other word you could possibly think of...not to mention foolish (just plain silly and irrational/illogical).
I wonder if at times people in this day and age (with all of the advancements and "openness" we've committed to as a society) are indeed a bit scared to be deemed foolish for what they believe and are convicted by.
Is there anyone who is willing to do what's necessary for what they feel needs to be done AND look foolish while doing it?
The real question isn't if people are willing to be foolish or not. The real question is, "Where is the foolishness that we need to see so that we may understand that foolishness is alive and well?".
So I ask: Where art thou, (my good friend) foolishness?
Sumthn2Ponder (s2p):
- “He dares to be a fool, and that is the first step in the direction of wisdom.” (James G. Huneker)
- How many of the people you "look up to" were considered foolish as some point in time?
- If you don't know...you don't know enough about them #findOut
- When was the last time you were foolish and unashamed (some shame/discomfort is okay)?
In Case You Need It:
"Jacksonville- I'm [we] prayin' for ya."-liMitz
