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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 but in the power of God. Yet among the mature we do impart wisdom, although it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to pass away.
– 1 Corinthians 2:1-6 ESV

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The kind of wisdom that appeals to human senses is utterly secondary to God’s message. There are no Spiritually revived human beings on earth, who would reject the gospel because it didn’t make sense to them. Wisdom is a good gift from God used to help people make good decisions for themselves, but at a certain point, the gospel pushes against that self-preservation instinct hard when it calls a person to care more about the eternal soul than the skin and bones. At that point, a person without the Spirit will see nothing but foolishness in the cross of Christ.

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I often speak and write as if the message of Christ must be framed with wisdom and clever language. Sometimes I bank on my eloquence more than on the beauty of the truth of the message. I struggle to believe that who Jesus is is enough to draw people to himself.

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Lord, forgive me for thinking I could ever add to you. Let your Spirit be the source of any eloquence or wisdom I impart, not my insecurities that seek to puff myself up. I want to be foremost willing to impart the kind of wisdom that looks absolutely foolish to the flesh so that spirits are benefitted forever, not just minds entertained momentarily.

This post is part of my Weekly REAP series. I’m posting these from my personal journal to share what God is teaching me, and to give some practical examples of the REAP method.  I didn’t write any of these with publishing in mind, so forgive me if they don’t always wax eloquent. Here is some more information on the REAP study method.