Picking up where we left off, I would like to look at the beginning of I Corinthians chapter two. This week the simple truth that I would like us to look at is in verse five. Verses four and five are as follows:

"...my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God."

What do you think of when you think of a great leader in the Church? For most of us we think of someone who is a fairly good communicator. We are wired for communication and we appreciate it when we have the opportunity to hear someone who can communicate well. Proof of our need for communication is clear in the fact that just about every single one of us owns a cell phone and not only that, phones now come with e-mail so that we can stay as connected as possible, having the ability to communicate at the drop of a hat.

But put that all aside, what Paul is saying here is that he did not come with slick words of communication that wowed the crowd. He did not come with the appeal of someone who could argue his case eloquently so that many would marvel at his wisdom. No, he instead let the demonstration of the Spirit and the power of God do his persuading and communicating.

It is interesting to note that Paul did not chose to do this because he could not argue and eloquently speak to crowds of people, because in fact he could. In Acts 17:22, it says that Paul stood in the midst of Mars Hill, which was a place where the scholars of the day met to discuss new teachings and foreign gods. Standing up at Mars Hill would be like singing at Carnegie Hall. You do not rent Carnegie Hall to perform at if you cannot sing. Likewise you do not stand up in the midst of those at Mars Hill if you do not know how to speak well or you will be ripped to pieces. Paul did not want people in Corinth to buy into Paul, because Paul was not selling Paul (so to speak). He wanted the people in Corinth to see and be drawn to God by His power and His Spirit.

This very purpose of not using persuasive words but relying on the power of God is what is laid out in verse five. Most of us would have to admit that we love a good speaker. We can get drawn into what very eloquent speakers have to say and it is much easier to buy into what they say if they are able to present it in a way that moves us. The application that we can take from this is that we need to be careful that we are not buying into something because we like the way it was packaged. We cannot put our faith in the wisdom of men. Eloquence and wisdom (or what may seem like wisdom) will only get us so far. The power of God is what should be speaking to us.

You can also look at this in a simpler way. We cannot simply ride into heaven because we put our faith in the wisdom of others. I often heard as a kid that I could not ride into heaven on my parent's coattails. No matter how wise or religious or godly my parents, or my pastor, or my friends are putting faith in them and their wisdom is not the goal or purpose. We are to put our faith in the power of God, and his son Jesus Christ.

This week think about where you are putting your faith. Have you really put your trust and faith in Jesus Christ and the power of God through the Holy Spirit or have you put your faith in religion and the teachings of your pastor or your parents or your friends?