“And I, brethren, when I came to you, did not come with excellence of speech or of wisdom declaring to you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.” 1 Corinthians 2:1-5 (NKJV)
The Great Apostle tells all who would read his first letter to the Church at Corinth that he is not trying to impress anyone with his abilities or education; to the contrary, Paul came speaking the bare bones truth with all the zeal of someone who doesn’t know or care that he might be out of sync with his audience. He preached a crucified Christ to all who would listen and impacted the nations for Jesus wherever he went. How could they not be impacted as Paul spoke of his own testimony, and of how Jesus had called him out on the road to Damascus? Knowing full well that his accomplishments were not of his own strengths and abilities; Paul rightly attributed his work to the empowerment of the Holy Spirit (the power of God) and not to himself. No one could rightly say of Paul that his success was due to his own eloquence or great wisdom; instead those who heard and followed him must have known that he was a servant of God and no one else.
How unlike so many today who call attention to their ministries as if they were the owners. We who seek to minister to God’s people must realize that what we do, what ever successes we may have, are not evidence of our abilities but evidence of the power of God working through us. No amount of eloquent speech or thundering oration, can surpass one who is surrendered to the Holy Spirit and who is himself overwhelmed by the power of God presence.
We honor those who are highly qualified in our eyes; not realizing that apart from Him we can do nothing (John 15:5) and that Paul was speaking of just such a lack of ability when he wrote, “I can do all things through Christ Who strengthens me.”
