If your church was in need of a new pastor, what would they look for? Many years ago, the church I was attending was looking for a new pastor. Various candidates came, and in addition to meeting with the board of elders, they preached the sermon on Sunday morning. Many churches want their preacher to be very intellectual, one who can preach a sermon filled with so many theological terms and phrases. Frequently churches want a pastor that will preach messages that make them feel good about themselves, that will boost their ego and self-esteem. Or they are looking for a pastor that will keep them entertained, like a television talk show host, with music comparable to a rock concert. In today’s passage the Apostle Paul shares with the Corinthian Church what he was like when he first came, and the types of messages he gave. Let’s take a look at our Scriptures for today, and see if our church would be happy with Paul.
The Apostle Paul was an extremely intelligent and well-educated man. He had been taught by Gamaliel, who was one of the greatest teachers of that era. Yet as Paul stated in verse 2, he wasn’t going to preach grandiose and intellectual sermons and teachings. That would only glorify himself and puff himself up. Paul presented the Gospel of salvation in plain and simple terms for all to understand. His messages focused solely on God, not on his own intellect.
What was the simple message that Paul brought? It was of salvation through the death, the shed blood of Jesus. He didn’t preach messages that tickled people’s fancy, that fanned their egos. He preached the simple message of the Gospel, that men were sinners and needed to turn to the Lord Jesus for salvation. That’s a message that doesn’t always please people, and wouldn’t impress a number of churches today. It didn’t impress a lot of people then. They wanted fancy, worldly wisdom.
The world does not understand God’s wisdom, and that Jesus, God’s Son, had to die in order to redeem sinners. God reveals that mystery to us when the Holy Spirit opens our spiritual eyes to understand. The simplicity of the Gospel confounds man’s wisdom, which wants something more complex. Many believe that salvation should be through the good works and deeds, or religious rituals we perform, and today many believe that one doesn’t even need salvation, that God doesn’t judge us. They want messages of love and great sounding sermons.
The power of the Gospel doesn’t come in our fancy rhetoric, but in the resurrection of Jesus, and His power to draw men to Himself (John 6:44; John 12:32). Paul did not want people to be impressed with his ability, but rather with God’s power (vs. 4-5). The Gospel message is full of the power of God. We should not fall for image-conscious leaders who wish to exalt themselves. Those with a servant's heart will exalt the Lord.
Paul’s enemies spread the word around that he was a weak man, that he was not a strong preacher, nor with an impressive resume. When he first arrived in Corinth, Paul had recently been beaten and imprisoned in Philippi, run out of Thessalonica and Berea, and then scoffed at in Athens. That, in many people’s eyes, was not an impressive preacher. Many churches today would not select for their pastor someone with these as his credentials. They didn’t want someone with a questionable background and simple, fundamental preaching. Yet this is the wisdom of God in a mystery (vs. 7). The “mystery” here is not something puzzling. In Scripture it means a truth known to God before time, that He has kept secret until the appropriate time for Him to reveal it.
Paul preached with God’s power, not man’s, and wanted his churches to rely on God’s power, not man’s wisdom (vs. 5). God’s power is available to us over every attack of the devil. Jesus defeated Satan and death with His resurrection, and then sent His Holy Spirit to us. The power of the Holy Spirit overcomes the work of the enemy (I John 4:4). Through Jesus Christ we have the power to invoke His Name and overcome evil. What are we looking for in our churches and preachers, man’s wisdom or God’s power?
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