We live in a world where people are persuaded to accept all kinds of things. Commercials persuade people to buy things they really don’t need. Political speeches persuade people to place their confidence in agendas and human solutions. Peers pressure to be persuaded to go along with the crowd to do what one might not otherwise engage in. With the craftiness of human speech (Ephesians 4:14) people are persuaded this way and that way in a world tossed about by many diverse ideologies and opinions. What is needed is continued openness to allowing the truth to speak for itself whether that be comfortable or not or whether it be what we desire to hear or not. Truth needs to matter. And the truth has its own power to convict and convince if one is open to it!
Though Paul was chosen by the Lord to be an apostle (one sent) to share the message of the Gospel, on what did his confidence rest. Though he was perhaps the most educated of the other apostles (i.e. Acts 22:3), on what did he want the power of persuasion to be based?
In his letter to Christians at Corinth, Paul reminded them of how he had come among them in sharing the Good News of Jesus where we read. . .
“(1) And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. (2) For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. (3) And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, (4) and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, (5) so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.” (1 Corinthians 2:1-5 ESV)
Paul had sought for the response to not be based on human ability. That is always lacking. Neither was it based on human persuasiveness. We don’t have to look very long at the world to see how that is often misguided. Nor was it based on human wisdom. We live in a world where human wisdom often turns away from the truth or twists it to one’s own liking. In desiring their faith to rest not on human wisdom but the power of God, Paul let the truth of “Jesus Christ and him crucified” speak for itself.
As I have been blessed with the privilege of sharing the Scriptures in various settings, I continue to be encouraged as I see the power of the truth itself touch hearts open to its teaching. My desire is for those with whom I study the Scriptures to walk away not saying, “This is what Carl taught”, but rather, “This is what God has declared through His Word.” And I am encouraged that despite any stumbling of my own wording, the power of God’s Word does its work. It is not about me, but about Him and the power of His Word to grip the heart and guide the life. May the power of God’s pure word continue to persuade us to live life His way and so receive His blessings both now and eternally!
Have a great day ALLOWING THE PERSUASIVE POWER OF GOD’S WORD TO PREVAIL IN OUR HEART AND LIFE!
Carl
