I’m Not A Smart Man

    I always had a soft spot for Simon Peter.  As a person of limited intelligence, he has been a good role model for me.  In the Bible, Peter doesn't come off as the brightest bulb in the bunch.  First, his nickname is Rock.[1]  It takes three times before he gets it anything (Matthew 26:75, John 21:15-17, Acts 10:16-17).  Peter is always saying something he shouldn't (Mark 8:33, Luke 9:33-39, John 13:9-10).  And he is kind of slow on the uptake (Acts 12:6-10[2]).  Peter doesn't always handle things the best way (Galatians 2:11-14) and even say he finds some scriptures “hard to understand” (2^nd Peter 3:16).

    You don’t see those mental flaws however keep him from being a powerful force in the cause of Christ. You can’t read the Gospel without seeing Peter, warts and all. You can’t imagine the church’s rise in the Book of Acts without his influence.  He serves as apostle, elder, spokesman, preacher and pillar in the church.  He may be ordinary average guy but because of Jesus he becomes amazing (Acts 4:13). 

    

    It doesn't take a big IQ to serve the Lord.

    Don’t get me wrong I think we need people of intelligence in the church but I have noticed something interesting. You don’t see people not being saved because they can’t grasp the simple message of the Gospel, but rather you see people that are too “smart” to submit to it (1st Corinthians 1:21).  I've seen it over and over again; people raise themselves to such a “scholarly” level as to explain away what the word of God say rather than accepting that it “says what it means and means what it says”.

    Rather than accept the plain simple teaching of the word, men that should be smarter will invent all kinds of ways to get around it. The Bible warns those that think they are wiser than God in 1st  Corinthians 3:18-20. “Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you thinks that he is wise in this age, he must become foolish, so that he may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness before God. For it is written, "He is THE ONE WHO CATCHES THE WISE IN THEIR CRAFTINESS"; and again, "THE LORD KNOWS THE REASONINGS of the wise, THAT THEY ARE USELESS."

    You can’t outsmart God; you would be a fool to try!

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[1] How many mathematicians do you know nicknamed “Rock”?

[2] When the angel is breaking him out of jail, he tells him to be quick, then has to remind him to put his shoes and coat on. Peter doesn’t even figure out what is going on till he’s already standing out in the street