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'Winging It
by Stan Smith
So, the pastor was preaching from Paul's first letter to the church at Corinth when we came across this item.
I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling, and my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God. (1 Corinthians 2:3-5)
He said before that, "I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified." (1 Corinthians 2:2) He said "I was weak" and "in fear" and "not persuasive". Now, isn't that odd? Oh, he tells why: "so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God."
Well, now, isn't that strange? We have a whole field in Christendom that we call "Apologetics" that is devoted to the defense of the faith. We are commanded to always be "ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you," (1 Peter 3:15), and to "contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints." (Jude 1:3) And Paul says he didn't want them to have their faith resting on the wisdom of men.
Well, now, I can already hear today's Christians standing up to duel with Paul. "Hey! You have to be wise and eloquent and know the facts. You can't defend the truth with just the power of God or even the Word of God." (I've actually heard them argue that.) "You need good arguments and good logic." They'll even argue that the basis of Christian truth is human reason. But it wasn't me; it was Paul who said he was weak and not eloquent "so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men."
We are supposed to be ready to answer, to contend, to give an account. It is commanded. But rest assured it is not human logic that is the bottom line. That's why, when you hear about the latest discovery in science that supports Christianity or a really good apologetic line of reasoning defending God, it's best not to get too excited. We're not grounding our faith in the wisdom of men; we're basing our faith on the power of God.
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I'm married with four grown children and (currently) four grandchildren. My wife and I live in sunny Phoenix by choice. I hope to encourage people with my words and to share with others what God has shared with me.
For more writings you can see my blog at birdsoftheair.blogspot.com.
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