The Infinite Value of Nothing

The Infinite Value of Nothing

1 Corinthians 2:1-5

“For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.”

                  In Greek culture, oration was highly valued and sought. People who could bedazzle the crowds were praised and honored and received rich rewards for their ability. People would then flock to hear these great orators who could impress them with their eloquence and capture their attention with their ability to paint verbal pictures. The focus was not on what they said but how they said it.

                  Tragically, we see the same thing in the church today. People are enamored with eloquent preachers who can entertain them with their perfectly timed jokes, ability to speak with flair, and ability to capture the audience’s attention with their words. However, they fail to proclaim the whole counsel of God’s word that confronts people with sin, points them to the grace of God, and challenges them to live a life surrendered to God. Paul warns against those who only preach popular messages when he writes, “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires” (2 Timothy 4:3). Instead of desiring to be transformed, they want to be entertained and hear messages that make them feel good. We can easily become like the people of Isaiah’s day: “How can you say to the prophets, ‘You must not prophesy to us what is right, speak to us pleasant words, prophesy illusions’” (Isaiah 30:10).

When Paul came to Corinth, instead of desiring to impress them with his oratory skills, he came with only one thing: the message of Christ. Paul recognized that the power to change people’s lives came not from his preaching skills but from the gospel itself.  The message of the gospel is sufficient to change lives, for it is the power of God unto salvation (Romans 1:16). For Paul, the gospel message stood on its own.  It did not need an eloquent speaker to make it effective.  When Paul arrived in Corinth, he came with nothing except the message of Christ.  He did not try to impress them with his persuasive words and wisdom, which would draw attention to him.  It would gain followers of him but not followers of Christ.  Paul preached the simple gospel because the gospel itself is transformational.  The Holy Spirit changes lives through the gospel message, not the preacher’s ability. 

In our age when we can get any number of preachers on the radio, television, or podcasts, we need to remember that the greatest preachers are not the ones who can capture our attention with their verbal pictures or their well-orchestrated worship services. The preachers who are worthy of our listening ear are those who are faithful to proclaim the message of Christ in its totality so that our lives are changed. We must look beyond how the preacher proclaims his message to the message itself. Is the message grounded in scripture? Does the message confront us with our sin and challenge us to accept the grace of God? Are we challenged to change our lives so that we no longer live by the wisdom of our age but by the message of Christ? What the church needs today is not popular preachers but prophetic preachers.  We do not need to be told how to feel good; we need to be instructed in how to be good.   We do not need preachers who are affirming. We need preachers who are transforming. The greatest preachers bring nothing to the pulpit except the message of God’s word. It is only then that the message becomes of infinite value.