NEVER IRRELEVANT

 Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things--and the things that are not--to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him.

1 Corinthians 1:26-29 (NIV)

                The last player to be drafted in the NFL draft is dubbed “Mr. Irrelevant.” In 2022 that spot was filled by Brock Purdy, a quarterback from Iowa State. He was drafted by the San Francisco 49ers. With five games left in the regular season, “Mr. Irrelevant” became the starting quarterback. He won all five of those games and led the 49ers into the NFL playoffs. Purdy then led the 49ers to a decisive victory over the Seattle Seahawks in the first round of the payoffs.

                Many of us, at times, feel like we are Mr. or Miss Irrelevant. We see others seemingly succeeding without effort, while we struggle to make progress. We can feel like no one notices us or cares about us. Our lives seem to be irrelevant in the grand scheme of things. It is especially hard as a believer when we see blatantly irreligious people excel in life.

                Asaph expressed exactly how we feel at times in Psalm 73.

Surely God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart. But as for me, my feet had almost slipped; I had nearly lost my foothold. For I envied the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. They have no struggles; their bodies are healthy and strong. They are free from the burdens common to man; they are not plagued by human ills.
Psalm 73:1-5 (NIV)

Surely in vain have I kept my heart pure; in vain have I washed my hands in innocence. All day long I have been plagued; I have been punished every morning.
Psalm 73:13-14 (NIV)

                It can be very discouraging trying to live a life pleasing to God and watch arrogant people, who want nothing to do with God, prosper. God’s values have been turned upside-down by the world. It seems like selfishness, arrogance, crudeness, and raw power are what gets rewarded. Godliness and righteousness living are laughed at and ridiculed. Satan has been doing his best to make believers feel irrelevant in the world.

                But Paul paints a very different picture for us in 1 Corinthians. He reminds us that God’s ways are not man’s ways. He reminds us that God has taken what the world sees as weak, powerless, and irrelevant and has used it to accomplish His purposes.

Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. ²² Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man's strength.
1 Corinthians 1:20-25 (NIV)

                All of humanity’s wisdom pales in comparison to God’s wisdom. There is nothing that humanity can discover that God has not created. There is nothing that humanity can accomplish that God has not empowered. Our ability to think and reason comes from God. Our ability to understand our world and to look deeply at how it is made comes from God. The very life that we guard so passionately is in God’s hands.

                When a person comes into a right relationship with God, through faith in Jesus Christ, they can never be irrelevant. God has placed His spirit in every believer. God has claimed us as his children and given us an inheritance that the world can never take away from us. God has empowered us to accomplish great things that will make a difference for all of eternity. No matter wherever a person may be on the world’s “draft list”, they are never irrelevant to God.

                All of the plans, schemes, accomplishments, and progress of humanity are temporary and will pass away with time. But the plans of God will prevail for all of eternity. A life lived for the pleasures of this world will in the end prove to be irrelevant. A life lived in relationship with God will always be relevant.

                Satan continually whispers in our ears that our lives are irrelevant and meaningless, but he is wrong. We are new creations in Christ and our lives will count for all of eternity, because God has claimed us as his own.

But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
1 Peter 2:9-10 (NIV)

How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure.
1 John 3:1-3 (NIV)