PROCLAIM, LET GOD PERSUADE

1 Corinthians 2:1-5

¹ Remember when I first came to you, brothers? I did not come with a lofty word or wisdom, as I proclaimed to you the testimony of God.   ² Because I had decided to know nothing while among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. ³ And I approached with you weak and afraid and with a lot of shaking. ⁴ And my word and my preaching were not with persuasive words of wisdom, but with a demonstration of the Spirit and of power, ⁵ so that your faith would not rest on human wisdom, but on the power of God.

reverse strategy

The Corinthians were Greeks, and Greeks respond to wisdom, so if Paul had wanted to get a following for himself, all he would have had to do was come into the city, and blow them away with his superior intellect. Paul was a very smart person, so he could have done that easily. But the end result would have been devoted disciples of Paul, not disciples of Christ. So, Paul had taken the reverse strategy. He decided to not prove his knowledge of anything except Christ crucified. The essential elements of his message were the key components of the gospel of grace and nothing else.

Paul’s reverse strategy worked because God’s Spirit is always looking for ways to convince people of the truth of the gospel. God himself intervened and the Corinthian church was born. All he wants is a servant who is willing to demonstrate weakness and allow him to demonstrate his strength.

LORD, use us to declare your gospel.