“And when I came to you, brethren, I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God. For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling, and my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God.” 1 Corinthians 2:1-5 (NAS)
Wisdom . . . I always want it . . . I don’t always use it effectively . . . I always need more of it.
We all desire to be wise. We probably have more wisdom that we use in most circumstances. As young people, we always wanted to demonstrate how “smart” we were. We always seem to be smarter than our parents who always had more experience and wisdom than we could imagine. Yet, when we finally grew up and realized our pitiful lack of knowledge and understanding, it may have been too late to ask them for advice. I look back on my ignorance stage and shudder at how many obstacles I charged into simply because I was so smart that I wouldn’t ask Dad for his wisdom. I had faith in my “wisdom” (i.e., education, knowledge, scientific discoveries, etc) rather than in the power of God through Dad’s wisdom (i.e., experience, thoughtful consideration, understanding, etc).
In today’s passage, Paul explains his personal perspective for sharing Christ with the Corinthians. He reminds them of his initial preaching to them. He never preached with great oratory and persuasive words. He never displayed his scholarly education as a tool to entice their trust. He insisted that he intentionally restricted his message to Jesus Christ as the Crucified Savior. Current “wisdom” goes contrary to Paul’s wisdom. Many preachers and theologians say that we should do whatever it takes to get people into the Kingdom. While this may be correct in theory, note Paul’s wisdom in practice.
Instead of complicated concepts of theology, he declared the simple message of God in Christ. Instead of parading around as an arrogant, powerful believer, Paul allowed the Corinthians to see his humility. He expressed his fears. He let them see a real human being with real struggles who himself needed to trust in God. In his preaching among them, he yielded to the working of the Holy Spirit so that his audience would focus their trust in the right place. Paul refused to allow them to put their faith and trust in him and his wisdom. He knew that he and his wisdom could never deliver them from their prisons of darkness. Paul reminds them that he insisted their faith be established upon God’s power alone. And that is real, authentic, bona fide wisdom!
Dear Father, thank you for the power of your grace. Empower us with humility to point men and women, boys and girls to faith in your ability to save not our own. This I pray in the name of Jesus. AMEN
Be encouraged today in the power of God,