The foolish gospel of the crucified Messiah is God’s power; God’s weakness is stronger than human strength; their faith, as evoked by Paul’s preaching, did not rest on human wisdom but on God’s power; and now, dramatically and with a somewhat shocking threat, “the kingdom of God isn’t about talk—it’s about power,” the “power” in question being the power Paul thinks he may have to use in confronting those who are “puffed up” with their own sense of worth and importance.
