SCRIPTURE:
God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.
1 Corinthians 2: 1-5
OBSERVATION:
Paul continues to pound home the point that it’s not through works or the wisdom of man that one is saved. Salvation comes solely through Jesus Christ and Him crucified. He later states that it’s not the one who plants or waters that causes growth. Growth only comes from God.
APPLICATION:
One of our Core Values at New Hope is that We believe that the most effective evangelism happens through people inviting people. I lack confidence and eloquence when it comes to this area of evangelism. Like Paul, at times my “speech is not in plausible words of wisdom”. I mumble and stumble over myself when put in these situations. I lack concise speech and find myself rambling way too much.
Yet Paul gives me hope. Paul teaches an Evangelism 101 class here and reminds me that it’s not about me and my delivery so much as it’s about me and my faith and belief that God will deliver His message through pure and humble vessels. Reality is I don’t want people to get riled up and fired up because of a “battle-scene monologue” that I deliver, cause then it’s about me. Rather I pray that people see Jesus in me, in the simplicity of my speech, in the genuineness of my character, in the purity of my life.
Then there’s part 2: I believe in evangelizing through the gifts God has given us. I believe He has gifted me in ways that do allow me to minister His Gospel in significant ways. The playwright Victor Hugo once wrote that “music expresses that which cannot be said and on which it is impossible to be silent”. Music has allowed me a voice to express how awesome my God is in ways my speech could never come close.
Yet Paul gives me caution. Paul also teaches an Evangelism 201 class and reminds me that as awesome of a presentation of the Gospel we can deliver, what really matter’s is Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Only coupled with the Holy Spirt will any creative presentation of the Gospel bear fruit. In these demonstrations of the Spirit and Power my prayer is that the renewed and restored faith of the saints be found only in the power of Jesus Christ.
PRAYER:
Lord I pray that You…
- be my confidence
- be my strength
- be my source of inspiration
- be my cause and my purpose
Amen.
