1When I came to you, brothers and sisters, I didn’t come preaching God’s secrets to you like I was an expert in speech or wisdom. 2 I had made up my mind not to think about anything while I was with you except Jesus Christ, and to preach him as crucified. 3 I stood in front of you with weakness, fear, and a lot of shaking. 4 My message and my preaching weren’t presented with convincing wise words but with a demonstration of the Spirit and of power. 5 I did this so that your faith might not depend on the wisdom of people but on the power of God.
Reflection
Didn’t we all have our heroes while growing up? Many of mine were sports’ heroes. I also had heroes outside of sports, but mostly the comic book variety, like Superman and Sgt. Rock, a very tough World War II soldier.
Then it was fictional heroes, found between the covers of books, like Dirk Pitt, created by Clive Cussler.
They almost always came out on top.
So where are the heroes of today? We need them more than ever. But we don’t need fictionalized heroes. We need real heroes. We need a hero with clay feet—like mine. Fortunately, the Bible is chock full of them—it’s just that we might not label them heroes.
It seems like most of the men and women of the Bible have traits many might ignore when choosing or creating a hero. But not the writers of the Bible. They tell us all about their heroes—warts and all.
Take a moment and read what Paul wrote in the first five verses of 1 Corinthians 2. Not exactly the stuff of heroes. But I’m so glad he wrote it—and lived it. He said he didn’t preach God’s Word like they were his secrets. He didn’t call himself an expert in speech or wisdom.
His only message was Christ crucified. And he did so while standing in front of them with weakness, fear, and a lot of shaking. It wasn’t his preaching but the demonstration of the Spirit and his power.
We still need our heroes. But let them be like Paul, someone with clay feet, who lets God do the preaching, and lets God supply the power.
Rick Reed
For Pondering & Prayer
Let us look for true heroes and let us rely on the power of God. Paul needed it then and we need it now.
Prayer: Dear Lord, Help me not to worry when I’m afraid so long as I am with you. Thank you that I can be afraid and still speak of you. Amen.
