I am obligated both to Greeks and non-Greeks, both to the wise and the foolish. (Rom. 1:14)
Expanded Passage: Romans 1:11-15
Some conversations in life are super-fun and enjoyable. You look forward to them. Other conversations you dread. Maybe the person is rude or always looking to start an argument. Maybe they talk down to you and think they’re either smarter or better than you are.
Although Paul was writing to the Romans, he followed a common grouping of his world into the smart and the uncultured, the Greek and the non-Greek. The thing is: Paul was a Jew. In that culture, he fell into the foolish category. Even more, he used this very language in 1 Corinthians, where it is clear that he considered the “wisdom” of the Greeks in fact to be foolishness to God (1 Cor. 1:20).
So he poked a little fun at the Greeks here, who stereotypically thought they were smart when they did not actually know much about God and the real truth. To Paul, it ultimately did not matter—he was obligated to preach the good news to everyone, humble and arrogant, pleasant and unpleasant.
It is human for us to want to shun or ignore the foolish or condescending, the rude and contemptuous. We cannot do it in our own power, but share the good news we must. Woe to me if I do not share the good news with people of all types!
Ask the Lord for patience to be good news to the difficult.
Ken Schenck is provost with Campus EDU. He previously served as vice president for Houghton College (NY) and dean of Wesley Seminary at Indiana Wesleyan University.
© 2024 Wesleyan Publishing House. Reprinted from Light from the Word. Used by permission. Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®.
