Spiritual Discernment

1 Corinthians 2:14-16
"But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. But he who is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is rightly judged by no one. For “who has known the mind of the LORD that he may instruct Him?” But we have the mind of Christ."

Is it that the natural man does not welcome Truth or that he can not welcome it? Does he hear it and reject it or not even hear it to begin with?
What are the things of God that cannot/will not be received by the natural man? In 1 Corinthians 1 it was the idea of Christ crucified; a stumbling block to the Jew and foolishness to the Gentile. Is it more? Is it also the radically upside-down nature of the Christian life? (love your enemy, turn the cheek, unlimited forgiveness, die to self, give to gain, strength in surrender, life in death....)
If this is true, why do we seek the favor, approval and acceptance from among natural people? If I'm reading this right... it's not so that we can share Christ. Compromise cannot produce conviction in the natural heart, but consistency and character can. Contrast with the natural man clearly demonstrates to him something that he can receive. It must seem foolish and powerless to even be noticed by the natural man. It must contain a confusing contrast that prompts them to wonder what is at work. As Paul said to open this second chapter, he did not come with wisdom or philosophy or lofty knowledge - but only knowing one thing, Christ crucified.
If we are to reach the natural man, we must resolve to knowing this - Christ crucified.
We have the mind of Christ, we must listen to and receive what we hear from Him. We must trust that the same Spirit of God who worked on and in us will also work on and in the natural people around us.

God - make me more Spiritually discerning. Amen.