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 Cor 2:4-5
We love persuasive speakers or orators. Don’t we all love to listen to the people who have their way with words, who can weave threads by the spoken word and make so much sense. Some of those with oratorial powers are motivational speakers. We may listen to them, may have our favourites from among the pool of the rich speakers out there today; speakers who have what it takes to cause people to make changes that can produce better results in life. Most of them possess human wisdom, which produces results. But mere persuasive words of human wisdom cannot go far enough.
Within the kingdom of God, we are not short of men who have their way with words and indeed the word of God. Now, while oratorial power is great and desirable for public speakers, it is important to reflect on the preaching of the gospel especially today. What greater example could we look at than the apostle Paul. Though not blessed with oratorial prowess, we see that his message was not about enticing words but more about hope and trust in Christ, more about having faith in God, more about inviting people to a relationship with God through Christ.
When he, Paul wrote to the Corinthians, he made it clear that he did not use enticing or persuasive words to convince them to believe in God. He made it clear that it was not because of his oratorial prowess, although he wasn’t as great a speaker as he was a writer (2 Cor 11:6). He mentioned that he was not called to oratory or eloquence. He admitted that the reason for this was so that the cross of Christ may not be emptied of its power (1 Cor 1:17). We can deduce that this was deliberate, remember when he said that God’s power is made perfect in weakness? Certainly, this must have been one of the aspects where God’s power overshadowed him. His work of the ministry saw him raise Eutychus from the dead, cast out demons, shake off a viper and lived when onlookers expected him to die. The power of God was indeed highlighted and brought to the fore in these and many other circumstances, his writings has encouraged many believers over centuries now.
So, the gospel as shown by Paul is meant to showcase the power of God and faith is built on hearing the great things that God has done in the past and is promising to those who believe. Chief among these promises is the promise of eternal life. Our faith is meant to be anchored on the power of God not human wisdom. The power that is working in us daily to help us to conform to the image of the invisible son of God and rid ourselves of self-will and/or iniquity. The power that can convince others to come to Christ through the spreading of the word. The power that helps our weaknesses.
We can have faith in God’s power to deliver on his promises. In every aspect of our earthly life, we can have faith in the one true God. The one through whom we live, move, and have our being. The one who has called us his people even when we were not a people of his. So, this is where our faith should rest and not on human wisdom.
Made Perfect In Weakness 