Paul was a Christian missionary who had a calling from God to go from his homeland to another country to proclaim the word of God.
So he left Israel to cross the sea to what is now Greece and ended up in the city of Corinth.
This man, who seemed such a strong personality, said he came to this city in weakness, in fear and in much trembling. You can read about this admission in the New Testament book of 1 Corinthians, chapter 2, verse 3.
Why would he feel this way? For one thing he was a Jew who came to a people with a proud tradition of intellectual attainment. They could boast of philosophers of the likes of Socrates, Plato and Aristotle. How could he compete with a people who loved their philosophical and intellectual debate?
Furthermore, the religion the Greeks embraced was at odds with that of Paul. They believed in a multiple number of gods and goddesses that were endowed with handsomeness and beauty.
Contrast that with the Christian message of a Saviour who was brutalized and died an ignoble death on a cross. For the sophisticated and intellectual Greeks, no god would allow himself to be treated in this manner. It would be foolishness!
Was the Christian message out of touch with that culture? After all, Paul believed in one God who was not even visible. He was a small minority in the midst of a huge majority.
So he came to Corinth feeling weak and in fear. But he was not alone. The Lord spoke to Paul in the night by a vision: “Do not be afraid, but speak, and do not keep silent; for I am with you, and no one will attack you to hurt you, for I have many people in this city.”
(This is a great concept, that God had an elect people in that city who as yet were not believers but upon hearing the gospel proclaimed by Paul would be convinced of its truth and become believers in Jesus Christ.)
No more fear
After Paul received this assurance from the Lord, he was no longer fearful. He decided not to try to match the learning of the Greeks with a display of his own wide learning, which he could have done; rather, he proclaimed in plain language about a cross on which Jesus, the Son of God, died to pay the penalty for a world of undeserving sinners.
He told the people in the city of Corinth that in his speech and his preaching he did not depend upon persuasive words of human wisdom, but it was a demonstration of the Spirit of God and of power.
That is how the Apostle Paul spoke to the intellectual Greeks. It is not the kind of thing that would appeal to those steeped in a culture of philosophical ideals, but it becomes very convincing when empowered by the Holy Spirit.
The ministry of the Holy Spirit in overcoming resistance to the gospel is illustrated in a beautiful way in the conversion of a woman by the name of Lydia. In the book of Acts, chapter 16, it says she listened to Paul’s message concerning Jesus and “The Lord opened her heart to respond.” She became a true believer in Jesus Christ that day.
The Apostle Paul said he determined not to know anything among the Greeks in the city of Corinth, except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.
That was his message to the Greek intelligentsia and that is the message every person needs to hear.
Lorne Moorhead is a retired pastor living in Flin Flon.
