Recently I was helping my grandson with his homework that involved reading the story of The Boy Who Cried Wolf. Afterward we talked about the importance of telling the truth and I enjoyed seeing his wheels turn as he pictured what the boy had done wrong. I’m grateful for stories that bring a child’s imagination to life and that point to a moral truth. Some of those tales are so ingrained in our culture that we use them as turns of phrase like, “He cried wolf one too many times” or, “She has the Midas Touch” or, “Slow and steady wins the race.” While these are helpful and well-intended anecdotes, they are only as good as far as they go. That is to say that they are well-suited for a conversation between a six-year-old and his grandfather, but they are not the words of life.
If an unbelieving friend came to you in tears after he and his family lost their home, it would be inappropriate for you to say, “I’m so sorry to hear that. Perhaps you should consider the story of The Three Little Pigs.” There may be a moral truth in the story, but it would fall woefully short of providing real comfort or imparting genuine wisdom.
As obvious as that is, some Christians live in these terms, treating church like a source for moral stories. They attend a Sunday service to be reminded of principles that might make their lives produce better outcomes. Some familiarize their children with the ethics of Noah & the Flood, Daniel & the Lion’s Den and David & Goliath for all the same reasons.
The apostle Paul was keenly aware of the importance of staying on point. In a letter to a church that was divided by their pride over who physically baptized them, he cut straight through the baloney:
For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power. For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. (1 Cor. 1:17–18)
The “power of God” is not in baptism and certainly is not in being baptized by a particular person. The power of God is the gospel of Jesus Christ! It is in “the word of the cross.” The church and the individual Christian should not be about moral living, but about the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. There is a time and a place to teach the principles behind The Boy Who Cried Wolf, but Christians must take care not to replace the word of the cross with ethics that do not provide real (eternal) comfort and impart genuine (eternal) wisdom.
Are you sowing the seeds of the gospel or of moral living? When your neighbor applauds your child’s honesty, do you direct the conversation to the gospel or just talk about the importance of the virtue? When your co-worker seeks your advice about his broken marriage, do you direct the conversation to the gospel or give helpful tips for an improved relationship?
In the same letter to the church with so many troubles, Paul reiterated the point when he wrote, “And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.” (1 Cor. 2:1–2)
God has not called churches to be excellent at delivery hard-hitting messages that improve a Christian’s way of life. Nor has He called believers to be a beacon of ethical light to a world that is blinded by their sin. He has called Christians to communicate the truth of the word of the cross to those that are perishing. Choose to live a gospel-centric life and not a gospel-adjacent one. Choose to tell others the actual words of life that carry the power of God instead of gospel-adjacent words of moral living. Again, Paul wrote to the church, “My speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power” (1 Cor. 2:4).
Pray that God would help you not to give in to the temptation to give tips for better living at the expense of the word of the cross. Commit to giving others more than “chicken soup for the soul.” Seek opportunities to share the word of the cross that will save their soul from judgment.