Do we really trust in the power of the cross?

"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."
-1 Corinthians 1:17 (ESV)

As Paul begins his epistle to the church in Corinth he immediately sets Jesus Christ as the focus to whom the people are to look to. Jesus Christ is mentioned 15 times in the first 17 verses. Paul makes it evident that Christ is to be the example to follow. He is the One whom we place our trust in. He is the One whom we are to call on in our time of need.

As simple and straightforward as that sounds, in today's culture we often seek to make Jesus and the gospel more entertaining. We try to bring in a celebrity or eloquent speaker who will be able to make the gospel sound more interesting. When a professional athlete comes to speak at a church or a notable celebrity attends a Christian banquet, we use these icons as bait to add a little hot sauce to a gospel which is what we think "bland." Looking at what Paul said in 1 Corinthians would quickly show us that we have deviated from the gospel Paul proclaimed.

Paul set himself apart from the Greek orators of his day who were skilled with impressive rhetoric and style. Paul rightly states that his preaching did not rely on eloquence. His message was simply the cross of Christ. Later in chapter 2 Paul states his "speech and message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God." (v.4-5) Paul's boast was in the cross alone. Paul trusted in the power of the gospel, not his cleverness.

This tells me that if we seek to add some spice to the gospel through cleverness of speech or notoriety of the speaker, than we are not trusting in the power of the cross. What Jesus did on the cross must simply not be enough. A quick look around at most youth ministries would show that the cross is boring, so we must add some fun, trendy activities that will keep our kids coming. This to me is troubling. It really bothers me when we promote games, food, and special music over the Good News. Fliers taped on church doors and passed out to curious bystanders promote all the other goodies in big, bold text and somewhere near the bottom is a small line stating the gospel will be given. Why is the gospel not the center piece in all our events? Do hamburgers and washed up, retired athletes actually save anyone?

A few people may say, "God has given them a platform." I have bought into that one for a long time, but I'm really starting to become weary. In 1 Corinthians 1:26-27, Paul states that the Corinthian believers were not wise according to worldy standards, nor powerful, nor noble, but that God choose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise. Peter and John were described as uneducated and common men in Acts 4:13. All throughout the Bible you see God using "nobodies." Shouldn't that still be the case today? I am not knocking all famous people who truly love Christ, rather the notion of finding a speaker for your special event based on their celebrity status.

I challenge all of us (me included) to pull our stock from the additives we have placed alongside the cross. The cross is the center of the gospel which is the "power of God for salvation for everyone who believes." (Romans 1:16) Let us lift high the cross and stop emptying it of it's power.

Side note: I am hoping to do a few more blogs soon, one on sarcasm and one on God's sovereignty, so check back in the next few days for some other thoughts I've been contemplating. I decided to stick with the 1 Corinthians theme for this blog in honor of my good friend Jason Kates who actually reads these posts. Oh yeah, he won our semi-final coed softball game for us on Saturday. If you know him buy him a Dr. Pepper or something.