I’ve always struggled with pride—with wanting to be the smartest at everything, with wanting to always be right. As I was preparing for this message, I thought how do Ior how have Ishared or proclaimed the Gospel? Immediately, I thought of a time in high school when an argumentative nonbeliever, an atheist, approached me. He started grilling me about the Bible and how could God be real if suffering happened, how could God be real if science supported the Big Bang, and things of the like. I’d never experienced such “interrogation” in my life, so I immediately went on the defense and it’s like a lightbulb flashed in my head: an opportunity to show how smart I am and how much I know about the Bible—when in reality, I knew almost nothing. So, I started kind of debating him, my temper rising when he would push back and I had no argument to give. So, long story short, I ended up yelling at him and storming off—and what I yelled was definitelynot Christ-like, if you know what I mean. Looking back, I think did I share the Gospel with him? No. Could I have done it more effectively? Yes. So, I want you to think of a time you proclaimed the Good News that Jesus Christ died for our sins—how did you share this message? What language, grammar did you use? What was your tone like? Did you get defensive? Now, ask yourself—could it have been more effective?
1 Corinthians 2:1-5 says, “And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimonyof 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 menbut in the power of God.” Paul was concerned that the Corinthians would rely on human wisdom, or knowledge, through dazzling speech and rhetoric that would amaze the masses and elevate the speaker rather than actually turn sinners toward Jesus (Schreiner 78). Much like the Corinthians, we as Christians today also struggle with this—with making our speech entertaining rather than Christ-centered, or being politically correct rather than Biblically honest, or bringing ourselves more credit than God. But we are called to share the Gospel through the Holy Spirit with humility instead of with attractive flair and human knowledge. So the ultimate question is: How do we share the Gospel? 1) Share the Gospel without arrogant knowledge and religious theatrics Verse one says, “And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimonyof God with lofty speech or wisdom.” So, a little background information on Corinth. Corinth was a Roman Colony in Greece (Jensen 264). And in this Graeco-Roman context, dazzling and attention-grabbing speech was often used to woo the masses and elevate the speaker (Schreiner 76). The Greeks highly valued eloquent sentences and the smooth, captivating arrangement of rhetoric (Barnes). At the time, a group of philosophers called the “Sophists”, or the “wise ones” had permeated into the culture and had popularized logic and eloquence. And their thought had no doubt pushed into the Corinthian church as well. Paul is preaching carefully here, because he had been mistaken for this type of teacher in Athens in Acts 17, so he was discrediting the argument for discourse and knowledge and trading it in for humility and the Spirit (Carter 134). So Paul did not come proclaiming with lofty speech or wisdom. He simply announced the testimony of God and didn’t allow his own words to get in the way of the Holy Spirit (Pratt 25). As Paul did, so should we. 1 Corinthians 8:1, “Knowledge puffs up.” How many times has someone said something to you and all you can think is: “They’re speaking this way to make themselves look smart”? Or, you think “Wow, they really know a lot about this topic”? When we are testifying about Jesus going to the cross for us, taking on our shame, our guilt, and dying for us, do we really want to make it about ourselves? Do we want people to be turned off by our obvious arrogance? Or even worse, do we want them to glorify us and our knowledge rather than the salvation graciously offered by Jesus? You can use all the fancy devices and attention-getters. You can espouse all the facts and figures. But if everyone walks away the samewhen you’re done—then why are you testifying in the first place? Madison L’engle, the author of A Wrinkle in Time, said, “We draw people to Christ not by loudly discrediting what they believe or by telling them how wrong they are and how right we are, but by showing them a light that is so lovely that they want with all their hearts to know the source of it” (Nkrumah). We know the lovely light and we want others to want to know it too, so cut out the entertainment in your evangelism. Cut out the smothering knowledge. Both come from a place of self-elevation. Be honest and let the Holy Spirit work—don’t make it about your intellect or your speaking skills, because you’re not the Savior of the world—Jesus is. And he deserves the attention. 2) Share the Gospel with passion and focus Verse 2 says, “For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.” Paul uses the explanatory transition word “for” to indicate reasons why he doesn’t proclaim the Gospel with lofty speech or wisdom. And we see here, in the text, that he doesn’t because he is “resolved to know nothing... except Jesus Christ and him crucified,” which is the testimony of God he was proclaiming to the Corinthians. It’s important to note that Paul deciding “to know nothing” doesn’t mean he literally knew nothing. Rather, it shows that the Gospel was his sole focus and passion (Fee 96-97). He “decided”—nothing could sway him from this because he had made up his mind. Think about all the work the Church, capital C, could do if it decided to pursue evangelism with laser-sharp focus and passion. Think about all you could do. How do I get focused on the Gospel? How do I have a passion for it? Both are great questions, because it’s easier said than done, right? But if you want to be focused, if you want to really have a passion for the word, then number one, read it. Go deep in your Bible reading. Study. Do more than just one verse and a long devotional paragraph. Really make it your mission to know Scripture and to allow the Holy Spirit to fan your embers into a blazing fire for Him. Psalm 119:97: “Oh how I love your law! It is my meditation all the day.” The Psalmist has such a passion for the Word of God. He loves it—truly loves it, as you can tell from the excitement in the language. Oh how I love your law! It’s his meditation all day long. There isn’t a moment he isn’t thinking about it. One must be as the Psalmist is—must love the Word of God and meditate on it always. Focus and passion will easily flow out of that love and meditation. Number two, worship. If our worship isn’t God-focused, then nothing else will be. Often, what hinders our worship of God is our worship of another idol in our lives. It can be money, spouses, children, careers, school, social media, Netflix—the list goes on. You might say, “Bella, those aren’t idols. Those are just important to me.” To which I would say, “Are they more important than God?” Most would answer “No”, because no one really believes that they’re placing something above God. But ask yourself, “Do I put this before God? Do I want this with all my heart? Am I able to stop thinking about this thing? Do I give all of my love to this thing?” If it’s even questionable, then you’re most likely dealing with an idol. Matthew 6:24 says, “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other.” You can’t worship God while worshiping social media. You can’t worship God while worshiping doctrine. One will prevail over the other and too often do we allow the winner to be the temporary, earthly thing rather than our Creator, than our Savior who died for us. You can’t have passion for God if your passion for something else consumes you. So, remove those idols. When you worship, do it for God. Focus on him. Keep your attention above. It will be hard, but nothing is better and more exciting than being in the presence of God. Number three is prayer. 1 Thessalonians 5:17: “...pray without ceasing...” It literally cannot get simpler than that. Don’t stop praying. Have an open-dialogue with God. And praying doesn’t have to be “super holy” or anything like that. God doesn’t need big words, He just wants to hear your heart. It’s a conversation. I always try to speak to God throughout the entire day—when I have a moment alone, when I’m struggling with something at school or work, even when I’m out with people—I try to find a way to tell God about it. He’s just a Father who wants to have a conversation with His child. And when you begin to genuinely pray this way, it opens you up to the Holy Spirit like never before. When you confide in God, it draws you closer, and when you’re drawn closer, you fall more in love, and when you fall more in love you develop a focus and a passion for Him. So take thirty minutes to an hour every morning, or evening, and do these three things. Read your Bible, worship, and pray. Having a set time will help you be accountable to actually do them—like a date with God. But just because there’s a designated time doesn’t mean it’s one-and-done. Read the Scripture, worship, and pray throughout the day in any and all circumstances. You’ll find you’re more on fire than you were when you began. So, preach the Gospel with focus and passion. Jim Elliot is a perfect example of someone who had a passion and focus for the Gospel. Jim and four other missionaries went to the jungles of Ecuador in 1956 to share the good news of Jesus with the Auca Indians. The Aucas were a notoriously dangerous tribe and had never heard the message of Jesus before. Despite the knowledge of the risks, Jim and the other missionaries reached out to them anyways and it cost them their lives (Chester). All five, killed by the Aucas they’d come to preach life to. But Jim had such a passion, a focus on reaching this people group that it didn’t matter if they were hostile, it didn’t matter if he lost his life because if his presence even cracked opened the door for Christ to come in, then it was all worth it. Jim was like Paul—he’d resigned himself to be zeroed in on and empowered by the Gospel. Is that your resolution? And not just today, while I’m preaching it and you may feel convicted, but today when you get home, tomorrow when you have to get up early for school, next week when you’re paying your bills, next month when you’re struggling and it seems like there’s no way out. Your passion and your focus have to endure, or they’re based off nothing but religious experience and emotional conviction. So decide, today, and do it. 3) Share the Gospel with humility and the power of the Holy Spirit Verses 3-4 go on to say, “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...” It’s important to note that “weakness” does not mean a physical ailment but it is most likely a result of Christ’s weakness on the cross. In 2 Corinthians 13:4 Paul says that Christ was “crucified in weakness” and continues to say “we are weak in him”. Paul’s life was a mirror of Jesus’. And Jesus returned in full power and glory after enduring great weakness. Furthermore, one must look at “fear and much trembling”. This isn’t a fear of the exterior world, but a reflection of Pauls’ state before God and his fear that he would edify himself rather than the cross (Schreiner 77). Moreover, Paul did not speak in “plausible words of wisdom” of the Graeco-Roman day. It is likely he didn’t want people to be convinced because of his rhetorical style rather than because of the message of the Gospel itself (Schreiner 78). Initially in verse 1, Paul’s preaching is first described by the Greek term logos, or “word/speech”. The Corinthians attached logosand Sophia, word and wisdom, while Paul attaches logosand kerygma, word and preaching. So, while the speakers of Greece were using a wisdom-driven message, Paul was using a preaching-driven message. This set him apart and produced the results to bring faith to the Corinthians (Fee 99). Although they may not have enjoyedhis speech, their entertainment wasn’t the goal—their salvation was. His humilityset him apart in his weakness like Christ’s, his fear of elevating himself over the Gospel, and his preaching style of not utilizing knowledge to impress the masses. And without humility, we can’t truly have the Spirit and power of God because “God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble” (English Standard Version, Jas. 4:6). Paul’s speech had yet another element the speakers of the day didn’t—the Holy Spirit. Not only did it have the presence, it had the demonstrationof the Spirit. The word for “demonstration” in the original Greek is apodeixei, or “showing forth”. The power of the Holy Spirit was showing forth in Paul’s preaching (Carter 136) and is manifested through the testimony of the cross (Schreiner 78). So how can you share the message with humility and with the power of the Holy Spirit? These are two very crucial, I would say the most crucial, elements of preaching the Gospel because without humility, it is difficult to avoid the arrogant knowledge and religious theatrics. Without the Spirit, it’s difficult to have a passion for and focus on the Gospel. Therefore, you can testify with humility and the Spirit by remembering who you are. Yes, you’re a child of God. Yes, you’re so important to Jesus and He loves you, but you need to remember that you are not the savior of the world. You may have the savior of the world within you, if you’re a Christ-follower, but you aren’t the focus. Evangelizing people is not about your words or your actions—it’s about the actions of the Spirit throughyou. You can’t do anything apart from God. You wouldn’t have the words to say if the Spirit wasn’t prompting you to say them. You can also testify with humility and the Spirit by remembering who Christ is. Humility is an admirable quality, but sometimes it can morph into insecurity, which can have you questioning whether you’re really equipped to share the Gospel. In times like these, just remember the power of Christ, the power of the Holy Spirit resides in you if you’re a Christ-follower. Matthew 19:26 says, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” All thingsare possible with God, who can do so muchoutside of our limited human strength and small human minds. Just let him. Be confident in who you are in Christ, and be confident of who He is. Let me return to the story of my epic fail at effectively sharing the Gospel. I failed because I being prideful in my own knowledge and because I was doing it out of my own strength. I had no concept of the Spirit. I didn’t pray for guidance or even wait for a prompting. I just jumped down the guy’s throat and hit him with every old “church-ism” that I’d heard over the years. If I’d had humility, if I’d listened to the Spirit, I would have been able to witness to him in a more effective way. It may have kept the door open for other opportunities to talk to him about Jesus, but after that one, the door was slammed shut in my face. So, friends, we have to be careful to testify with meekness and the Holy Spirit. Why Should We Share the Gospel this Way? It’s because, as verse 5 says, “so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.” So, let’s go back through our list. Testifying with arrogant knowledge and religious pomp are both based around self. Having such a burning passion or focus on something other than Christ is based around self. Pride and no concept of the Holy Spirit are based around self. So we do the opposite of these things because we aren’t here to glorify self, no—we’re here to glorify God. We’re here to give Himthe credit. We rely on Hispower, not our feeble, human minds. We ourselves can barely fathom God’s existence, I doubt our limited knowledge is responsible for helping someone else begin to “understand” God. That understanding can only be brought from God himself, not us. Do You Share the Gospel this Way? Answer this question for yourself: “Do I share the Gospel this way?” and if it’s a “No”, then write/type out some ways you can start.Make a list of goals for the week, month, year—attainable goals. This month, I’m going to share the Gospel with two people—and hold yourself accountable. Find a friend to help you or even participate with you.But before you do any of this, an even better question to ask yourself is: “Do I share the Gospel at all?” If the answer is “No”—why not? One may say they’re too shy, or they don’t have time, or they never get the opportunity. But we all know those are just excuses to hide our insecurities about being rejected or embarrassed—and do you know where those insecurities come from? Pride. From not wanting to look bad or stupid. You just have to release it. Let it go and allow God to humble you to the place of an obedient servant, eager to serve her or his King. I encourage each and every one of you to come down to the front in a moment to receive prayer if you need it. I also encourage you to put your notes somewhere you won’t forget them, or save them on your phone and rememberto work towards and complete those goals you wrote down or may have been thinking about. WORKS CITED Barnes, Albert. Barnes Notes on the New Testament. Kregel Publications, 1990. e-Sword X. Carter, Charles W., et al. The Wesleyan Bible Commentary. Romans - Philemon. William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1966, pp. 134-136. Chester, Tim. “Jim Elliot Was No Fool.” Crossway Articles, Crossway, 8 Jan. 2018, www.crossway.org/articles/jim-elliot-was-no-fool/. Fee, Gordon D. The First Epistle to the Corinthians. William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2014, pp. 96-99. Jensen, Irving L. Jensen’s Survey of the New Testament. Moody Publishers, 1981, pp. 264. Nkrumah, Jasmine and Baylor University. “Quotes about Sharing the Gospel.” Radical Christian Woman, 5 Oct. 2018, radicalchristianwoman.com/quotes-sharing-gospel/. Pratt, Richard L. Holman New Testament Commentary: I & II Corinthians. Edited by Max E. Anders, vol. 7, Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2000, pp. 25. Schreiner, Thomas R. I Corinthians: an Introduction and Commentary. Vol. 7, InterVarsity Press, 2018, pp. 76-78.
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