I was reminded this morning of something I wrote about just a couple days ago. We had a guest speaker at our worship service: a missionary who has been serving in the Middle East. He preached on 1 Corinthians 1:17-24. Verse 18 says, “For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.”
We often try to reach people with the wrong things. We try to attract people with our fine churches, with our excellent worship services, and with our superb nurseries. We try to impress people with our professionalism and creative use of technology and social media.
People aren’t impressed.
We need to remember that none of these things are God’s primary tool in reaching the lost. God may want us to improve such things in order to glorify Him more, but never to boast in such things as if they are the things that make us great.
Along the same lines, when I first became a pastor, I was told that my youth was my greatest asset. I disagree. My greatest asset is the same as any Christian’s greatest asset. The word of the cross is the power of God.
Do we believe that? Do we believe that the message of the gospel (that Christ died for our sin, rose from the grave, and that all who trust in Him have eternal life) best displays God’s power? People aren’t going to be impressed by our buildings or use of technology, and even if they are, if we’re pointing to such things, we’re not pointing them to the right things.
If we want to see God change lives by His power, we need to point people to the cross. It’s through what Jesus did on the cross that we have salvation, and it’s by the power of His resurrection that we have life.