Paul was a scholar and an orator of the highest abilities. When he says that he didn\u2019t use \u201cwise and persuasive words\u201d in delivering the gospel, he isn\u2019t speaking out of self-deprecating humility. He\u2019s saying that if he\u2019d tried to impress people with his talent when he preached the gospel, he would have veiled the power of God. Paul knew that belief in Jesus is a miracle produced by the redemption\u2014by the sheer, unaided power of God\u2014not by making fancy speeches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As disciples of Jesus Christ, we are called to follow Paul\u2019s example. If we are going to preach the gospel, we must practice a special kind of fasting\u2014not from food but rather from eloquence and impressive diction, from everything that might hinder the word of God coming through us to reach others. The power of the redemption does flow through the preaching of the gospel, but we have to recognize that this power is never due to the personality or the eloquence of the preacher.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe are therefore Christ\u2019s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us\u201d<\/em> (2 Corinthians 5:20). Preachers are representatives of God. We are commissioned to present his gospel, not human ideals. If it\u2019s only because of my charisma that people desire to be better, they\u2019ll never get anywhere near Jesus Christ. Anything that flatters me in my preaching will end in making me a traitor to Jesus, because I will prevent the creative power of his redemption from doing its work. \u201cAnd I,\u201d said Jesus, \u201cwhen I am lifted up . . . will draw all people to myself\u201d (John 12:32).<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Paul was a scholar and an orator of the highest abilities. When he says that he didn\u2019t use \u201cwise and persuasive words\u201d in delivering the gospel, he isn\u2019t speaking out of self-deprecating …<\/p>","protected":false},"featured_media":2134,"template":"","collection":[],"class_list":["post-2630","modern-classic","type-modern-classic","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/utmost.org\/ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/modern-classic\/2630","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/utmost.org\/ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/modern-classic"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/utmost.org\/ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/modern-classic"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/utmost.org\/ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/modern-classic\/2630\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/utmost.org\/ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2134"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/utmost.org\/ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2630"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"collection","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/utmost.org\/ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/collection?post=2630"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}