“When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom…. I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.”
– 1 Corinthians 2:1-2
Scottish pastor John Hutton shared the story of a man who was known as a drunkard and a lowlife. But to everyone’s surprise, one day he gave his life to Christ.
His drinking buddies thought he had lost his mind. They said, “Surely you can’t believe in the miracles that the Bible talks about. You don’t actually believe that Jesus turned water into wine!” The new Christian responded, “I don’t know if he turned water into wine. But in my own house, I have seen Him turn beer into furniture.”
The new Christian didn’t waste his time arguing with his unbelieving friends. He just pointed to his own transformed life.
And in the First Century, the Apostle Paul took a similar approach. The unbelievers in Corinth didn’t get saved because Paul was a stronger debater than all their intellectuals and philosophers. They got saved through the simple, foolish-sounding gospel message about Jesus Christ dying on the cross for their sins. Paul knew that people don’t get saved because you can out-debate them.
Paul makes it clear that when he was in Corinth, he did not preach the gospel “with words of human wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power” (1 Corinthians 1:17). If Paul had let his high I.Q. and oratory skills take center stage, Paul would have gotten the glory, not Jesus. And that, my friends, is a sin. As we do ministry, Jesus alone must be in the spotlight.
In chapter 2, Paul continues: “When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior 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” (1 Corinthians 1-2).
The Corinthians had seen plenty of professional speakers and philosophers who would “wow” audiences with their amazing speeches. But Paul refused to be an entertainer or a showman who took the spotlight for himself. Instead, he consistently shined the spotlight on Jesus Christ, basically saying, “Look at Him, not at me! Look at what Christ has done! Look at HIM!”
Paul writes, “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 men’s wisdom, but on God’s power” (vs. 4-5). And how did Paul’s preaching demonstrate the Spirit’s power? Here’s the answer in two words: CHANGED LIVES.
A transformed life is the greatest evidence of the true wisdom and power of the gospel. When Jesus Christ takes hold of a hard human heart and turns beer into furniture, there’s no evidence more convincing than that. The world’s most inspiring sermons will not persuade your family and friends to accept Jesus Christ as much as your changed life will.