Reflections on 1 Corinthians 2:4
“My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power.” (1 Corinthians 2:4, NIV)
The Remedy says it with tenderness: Paul’s “preaching was not the preaching of a professional speaker,” but “the Holy Spirit worked through me to make clear the truth about God’s character of Love.”
Our work is to share the truth in love, with kindness, in the language and the best understanding we have. The rest is His. The Holy Spirit is there to draw the listener to the truth. He works through the bond between us, letting the Fires of Light, Love and Truth flow from us and engulf the one we are sharing with.
Without a bond, they will not listen. My rule has always been to never answer questions that are not being asked. The only way to bring someone to ask is for them to believe you really care and want to hear what they have to say. This is the building of a bond between you and the one the Father has brought to you for care. He is trusting you with one of His dear children, and your duty is to reach their heart with the Love He has filled your life with. Peter said the same: “be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you” (1 Peter 3:15).
Sometimes the meeting is very short, only a few minutes as you pass on the street. The Jesus in you will reach out to the Jesus in them, that little part of their soul that is able to respond to the Love of Christ. It will see that Love in you, and a bond will form, ever so slight but enough for a question and an answer. It is enough. The Holy Spirit will carry it on from there.
The breath of heaven will accompany the words we say when the Spirit presses them home to the heart. There is no need for fancy words, and no need to convince or convict the listener that what we say is true. Jesus promised that the Spirit Himself would do the convicting (John 16:8). When He attends our words, we are able to lift a soul, spread a healing balm over the raw, hurting places, and leave them knowing the Father was in the words. Their hearts burn with the Love flowing from the throne of God, just as the hearts of the two disciples burned on the road to Emmaus: “Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way?” (Luke 24:32).
We never know when someone’s time on this earth will end, and we may not know all the heartaches they carry. That is a mercy. To carry everyone’s heartaches would destroy our ability to be present for the next soul the Lord brings to us. So in the short time we have together, we do not dwell on their hurts. We hear what they need to share, and then we point them to the One who holds all the answers.
Love will not let that time be spent only on airing griefs, for two reasons. First, the hurting one needs to hear answers, and the time we have is short. Second, we need to stay free to go on with our day, ready for the next soul the Lord brings, with the vitality the rest of the day still asks of us. Maturity learns how to make the most of the good while keeping itself free to move on. Even Moses had to learn this. Jethro told him, “Thou wilt surely wear away… for this thing is too heavy for thee” (Exodus 18:18).
The Lord knows every heartache, and He will use our kindnesses to show Himself to those He brings to us for blessing. The Holy Spirit’s presence with our words is all the proof we need that what we say is truth.
And the truth of our lives, our consistency of character, speaks louder still. Paul could say, “our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance” (1 Thessalonians 1:5). May the same be said of us.
