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.