I'll include 2:1-5 in this recap. It reiterates what was said in chapter 1, but instead of using general terms, Paul shows how he himself is an example of someone unskilled and not confident:
And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men [people] but in the power of God.
When I study a passage in detail, I like to note how often word groups are repeated.
In 1 Cor 1:1-2:5, here are all the times Paul talks about preaching, speech, or words:
- Enriched in him in all speech
- Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel
- Not with words of eloquent wisdom
- Word of the cross...is the power of God
- Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age?
- It pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe
- We preach Christ crucified
- Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord
- I...did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech
- My speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom
Here are the times he talks about wisdom and knowledge, (or folly/lack of wisdom and knowledge)
- Enriched in...all knowledge
- Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with words of eloquent wisdom
- The word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing
- "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart".
- Where is the one who is wise?
- Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?
- For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe.
- Greeks seek wisdom
- We preach Christ crucified...folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called...Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God
- The foolishness of God is wiser than men
- Consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards
- But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise
- Because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God
- I did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom
- I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified
- My speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom
- so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God
(Royalty free image from Unsplash by Rod Long)
Sometimes I feel like Paul is all over the place. In fact, I would dare to say that he isn't necessarily the best writer/preacher (which he himself admits over and over!) But if I study the message instead of the words, it makes more sense. It doesn't matter if his preaching is "good" or not. It's all about the "power of God and the wisdom of God", not about the words and methods used to preach.
The biggest takeaway for me, personally, is my attraction to "good" preachers and "good" writers. Nowadays we have the luxury of picking and choosing what preaching/teaching most appeals to our preferences. Do you like preachers who tell a lot of stories and jokes? Or the more serious ones who just preach straight? Would you read a Christian life book if it wasn't necessarily written with the best words, or if maybe it required some extra thinking to decipher (hello Paul). But just because I have this luxury doesn't mean I have the right to judge or discount words from people who may not necessarily jive with my communication preferences.
I'll probably continue this study because it really helps me process the message. Unlike my other blog posts, I'm not writing these for an audience. I don't even read them over before publishing. I don't check how many "views" a post has. I publish them because the wisdom of God might be conveyed through the "foolishness" of what I say, even if I don't format things perfectly.
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