Power or Foolishness, a Reflection on 1 Corinthians 1:17-18

In his letter to the fractious Corinthian congregation, Paul wrote, "It's not about what faction you belong to; it's about Jesus on his cross." He goes on, "Not everybody is going to understand, but to us, the cross shows how resourceful God is." [BYW, I used some of the language from Good as New, a Radical Retelling by John Henson.]

Early Christians, living in Corinth, might have understood this message more readily than the typical American living today--even in our economic tough times, we're doing pretty well. How well would a message about the cross do today to gather more adherents? As I look through church webpages, how many focus on sacrifice or loss?

And, how many focus on doing something different from what the important people in power would approve of? Boring and Craddock in their People's New Testament Commentary remind me of what I should have been thinking of anyway that the Romans didn't crucify just anybody. Crucifixion was reserved for those who disturbed the peace--for revolutionists, terrorists, the worst criminals, and slaves:

"Cross" had the connontations of ugliness, contempt, weakness, loser, criminal, slave, unpatriotic lowlife.