1 Corinthians 1:18-2:5
Power in weakness
‘I was scared to death,’ writes the apostle Paul (2:3, MSG). He felt totally inadequate for the task that God had called him to, ‘But the Message came through anyway. God’s Spirit and God’s power did it’ (v.4, MSG).
Moral weakness and cowardice are not virtues. However, as we see in this passage, there is a good side to weakness, fear and trembling.
God turns things upside down. The cross turned things upside down: ‘For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God’ (1:18).
Jesus died as a state criminal. He died on a Roman instrument of torture – a death reserved for the most degraded and despised in Roman society. The cross did not become the symbol of Christianity for a hundred years. Crucifixion was about weakness, humiliation and defeat.
At this time, Corinth was the intellectual centre of the world. It was the place of debaters, travelling teachers, lecturers and philosophers. The mind and the intellect were highly rated.
The gospel message that we proclaim seems utterly foolish to many highly intelligent people: that Jesus dying on a cross two thousand years ago can totally transform your life seems ‘foolishness’ to the intelligentsia and is a ‘stumbling-block’ (v.23), even to many religious people.
Nevertheless, this simple message saves those who believe: ‘For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe… For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength’ (vv.21,25).
As we look around we can see that it is still true today that not many of those in the church are ‘the brightest and the best’. Not many are ‘influential’. And not many are ‘from high-society families’ (v.26, MSG). But it is still true today that God ‘chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise’. He ‘chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong’ (v.27).
Do not be ashamed of speaking a very simple message, which seems foolishness to so many people. There is no need to try and dress it up with ‘eloquence or superior wisdom’ (2:1). Focus on the message of ‘Jesus Christ and him crucified’ (v.2). As Eugene Peterson translates, ‘I deliberately kept it plain and simple; first Jesus and who he is; then Jesus and what he did – Jesus crucified’ (v.2, MSG).
It is normal to experience ‘weakness and fear, and... much trembling’ (v.3). What matters is not whether you use ‘wise and persuasive words’ but the ‘demonstration of the Spirit’s power’ (v.4). And his power is made perfect in our weakness. It is often only when we feel weak that we are willing to rely completely on God. Paul was utterly dependent on the Holy Spirit to speak through him. However inadequate you feel, if you ask for the Holy Spirit to speak through you, he will.
Lord, thank you for the message of Jesus and him crucified, which is the power of God. Thank you that I do not need eloquence or superior wisdom. Although I speak in weakness, fear, and trembling, I pray that you accompany the preaching of that message with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power.