"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, that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God."
A few things stand out in this passage about Paul's proclamation of the Gospel in Corinth:
- He comes in a very ordinary way, not using eloquent language or philosophy or human wisdom
- His message was simple, sticking to Jesus and the cross
- He was weak and fearful (!) - Paul, probably the greatest missionary of all time, was fearful when it came to take the initiative to share his faith! He doesn't say why exactly he was fearful - it could have been fear of what others would say or think or how he'd be perceived, or fear of rejection, or, more likely, fear of persecution and the threat of harm or death. Maybe a combination of all of those, and a few other factors thrown in too. Regardless, Paul admits his fear and weakness, something that encourages me very much: if Paul feared and felt weak, then my fear and weakness is made more normal and able to be persevered through. I don't have to strive for fearlessness before taking the step to share my faith; instead I can take a step of faith in spite of my fear and weakness, in the power of the Holy Spirit.
- He was empowered by the Spirit to share the message, not relying on his own wisdom or persuasion
- Their salvation and faith was not a result of human wisdom but of the power of God and the Holy Spirit working. Paul wasn't responsible for the results or their response, so there was no room for pride if they accepted Christ or for self-blame if they didn't.
Observing these things produces a sense of freedom from any pressure to perform. A person's salvation and reception of the message aren't dependent on us, so it doesn't matter how ungainly our words are. We don't have to have all the answers. We can step out in faith in the power of the Holy Spirit and trust Him to speak through us and use us. We also see that we don't have to share a complicated message - Paul simply focused on Jesus and the cross. That's where the Gospel lies - God loved us so much that He sent His Son to die on the cross as payment for our sins, and through faith in Him we can have relationship with Him and eternal life.
Campus Crusade has a definition for successful witnessing:
"Success in witnessing is simply taking the initiative to share Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit and leaving the results to God."
This passage serves as a root of that definition. Paul took the initiative (I came to you...proclaiming to you the testimony of God) to share Christ (to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified) in the power of the Holy Spirit (demonstration of the Spirit and of power) and left the results to God (your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God).
Let me encourage you to apply this in a few ways:
1. Make it a focus of your life to walk in the power of the Spirit. Here is a great resource that can help you understand this concept better: http://www.godsquad.com/discipleship/satisfied.htm. And pray that the Lord would empower you and use you when you find yourself with an opportunity to share your faith. We want to rely on Him, not ourselves.
2. Focus your conversations on Jesus. He's the center of our faith and the message of salvation always goes back to Him. Sure, people may have questions about lots of things, and those will often need to be addressed. But we can try to guide the conversation back to Jesus, because we want people to be captivated by Him and they need to know about Him to have salvation!
3. Take the initiative! This could mean taking initiative to talk with a friend or family member, or a complete stranger. We often want until it just "comes up" in conversation. Or to live out our faith in such a way that people notice something - how nice we are, how we deal with pain or hardship, how we spend our time, etc. - and then talk about our faith when they ask about it. But those things might never happen. No matter how exemplary we are, we still have sin and ugliness in our lives, and even if someone notices something attractive in us, Jesus shining through (which we hope they will - I'm not saying that we shouldn't seek to magnify Christ through our actions), that doesn't guarantee they'll bring it up. So we need to be taking the initiative and find ways to start those conversations. We're naturally fearful, but we can trust in the Holy Spirit's empowerment and take those steps of faith, like Paul did.
One tangible way to take the initiative is by simply asking questions. Our culture is so fast paced and technology has taken the place of authentic interaction in so many areas, that when we ask questions and genuinely listen to a person, it's like a breath of fresh air and shows tremendous love. In your everyday interactions with people make it a point to ask questions and see where they lead. Things like, "What was that experience like?" Or "How did that make you feel?" Or "What did you learn from that?" And begin to look for potential doorways to spiritual conversation. There are lots of conversations we have where we're realistically only a few questions away from the Gospel. Conversations about the weekend, movies, hobbies, life experiences, summer plans, and current events are all places where we can ask a few good questions that could lead to much deeper, more meaningful discussion. And you might be able to share the Gospel too. Sweet!
Romans 10:13-15 says, "For "everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." How then will they call on him in whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!"" Let's be people who have beautiful feet.
- Jason
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