1 Corinthians 1:18–19 (ESV)
For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written,
“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,
and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.”
This passage continues the thought introduced in verse 17— For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power. (ESV)
Paul’s writing contained much eloquent wisdom. However, his sermons sometimes put people to sleep.
And a young man named Eutychus, sitting at the window, sank into a deep sleep as Paul talked still longer. And being overcome by sleep, he fell down from the third story and was taken up dead. — Acts 20:9 (ESV)
And Paul’s earlier sermons were even less successful.
When many days had passed, the Jews plotted to kill him, but their plot became known to Saul. They were watching the gates day and night in order to kill him, but his disciples took him by night and let him down through an opening in the wall, lowering him in a basket. …
So he went in and out among them at Jerusalem, preaching boldly in the name of the Lord. And he spoke and disputed against the Hellenists. But they were seeking to kill him. And when the brothers learned this, they brought him down to Caesarea and sent him off to Tarsus. — Acts 9:23–25, 28–30 (ESV)
If Paul hoped his sermons would convert thousands like Peter’s first one did, he was in for a rude awakening. This gives new meaning to Jesus’s line in Acts 9:16 (ESV), “For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.” We tend to think of that as only physical suffering, but there had to be boatloads of pain in seeing his calling not go according to plan (or so it seemed).
Actually, this was exactly the school of hard knocks lesson that Paul needed to learn—so that he could teach it in this passage. Paul is no Socrates, and that’s a good thing. The gospel is something else entirely.
Secular wisdom cannot comprehend God’s plan of salvation. For the word of the cross is folly to them.
This is one of those lessons that we tend to memorize but not really take to heart. While we should always do our best when presenting the gospel, we are powerless to convert anyone.
Prayer is the most important part of doing our best when presenting the gospel. When God directs things, He often redirects them.
