Windsucking
Preachers

I’ll admit upfront that this is an inherently more critical post, but I was reading Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, and it just jumped off the page. 

“For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with words of eloquent wisdom....” (1 Corinthians 1:17a)

Paul’s initial issue to address is the disunity evident in the Corinthian church. There were pockets of believers uniting around famous Christian figures like the Lord Jesus (obviously), Peter, the famous orator Apollos, and even Pau himself. Needless to say, Paul was thankful that apart from one family, he baptized no one in Corinth lest that be one more “pom-pom” for the immature disciples to wave. For Paul, a charismatic personality was very low on the totem pole of importance. Paul would return to the theme of personal lowliness and suffering in a subsequent letter to Corinth. 

“We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed but not driven to despair, persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies.”
(2 Cor. 4:8-10) 

What is Paul’s purpose with pushing back against “words of eloquent wisdom” and glorying in his physical lowliness? He answers that question toward the end of the first passage, “...lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power” (1Cor. 1:17b) Wow! What a bold claim! How does presenting the Gospel/ Bible with “words of eloquent wisdom” empty the cross of its power? Unfortunately, first, it takes the focus off the message and puts it on the messenger. Second, it places the authority of the message in the charisma of the speaker and not in the text. Finally, it doesn’t find its truthfulness from the context of the passage, but in what the preacher wants to discuss and his ability to make that verse “come alive.” 

Job’s example of placing his hand over his mouth when God Himself was speaking is exactly the tenor of a faithful preacher when presenting the Word. May it never be said of God’s messengers that their personality got in the way of the authoritative Word of God! What a tragedy! 

I entitled this post “Windsucking Preachers” because that seems to be where a large portion of this approach is greatly saturated. Sure, those preachers have 4-5 snappy and catchy phrases that they repeat over and over while they bang on the pulpit or jump across the pews whipping everyone into an emotional frenzy, but is that God’s intention for how one should handle/ use His Word? Paul condemns that approach by claiming it empties the cross of its power. Heartbreakingly there are many people sitting under that “preaching” (I use the word cautiously) thinking that the loudest voice and the wildest character is necessarily the best and truest. 

Read back through Paul’s personal testimony in 2 Corinthians 4 and then consider how he would preach to a community of believers desperate for God’s truth. Would there be whooping, hollering, and overall chaos? No. But in contrast would there be careful preparation, passionate communication, and a messenger pointing everyone to the Savior alone? There must be. 

“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, so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.” (1 Cor. 1:26-31) 

Return to Blog Feed