Preaching is weird. That is not the only, or probably the best, word for it, but it is an unusual and strange thing to do. The apostle Paul told Timothy to “preach the word…in season and out of season,” and in some ways preaching is “in” and in other ways it’s “out” in this season of history. One of the reasons that I chose to preach 1 Corinthians was in order to preach about some of Paul’s principles about preaching.

Preaching is not his main point here at the beginning of the letter. If the three paragraphs starting in 1:18 are like a multi-stone ring, then the quarreling among the Corinthian Christians is the center stone and preaching is one of the surrounding gems. He appealed for them to be united in the same mind and the same judgement—the main problem, because he had hear a report that some measure of division was happening among them according to their favorite preacher—with gospel preaching being a related issue.

The gospel is a foolish and offensive message. There is no way to preach a crucified Christ in a way that appeals to man’s ego. Salvation doesn’t come by stroking self-esteem and letting a man hold on to his pretense. Abandon all hubris you who enter here by faith. God isn’t out to polish man’s wisdom to be a little more smooth or straight or shiny, He shatters the rock. God isn’t out to let men have a spin in His seat of judgement while He tries to make His case about why they should accept His claims. He atoned for such arrogant presumption on the cross.

In 1:18-25 a crucified Christ is beneath human wisdom and significance. So are Christians themselves. The cross is foolishness in the eyes of the world, and God calls fools to the cross. In 1:26-31 the resumes of the believers in Corinth are public record, and they were not impressive. They were not the educated or influential people. Yet God in His grace called them to Christ, and in Christ they got wisdom and acceptance with God and a status as His people. They could and should boast in the Lord, not themselves.

The message is not dependent on cleverness but on the cross. Those who believe the message are not important, but they are elected. And the one who proclaimed the message was also nothing special, just committed to proclaiming Christ. All this exposes preferences over preachers as petty, as foolish, and out of place with preaching Christ. It also provides some principles for preaching: 1) preach so that men will have faith in Christ not the preacher. There can only be one star. And 2) preach trusting that God, not the preacher, will bring men to faith in Christ. We preach Christ for faith and by faith.

Two “and I’s” at the beginning of verse 1 and verse 3 make for two points about the preacher.

The Preacher’s Proclamation (verses 1-2)

Paul returns to his own principles. He talked in the first person about preaching the gospel in 1:17, then he described in third person how the world hears the gospel in 1:18-25, and then he described using second person who the Corinthians were in 1:26-31. He’s back to first person in this paragraph.

And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom . This is God’s revelation, the testimony of God , that’s what makes it special, and not lofty speech or wisdom . The “lofty speech” refers to high-sounding talk, to “big words” (TEV), and “wisdom” is the status-elevating philosophy of the world. Paul made a conscious choice not to “compose speeches fishing for admiration” (Garland).

It’s not that Paul was incompetent. “When Paul and Barnabas were in Lystra…the pagans identified Paul with Hermes, the Greek god of communication (whose Roman name was Mercury), because Paul was the chief speaker (Acts 14:12)” (Carson, The Cross and Christian Ministry, 34-35).

But he explains, For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified . This doesn’t mean that Paul only had one sermon, even less that he looked down on rational thought. He was making a grammatical and logical case while writing the letter.

It means that he only had one focus when he talked with unbelievers. He always focused on Jesus Christ, and especially on him crucified . But this is like limiting yourself to only talking about the oceans rather than land. A crucified Christ includes why there is death at all: sin, and how sin entered the world: Adam’s fall, and who is in charge of all of this: God, the Creator and Lawgiver. Speaking of which, there’s God’s law, and the sacrificial system, both of which Christ fulfills. So Genesis, and Exodus, and Leviticus are prerequisites to the cross. The promised Christ gets us Psalms and the prophets, like Isaiah and the Suffering Servant. Jesus is the subject of four Gospels, His virgin birth and His life and teaching and miracles. The crucifixion itself establishes doctrines such as substitutionary atonement and justification and the believer’s life and death in Him. Paul didn’t resolve to only use five words: “Jesus Christ and him crucified.” Paul resolved to show how every star in the constellation revolves around the sun of a crucified Christ. This meant that he himself was not be the star; no preacher can be. And no rhetoric could be higher than the Savior.

The Preacher’s Person and Purpose (verses 3-5)

Paul was not trying to impress the Corinthians with his language or reasoning or his charisma. Unlike so many of the traveling orators (similar to today’s motivational speakers, some TED talkers, and seminar gurus), Paul didn’t present himself as one with vitality and self-assurance. He wasn’t creating a brand for himself.

And I was with you in weakness and fear and much trembling is the opposite of what the Corinthians were used to. Here was a humble man, not impressive in appearance, without a commanding presence. The weakness may have been physical weakness. We know from some of his other letters that he had problems in his body (he knew his accusers said “his bodily presence is weak” 2 Corinthians 10:10), and as he described his schedule he certainly would have been tired. The weakness could also have been a “sense of inadequacy” (Ciampa and Rosner) and discouragement as when his “spirit was not at rest” (see 2 Corinthians 2:12-13). Fear and trembling often went together. Maybe this was fear about whether or not he would be accepted by the Corinthians, or whether or not he would be faithful to his calling. More likely in context would be a certain sort of attitude of unassertiveness due to knowing who he was before God. He did not exalt himself.

He comes back to his preaching: and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power . The word demonstration seems to be a technical word that the rhetoricians would know (i.e., Quintilian in his rhetoric textbook, Institutio Oratoria). The word is only used here in the New Testament and refers to the evidence or the proof that wins an argument. Paul’s proof was that a church existed in Corinth. Paul’s proof was that the weak and foolish of the world, the nobodies, were reconciled to God and putting to shame the wise by worldly standards. This could only happen by God’s Spirit. Effective preaching demonstrates the Spirit’s power, and the Spirit’s power points to Jesus. It’s important to note: preachers do right when they point to Jesus, and the Spirit also points to Jesus. Neither preachers, or the Spirit who works through them, point to themselves.

The purpose for all of this, which explains verses 3-4 but also belongs with verses 1-2, is so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God. “Faith is based not on how entertaining, informative, or compelling the speaker is” (Garland).

Where does your faith rest ? It’s one of the reasons that Christians get so upset when a favorite preacher of theirs has a problem. But while God may have used that preacher, and while his feet may be beautiful in having brought the good news, one’s faith must not be in the messenger. We can love the messenger and give thanks to God for him, but we cannot rely on him for our worship.

When your faith is “assailed by all the machinations of hell” (Calvin) you can’t afford for it to be supported by men alone.

The wisdom of men is like Washington weather: always changing. Today’s wisdom will be discarded with tomorrow’s news. The opposite of the wisdom of men is not the wisdom of God, but the power of God . He activates faith and obedience through His word, just as rain causes trees to grow (Isaiah 55:10-11).

Conclusion

Preaching is weird. Preaching is God’s idea. Preaching a crucified Christ is a foolish message, and the act of preaching, if it is done well without worldly ornaments, is also unimpressive to the world. Preaching is deeply personal, and is not about the person. Preaching requires diligent work, in study and in communication, and yet no human effort of any kind can accomplish the results. Preaching is focused on only one star, but by the light of that star so much more is seen.

The preacher is not a crafter of stories, he is a witness. Every Sunday (or teaching time) he is on the witness stand, and what is it you want him to do? Recite poetry? Give an alliterated outline of his evidence? Grandstanding drama? No. You need him to tell the truth even though none can handle the truth without the work of the Spirit.

This is very humbling. “Great” preaching is dangerous because the temptation is always there to believe the preacher makes the difference. This is why some divisions among Christians take place. This is why some preachers try to build their own platform. And it’s wrong.

So Charles Spurgeon, the “prince of preachers,” said:

“Far better for a man that he had never been born than that he should degrade a pulpit into a show box to exhibit himself in.”

Likewise, one of Spurgeon’s students went up to preach with an attitude of great confidence, but the preaching did not go so well at all. He came down upset and discouraged and talked to Spurgeon about it. Spurgeon replied, “If you had gone up as you came down, you would have come down as you went up.”

Now might be as good of time as any to observe that just because something is said from the “pulpit” does not give it more “biblical” authority. It is a great irony that the “Bible people” and especially “Bible preachers” talk so intensely about the “pulpit” when there is no pulpit anywhere in the Bible. There was an elevated stage that Ezra spoke from (Nehemiah 8:4), translated as “pulpit” in the King James Version, but twas something he stood upon not behind. Jesus sat down on the mountain for His sermon, and Paul was happy to talk wherever he could, which included many homes. I’m fine with a pulpit as furniture, and I appreciate the liturgical statement that many (not all) of the Reformers made by putting the pulpit in the center of the room rather than the sacramental elements such as in the Catholic church to represent the centrality of the Word. Symbol and liturgy do have a place and can support the truth. But the power and authority and wisdom of the Word is in the Word as taught and applied by the Spirit. The Spirit has never needed a pulpit, and a pulpit doesn’t remove the offense of the cross.

For that matter, I can appreciate that teachers and preachers can become better at their work. Principles of communication and rhetoric serve a purpose. Paul was using a kind of rhetoric while saying that another kind of rhetoric was useless. Paul’s sermons were different to different crowds. He showed flexibility in his approach and forcefulness at times. For that matter, classical rhetoricians such as Cicero and Quintilian knew better than to speak elegant but empty words. But it has to be about more than style that manipulates. When the emphasis turns from “preach the word” to “preach the word” a preacher is, and the people are, in trouble.

There may be place to evaluate sermons and with homiletical grade sheets. But preaching competitions? Applause for a good sermon? Again, men are always tempted to depend on themselves (and give credit to themselves), and sadly it is no less true in worship. Preaching must be by faith, that God will make it effective.

And so your faith must be at work in worship. You should not wait for some song or sermon to move your feelings before you worship. You were not saved by the melody or rhythm of any hymn, you were not saved by any outline or illustration. You were saved by faith in Christ, and so you worship by faith in Christ. This is the power of God.