A Simple Word
“And so it was with me, brothers and sisters. When I came to you, I did not come with eloquence or human wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. I came to you in weakness with great fear and trembling. My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power.”
-1 Corinthians 2:1-5
When I was in Bible college, one of the first classes we had to take, to lay the foundation for our education, was a hermeneutics class. The point of the class was to teach us to properly study and interpret text so that we could better teach it in our different ministry settings. One of the first things you learn is that the context of the passage is of utmost importance. Who wrote this passage? Who was it written to? What was the time period and what was happening in the region/time of the writing? Even still, I think it can be challenging not to allow my own biases to impact the way I read a passage.
For myself, I find it hard to believe that Paul would have thought to call himself weak or simple. He wrote about half of the New Testament and some of the deepest cutting words we still read some 2000 years after his life. It’s easy to think he’s simply being humble here since we know how big of a deal he is. But!, context is everything, and in this setting, he meant what he was saying. He wasn’t simply humbling himself before Christ (though that is true). He was also teaching us two very important lessons.
The crux of the lessons starts earlier in his letter but is echoed here in this passage. As he addresses the division in the Corinthian church, he asks the question, “Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized in the name of Paul?” As he expresses the simplicity with which he speaks and reminds his readers of his own weakness. He is reminding them that when he teaches and preaches he is not doing so in his own power. He reminds them that the words of Apollos and Cephas are not their own but that they speak by the power of God and His Spirit.
Especially in the digital age we live in, it is so very easy to become a follower of one specific preacher or teacher. It’s become normal to leave a church when you prefer another’s preaching. It’s easy to avoid a difficult sermon series at your home church by staying home and turning to the livestream of your favorite pastor across the country. While this technology has its huge upsides, and gaining this access to wisdom shared is an incredible benefit, it also lends to falling prey to eloquent wordsmiths who stand behind a pulpit. It is a blessing to sit under a pastor who is wise and enjoyable to listen to (looking at you Pastor Joel) but it is so important that we remember, we are not his. We are not his children. We are not his followers. His role is to lead us to our true king. And as Paul warns and reminds his readers, Pastor Joel did not die on the cross for us, we were not baptized in his name. We belong to the one who speaks through Paul and through our local pastors. Beware not to be distracted by beautiful language and intellectual words, but seek Christ crucified.
While Paul’s main aim here is to amplify the power of The Spirit in his preaching and remind us to not get caught up in eloquent speech, he also leaves us with an important message of courage. I think if you asked 1000 practicing Christians in modern America what they wanted to grow in, the top answer among them would be evangelizing, sharing their faith. I regularly hear people talk about how they wish they were better or more equipped to share the gospel with non-believers. The most common reason for not sharing is a lack of confidence in their knowledge of scripture, how to answer hard questions or fear of not having the right words to say. Yet, Paul here seems to think he doesn’t need beautiful language to convince the Corinthians of the power of the Gospel. He isn’t concerned with sharing his resume or boasting his qualifications. He knows that he has the most persuasive tool on his side, the power of the Holy Spirit. It’s an important reminder that it is not by our power that non-believers come to a saving faith in Christ but by the Holy Spirit working through us. And it wasn’t by Paul that the Corinthian church grew. So don’t let your fears get in the way of the Gospel. Know that through the power of The Holy Spirit, the same one that spoke through “the great Paul”, can and will use you to spread his word.
We aren’t called by God to go convince people of Jesus’ sacrifice and resurrection. We aren’t called to speak intellectual jargon to mentally win sinners over for heaven. We’re called to share a simple message of Christ's love and let the power of the Holy Spirit take it from there.
