nothing except Jesus

For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.

1 Corinthians 2:2

Paul did not try to impress the Corinthian church with cultural or philosophical preaching. He was not about “relevancy first”. And Paul could have chosen relevancy as the first priority. I mean, from scripture we know he engaged philosophers at the Athens Areopagus with masterful insight. We know Paul understood his culture, was well-versed in the thinkers and the teaching of his times. Yet he disregarded cultural relevancy in favor of gospel fluency. He preached Jesus and stuck to that script. He clung to the cross.

It would be equally wise to remember Paul’s preaching priority today. We know we live in a world that intellectually ridicules Christian faith. In the cases where those arguments call out inconsistencies (ie priestly pedophilia… greed and manipulation by televangelists… abuse of spiritual power, etc) that is actually a good thing God is using to sanctify His church. But when the culture attacks the gospel itself or when the popular Christian deconstruction movement mocks Jesus, we need to boldly hold to the truth of the gospel in Jesus. And His death on the cross is the center of that truth. When the cross makes someone uncomfortable, there is room to press in! What a doubting, confused, and hateful world needs is the reality of a Savior’s love, death, burial, and resurrection. And they need to hear His call to repent, believe, receive His cleansing, and follow Him as Master.

Lord,

May Your people know nothing compared to our commitment to the gospel. Will the reality of our need for a Savior, of Your sacrifice at the cross, of Your victory over death and hell at the resurrection, of Your position as our Lord whose Word we obey… Will that be our distinctive? May all that be our constant and consistent message! It’s all we need. It’s all this world needs. May we preach Jesus, and Him crucified.

Amen