“For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power” (1 Corinthians 1:17 ESV).
Perhaps more than any other epistle, Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians was corrective. He had heard that there were divisions among them based on who had baptized them, claiming superiority by some fleshly view of spiritual lineage. But Paul would have none of it. He reminded them that it wasn’t who baptized them that mattered, nor was it important that the preacher who had led them to Christ was the most eloquent. What mattered was the simple yet powerful message of the cross of Christ.
The Corinthians were lovers of Greek culture and rhetoric. They seemed more enamored with the quality of the preaching, than with the power of the message. Paul made the point that it was the simplicity of the gospel that was key to its power.
The point of preaching the gospel isn’t to make the preacher famous, but to make Jesus famous! The hope isn’t that people would line up to say, “Good sermon, Preacher.” But that the message would have the spiritual power to bring them to repentance.
PRAYER: Dear Father, help us to declare the simple gospel. Open the eyes and ears of those who hear that they might repent of their sin and believe in Jesus. Help us to always lift up Jesus and not ourselves. For He alone is worthy. In Jesus’ name, amen.