And I, brethren, when I came to you, did not come with excellence of speech or of wisdom declaring to you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God. 1 Corinthians 2:1-5
Even though I am untrained in speech, yet I am not in knowledge. But we have been thoroughly manifested among you in all things. 2 Corinthians 11:6
Paul would not be a very popular speaker today. He claimed to be an untrained orator. And even if he were trained, he refused to use the manipulation of persuasive words, eloquence and superior wisdom. He did not use words meant to convince you. He did not use flowery, highly trained speech. He did not base his teachings on proving others wrong.
Funny. Most modern ministers are taught to do all those things.
Although Paul was a highly educated man, he realized his education did not ease his acceptance of Truth, nor did it produce faith. On the contrary, he violently opposed Truth while acting in unbelief. If anyone knew the impotence of education, it was Paul.
What changed his heart? A direct example of the power and revelation of God. Being blinded and getting knocked off your horse tends to get your attention.
So his reasoning should make sense in light of his testimony. His desire was for people to have faith based on the power of God instead of the arguments of men, which, ultimately, is faith in man. Faith based on the wisdom of men always requires a better argument, for when those arguments fail, faith is destroyed; despair and discouragement set in. Coupled with the wisdom of men is a need for more and more information so we can prove that Christians are more intelligent than everyone else.
Paul’s witness to the Corinthians was based on his transformation, not his level of information. He enabled them to see the power of god working through him and expressed Truth in this way because he knew that when faith is based on an experience of the power of God, you are more likely to persevere through trials, temptations and challenges.
Modern ministers are taught worldly teaching methods based on worldly research. they are expected to be well-read and more educated than the congregation. We all know the people with “Dr.” before their names are really more spiritual! They are armed with arguments out the butt to counter any question that might come up and to prove everyone else wrong. They get degrees and ordained for this.
They don’t learn to live a life that expresses the absolute power of God because you can’t learn that stuff in a school. No one ever has. The result is a couple of generations of men who talk a great game but cannot back it up with a genuine walk of Power and Victory. The faith of those under them is shallow, fragile and situationally committed.
God will raise up a generation one day, and perhaps now is, that longs for others to see the miraculous in their lives instead of a people who always have to know the answers. His power and victory is the answer. We will never prove it in words.
Peace.