Not eloquence

A friend of mine recently sent me a very well-thought-out description of the art of oratory. But Paul, despite his undoubtedly great ability, did not rely on it when presenting the gospel. He relied on the power of the gospel itself. He writes in 1 Corinthians 2:

"¹When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. ²For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. ³I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling. ⁴My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power, ⁵so that your faith might not rest on men's wisdom, but on God's power."

I imagine that when he was in rabbi school, he learned how to polish and hone his speaking till it was ab so lute ly indomintable, irrefutable. But instead of using all those skills to write superior arguments, he came with the Spirit of God, the love of Christ alone. It seemed foolishness to the smart, PhD-types who wanted to hear fancy words, or the poets who wanted to hear eloquent words, or the ordinary who were used to only looking at the packaging and didn't really think for themselves.

Jesus alone, the gospel by itself is the power of God. So we must present that in all its simplicity, not dress it up and re-package it and re-brand it such that it may be "appealing to our generation." No! It is enough unadorned. This is why God delights in working powerfully through the least educated preacher, the D.L. Moodys, the J. Cummings. I was not converted through a Billy Graham, but a James H. Branch, and later called to service by a simple Korean missionary by the name of Joshua Lee, who barely even spoke English and was NOT in any way eloquent. I saw the power of the gospel at work in me and others, and that was enough.

What does it mean to "lift up Jesus Christ", as when the Lord says,

"But I, if I be lifted up, will draw all men to myself."

It does not mean that I must write impeccably, practice and prounounce and memorize so as to be polished and perfect when I preach. It is not a herculean task to lift up Jesus. It is simply to believe and "show the other beggars where to find food", as someone has put it.

Lord, today help me to lift up Jesus' Name here among my friends. Help me to rely on your power, not my skill or preparation. Grant me the grace to speak wherever and whenever called on, by Your help and inspiration.

Jesus, Maker of fishers of men

When Jesus told Peter, "From now on you will catch men," it was wonderful. When Jesus demonstrated this by fishing a notoriously sinful tax collector to be his next apostle, it was scandalous and alarming, probably to Peter, certainly to the Pharisees. In fact, I believe it was THIS act of grace that turned the Pharisees firmly against Jesus so early in his ministry. Jesus risked his whole reputation by inviting such a sinner to be his disciple.

Saving souls was Job One for Jesus and those who followed Him---while any other activist makes public relations Job One, any priest or preacher makes the business of the church (meaning the finances and decision-making) his primary business, and all devout Muslims seem to be utterly devoted to stamping out all infidels (peaceful or not). We Christians must turn back to saving souls. This probably means slightly different things to different groups. To Baptists it means getting a profession of faith and performing the baptism. In many churches it just means having a new believer fill out a card. In my own church, it means having a regular Bible study with someone and seeing them, over a year or two, grow into a disciple of Jesus. But, as Paul said, "But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice." [Phil 1:18]

It is highly unpopular these days to "win souls". Christians of every stripe are avoiding such terminology, following the politically correct language of the "success-driven" churches who CAN show the results of their methodology by vast numbers (even though in such numbers they still have little impact on their communities).

It is perhaps even more politically incorrect to say "make disciples", since no one wants to have anyone else "make them" or remake them into something they are not. "Change" is only good when it's someone else being changed, at least that's the perception. But change is integral to the meaning of salvation. We are changed from lost to found. We must come back, prodigals all, to the place we left behind, and put away the childish wasteful lifestyle that got us into such trouble. Yet now the government itself is squandering the national inheritance in foreign lands (the war, for example).

But to make disciples is our Lord's Great Commission for us. [Mt 28:19] It is not optional, at least not for true believers. If it were our work alone, it would be hard. But it is His yoke, and it is easy if He bears it together with us. [Mt 11:30]

Lord, help me to win souls TODAY, be they the most sinful and weird and disfigured, or hard-hearted Pharisees. (You know who I mean.) Please make me a fisher of men, for the glory of Jesus. Lord Jesus, you called me to become a fisher of men. Make me one as you have promised. Amen