Just Tell Your Story

Based on 1 Cor. 2:1-12
First delivered Feb. 9, 2020
Rev. Dr. Kevin Orr 

            From John Cobb: “In Christian tradition the transcendent reality that in its incarnate form is named Christ is called the Logos. Christ is the Logos as incarnate. The Logos is the cosmic principle of order, the ground of meaning, and the source of purpose.”

            From Thomas Aquinas: “The existence of truth is self-evident. For whoever denies the existence of truth grants that truth does not exist: and, if truth does not exist, then the proposition ‘Truth does not exist’ is true: and if there is anything true, there must be truth. But God is truth itself: ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life.’ Therefore ‘God exists’ is self-evident.”

            These are two well-known and highly respected theologian-philosophers. They both plunge into the depths of the mystery of God, using their intelligence and genius in an attempt to put into words their understanding of who God is. And for most of us what they proclaim goes way above our heads. Just imagine someone who has no idea about the concept of God, or of Jesus, who wants to know more about the faith, turning to John Cobb and Thomas Aquinas for answers. I’m not knocking John Cobb or Thomas Aquinas. They are both brilliant. Particularly, Aquinas has had an immeasurable impact on the shaping of Christian theology in the western world. But, let’s be honest. For someone who is not a believer in Jesus Christ or does not know anything about God, how can this testimony of the faith from Cobb and Aquinas help them come to know Jesus? I doubt if it would have much impact. People who have been following Jesus for decades struggle understanding where they are coming from. How can we expect anyone to come to faith in Jesus, to begin to understand the power of God, by reading Cobb and Aquinas? Honestly, I don’t think their target audience is to ordinary people. They are talking to fellow academics who study religion and philosophy for a living, in my opinion.

            So, if you were going to try to tell someone about God, or who Jesus is, where would you start? It might make sense to turn to the Bible. After all, that’s what the Bible is about. It is in the Bible that we learn about who God is, who Jesus is, who the Holy Spirit is, and who we are. There is so much that we can learn from the Bible. We can read and study the Bible for decades and still find something new. There is no other source with the same degree of authority on matters of the faith than the Holy Bible. The Bible is sacred to us. It is trustworthy and true. So, why wouldn’t we turn to the Bible to help someone know about God and Jesus?

            It makes sense to go to the Bible, to tell our friend “The Bible says…” But there is one small potential problem. Maybe the person you are talking to is not impressed with the authority of the Bible. What if your friend thinks the Bible is just a book? If the Bible does not have authority for them, is it really helpful to point them to the Bible? Their response would likely be, “Well, that’s interesting, but so what? It’s just a book. It’s stuff someone wrote a long time ago. What does that have to do with me? How can you trust a book that was written in a time when everyone believed the earth was flat and that the sun revolved around the earth instead of the earth revolving around the sun?” My point is that not everyone believes the Bible has authority. We can’t expect people who don’t know God or believe in Jesus to be convinced just because the Bible tells us so.

            Maybe we can argue our friend into the faith. We can present a rational, logical argument that God must exist, that Jesus is who he says he is, that the resurrection must have happened, that we can have a saving relationship with Jesus. We can go the apologetics route. Apologetics doesn’t mean giving an apology like saying, “I’m sorry to tell you” or “I’m sorry I have to say.” An apology in this sense is giving a reasoned argument for your beliefs. There have been noted apologists through the centuries that have been effective in convincing skeptics. Two rather recent well-known apologists are Josh McDowell, who wrote a classic called “Evidence That Demands a Verdict.” He was an atheist who set out to disprove the existence of God and ended up convincing himself that, indeed, God is real and what the scriptures say about God and Jesus are true. There was also C.S. Lewis, famous for writing the Chronicles of Narnia and the Screwtape Letters. He famously argued that when considering the truth of Jesus, there are only three options: he was either a lunatic, a liar, or the Son of God. He wrote an apology called “Mere Christianity.” I remember after finishing that book thinking to myself, “If someone with an open mind read this book, they would be foolish not to believe in Jesus.” Of course, I was already a Christian, so I didn’t need convincing. And that’s the problem with turning to apologists, or the making of rational and logical arguments for God. They can be helpful for believers to get more clarity about what we say we believe in. But for those who aren’t convinced, there’s always the counter-argument that can be just as rational and logical. People can perhaps be almost persuaded. But it doesn’t always work. And in the end, someone could say to you, “Well, what you are saying makes sense and I see it is important for you. But, what difference does it make? I’m fine without God in my life, so…” People can grant the logic of faith but that doesn’t mean they are going to trust it, be convicted, give their life to Jesus, just because of a clever argument. For many, it takes something else.

            So, we turn to Paul, who records in 1 Corinthians where he is coming from as he made his way into their town to give witness to his faith in Jesus. Paul was a well-educated man. He talks about how he was taught by the great Pharisaic teacher Gamaleil. He had a firm understanding of the Torah. He understood key philosophical concepts and could make a good argument that would impress the philosophers of his age. But that’s not the method he used when he entered Corinth. Instead, he says to them that among them he chose to know nothing but Jesus Christ who was crucified. His whole message, his means to convince the Corinthians of the truth about Jesus was to talk about Jesus who was crucified and to demonstrate God’s power. In other words, Paul came to Corinth to give testimony to what Jesus has done in his life. He came to share his personal testimony, his own personal experience of God through Jesus. Let’s look at this for a minute.

            First, Paul says that he came to them without lofty words or wisdom. In other words, he wasn’t going to try to impress them with impressive rhetoric or well thought out arguments. This is a bit of a risky maneuver for Paul. In those days, there were a lot of traveling teachers who followed a number of philosophical schools. These professors, if you will, worked hard to come up with their best arguments to defend their philosophies. They would show up in the town square, gather a crowd, and make their case for their ideas. It was a sort of entertainment for the people. Those who could make the best arguments, with the finest turn of the phrase, would get lots of applause. Actually, believing what these philosophers argued was secondary to being entertained by a well-reasoned argument. People loved that stuff. That’s what people expected these traveling philosophers to do. But Paul chose not to take that course. He wasn’t going to stand in the town square to make his pitch for his faith in God and Jesus. He chose not to make a reasoned case for Christ. Not that he didn’t have the capability. But he chose not to make his case for Christ through a reasoned argument or rhetorical flourish. He wasn’t there to impress the people with his logic and rhetoric.

            Second, Paul says he came to them in weakness, fear and with much trembling. What’s that about? It’s like the exact opposite of the traveling philosophers. They came in to town with confidence in their ideas and their ability to make good arguments. They knew that if they were going to get a hearing they needed to come in with boldness, to make it clear that they know what they are talking about. The traveling philosopher needed to demonstrate that he, maybe she, had the authority to make their case. And Paul is choosing the exact opposite approach. Not only was he determined not to impress the people with his arguments and rhetoric but he also chose to present himself as weak, and with a little fear and trembling. In other words, he was coming to them to share his message from a place of vulnerability. He did not want to give the impression that he was sharing his belief about God and Jesus like this was some kind of show to impress people with his confidence and personal authority. No, he was going to deliver his message from a place of vulnerability, of authenticity, of sincerity. For him, this was not a show. He had a message to deliver that he wanted the people to take seriously, and to know that it was coming from the heart, and not something he was doing so people would say, “Wow, he’s so well spoken.” Paul knew that the message he was delivering was not about him.

            What does Paul say about his message? In vs. 2 we read, “I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and him crucified.” In vs. 4 we read, “My speech and my proclamation were not with plausible words of wisdom, but with a demonstration of the Spirit and of power.” How was Paul going to share this message? From a place of vulnerability, speaking from the heart. In other words, as Paul came into Corinth to share the gospel, he would talk to them in plain words about Jesus, that he is the messiah, even though he was crucified. And he would back up that message by telling the people how the Spirit impacted his life. Paul was going to give his personal testimony of how he had experienced the transforming power of God in his own life through Jesus Christ. No fancy arguments. No clever rhetoric. Just plain talk about how he has experienced God in his life.

            Why did Paul choose this tactic? He tells us in verse 5. He chose to share his faith this way “so that your faith might rest not on human wisdom but on the power of God.” He did not want the people to think, “Wow, Paul made a great case! I’m going to follow his teaching. He is so smart. He has such authority.” No, he was not looking for followers of his philosophical school. He was committed to pointing to God. He wanted the people to place their faith not in him and his ideas. He wanted them to put their faith in God, the one who has the power to transform lives. He wanted the people to hear him share from his heart what Jesus had done for him so that they might choose to give God a chance to transform their lives. He wanted them to be transformed by the Spirit of God just as he had.

            Last week, I talked about how God works through ordinary people to do extraordinary things. You and I, we are ordinary people. Yet, God has chosen us to be on God’s team. We get to participate with God in the restoration of the world. Together, as a community of faith, open to the leading of God’s Spirit, we can do extraordinary things. We can make a difference in the world.

            The same is true when it comes to sharing our faith with others. We don’t have to know a bunch of fancy words. We don’t have to be able to explain the Trinity, or atonement, or sanctification. We don’t have to be great speakers. When it comes to sharing our faith, all we have to do is tell our story. How have you experienced God in your life? How has the Spirit of God transformed your life? Tell that story. Speak from the heart.

            There’s an old African-American spiritual called “There Is a Balm in Gilead.” The last verse goes like this: “If you can’t preach like Peter, if you can’t pray like Paul, just tell the love of Jesus, and say he died for all.” All we have to do is tell our story of what Jesus means to us. Point others to Jesus and give God the glory for the difference Jesus has made in our lives.

            Will it always work? Will people who don’t believe in God immediately change their minds and believe in Jesus right after you tell your story? Probably not. I’m confident that not everyone came to faith in Jesus after hearing Paul tell his story. I would not be surprised if there were people whom Jesus himself invited to be his disciple and they turned and walked away. In fact, there’s a passage in the gospel of John in which, after giving a particularly difficult teaching, we read that many people decided that moment that they would no longer follow Jesus. If Jesus himself couldn’t convince everyone of who he was, we shouldn’t feel too bad if in our telling of our story not everyone will get it. But the seed has been planted. And if that person does eventually come to faith, the story your shared would have played one small part in bringing them to that moment of decision.

            Today I encourage you to be aware of those opportunities as they come along to share your story of how you have experienced God in your life. Somebody once wrote, “This world is sorely in need of a demonstration of the difference the Spirit makes in our lives each and every day.” People want to be inspired by stories of how people’s lives have been changed by the Spirit of God. If you are nervous, even a little fearful, about telling your story, that’s ok. Paul was too. But he cared about people enough, he knew how much he had been transformed in his own life, that he had the courage to tell his story and trust that in the telling the Spirit can move in the hearts of those who hear. Paul understood the power of story. Paul knew that this was not about him. It was about telling others what God has done in his life. All he had to do was bear witness. Now and then, you and I get an opportunity to bear witness, to tell our stories. Don’t miss those opportunities. Every person who has come to faith did so because someone had enough courage and care to tell their story.