I Cor. 1:21 ... "Since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe."
To many people the word "preaching" has a bad connotation. It conjures up thoughts of sitting still and quiet on a hard pew for what seems like an interminable time while a man up front drones on in a dull speech that is entirely boring. To others it suggests a highly emotional address by someone who seems to want to convey the idea he is possessed by the Spirit. Still others think of preaching as a very negative, critical, condemnatory speech in which a very angry man, who seems to be exempt from his accusations, tries to overwhelm every listener with guilt. And some think of preaching as a meaningless activity that fills a necessary time slot in a church service, that is, a mere ritual that must be performed to be "proper." In all these views of preaching many people would readily welcome the application of Paul's phrase, "the foolishness of preaching." They would gladly support any effort to revolutionize preaching to make it interesting, stimulating, and relevant to their tastes and perceived needs.
In spite of the varied abuses of preaching we must recognize that it is not an optional activity in a Christian worship service. In Mk. 16:15 Jesus commanded, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation." Timothy was commanded to "preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with great patience and instruction," (II Tim. 4:2). Honor and praise is bestowed upon the preacher in Rom. 10:15 in the exclamation, "How beautiful are the feet of those who bring (or preach) good news (the gospel) of good things." The fault is ours if preaching is dull, boring, offensive, or meaningless. The preacher may be going about it in a way the Lord would not have him, being slothful and indifferent on the one hand or aggressive and fanatical on the other. The audience might be at fault in expecting something from preaching other than what the Lord wills, as II Tim. 4:3 predicts will indeed happen: "For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires."
It is necessary to understand that Paul is not himself saying that preaching is foolishness. In v.18 he reveals whose assessment it is that preaching is foolishness: "For to those who are perishing the word of the cross is foolishness." It is among the unbelieving lost outside the circle of Christian fellowship that preaching is foolishness. They see no meaning or importance in it because they are unconcerned about God's will, about God's judgment, and about the course of their lives toward eternal destruction. Noah's preaching was evidently foolishness to antediluvian mankind, for they disregarded it, probably with ridicule and contempt. How relevant and necessary it must have suddenly seemed, however, when the water lapped over the highest peeks, and there was no where else to flee. Jonah's preaching did not seem foolish to the people of Nineveh, who listened seriously to the prophet's message and repented, (Jon. 3:5-10). Their sober response saved them from an early grave, as v.10 points out, "When God saw their works, that they turned from their wicked way, then God relented concerning the calamity which He had declared He would bring upon them. And He did not do it." The people of Nineveh, therefore, were saved by the preaching of Jonah, even as I Cor. 1:18 says of anyone who listens and takes heed, "to us who are being saved it (preaching) is the power of God." When the gospel is preached in its fullness and in its truth in the spirit of love, (Eph. 4:15), it will lead those who pay attention to it unto faith, obedience, and eternal salvation.
