Afraid to Evangelize?

When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling. My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power, so that your faith might not rest on men's wisdom, but on God's power. (1 Cor. 2:1-5)

Paul’s resolution caused him to feel weak and afraid when he was proclaiming Christ. But the result was a demonstration of the Spirit’s power. It would have been easy for Paul to trust in his own eloquence and superior wisdom to bring men to Christ. But his converts would have been the result of man’s wisdom, not of God’s power.

That may be one of our problems today. We get converts based on man’s wisdom. A simple resolution might make the difference: “to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.”

Do you want to know more about proclaiming Christ? I have written three books on the subject of evangelism: Principles of War, Weapons & Tactics, and Taking Men Alive.

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