1When I came to you, brothers, I didn’t come with excellence of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God. 2For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. 3I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling. 4My speech and my preaching were not in persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, 5that your faith wouldn’t stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.
6We speak wisdom, however, among those who are full grown, yet a wisdom not of this world nor of the rulers of this world who are coming to nothing. 7But we speak God’s wisdom in a mystery, the wisdom that has been hidden, which God foreordained before the worlds for our glory, 8which none of the rulers of this world has known. For had they known it, they wouldn’t have crucified the Lord of glory. 9But as it is written,
“Things which an eye didn’t see, and an ear didn’t hear,
which didn’t enter into the heart of man,
these God has prepared for those who love him.”
10But to us, God revealed them through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. 11For who among men knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so, no one knows the things of God except God’s Spirit. 12But we received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is from God, that we might know the things that were freely given to us by God. 13We also speak these things, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual things. 14Now the natural man doesn’t receive the things of God’s Spirit, for they are foolishness to him; and he can’t know them, because they are spiritually discerned. 15But he who is spiritual discerns all things, and he himself is to be judged by no one. 16“For who has known the mind of the Lord that he should instruct him?” But we have Christ’s mind.
In these verses, Paul states that we are all “preachers”. The gospel has spread for approximately two thousand years by word of mouth. People will not hear the gospel unless someone shares it with them. In review, the gospel is that God came in the flesh as a man, and His name is Jesus. He submitted himself to the cruelty of men, and He was crucified on an old rugged cross as a blood sacrifice that paid for my sins, your sins, and the sins of the whole world. He was laid in a tomb and on the third day He rose from the dead. This was a free gift, and all who trust in that gift for their salvation are saved. That’s it. That is a short story, but it is the most important story that a person can hear. So, Paul says, it must be told.
Paul will later write the Corinthian church, telling them that they don’t need to use sophisticated arguments to share the good news of Jesus with others. He argues that the gospel itself is powerful enough. Not only that, it doesn’t take a powerful person to overwhelm the audience with the truth. Paul says, “4 My speech and my preaching were not in persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, 5 that your faith wouldn’t stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God” (1 Corinthians 2). When we think we’re not enough to share the gospel, we are putting our trust in our own persuasive abilities. That demonstrates a lack of faith in God's power. Faith stands not in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God. Perhaps the problem is that we know the truth, but we hide it. In reality, all we are is one beggar showing the other beggars where the bread is. That’s easy enough, isn’t it?
Friend, pray that God will give you a burden for the lost. I know that this is what I pray for myself. Because no one will ever be presented with the choice of calling on Him if they don’t know about Him, and they do not know or understand whom they should call. Nor do they understand why they should call upon Him. So, are you sent? Some are sent with exceptional gifts to tell this story, and those are evangelists. It is one of the gifts given to the Church. However, that doesn’t let any of the rest of us off the hook. No one is given a pass. We should always be prepared to explain the hope within us. (1 Peter 3:16). So be hopeful. Be loving. Be bold. Be sincere. If you do these things, God says that you have beautiful feet. They are beautiful because they care enough to carry this gospel message to all who will hear. Reader, now go and do your part.