Uh... Is This Supposed To Be A Model For Us Too?
When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling. My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power,so that your faith might not rest on men’s wisdom, but on God’s power. (1Cor. 2:1–5)
We know that Paul went to Corinth after making his famous Mars Hill (Areopagus) speech (Acts 17:16-34). It's the message Paul spoke to a group of philosophers in Athens in which he notes that the Athenians even have an altar to an unknown god. In his speech Paul connects their experience, and even their history and philosophy with the Gospel, building a bridge between their culture and the good news of Jesus. It is artfully done. That speech has been often held up as a model for cross-cultural evangelism. A few churches have even been named after this famous speech.
However, when Paul gets to Corinth, he doesn't do what he did in Athens. One might think that if he was successful in Athens, he might have tried it again in Corinth. And to a degree he did - in the synagogue at least (Acts 18:5).
And while we don't see in Acts what Paul actually did in Corinth that qualified as a demonstration of the Spirit's power, Paul's words in 1Corinthians suggest that this demonstration of the Spirit's power was more significant to him than his words. In fact, Paul clearly states that he didn't want their faith to rest on wisdom (eloquence, persuasion, words), but on God's power.
Here's my question: What if that's supposed to be a model for us?
We live in a time that is full of words, eloquence and competing wisdoms. Religion is treated often as one option among many for dealing with life's problems. Truth is seen as relative, if not altogether unimportant. A scientific mindset believes nothing that is not empirically verifiable (a view which doesn't stand up to it's own test, but is believed nonetheless). While the term "new age" is almost never used anymore, the concepts still dominate those who are "spiritual but not religious."
A few months back a young man came to our house to do some electrical work. When he found out I was a pastor he said he believed in science. He was a practical guy. If you hook it up right, it works. That's what made sense to him. I let him talk wondering about how to challenge his mindset. A few apologetic arguments came to mind, but I didn't think they'd work on him. So as he was talking I prayed, asking God how to engage this likable and talkative young man.
What came to mind was that he liked evidence, so I gave him some: a man who had a broken forearm, where the radius and ulna were both broken as confirmed by x-ray. But the tissue was too swollen to cast, so he had to wait a few days (Friday to Monday). On Sunday he came for prayer, we prayed. The next day he and his wife came to our house honking their horn; they did a second x-ray (normal procedure), and one bone was not broken, though the other was. (I know that seems bizarre to me too--why one and not the other?)
I also told him of a few other healings I witnessed or participated in, some of which had definite, scientifically verifiable results. His response was "Man. You just rocked my world!"
That is one example of several similar conversations I've had with "pre-Christians." It's amazing what a miracle--a demonstration of the Spirit's power--can do. In the above case, I'm not sure where that young man is. The important thing for this blog is that the recounting for direct evidence of God's power did more than an apologetic repartee was likely to accomplish.
The Big Questions: Is God Real?
50 years ago, it seems like the big question was: Is the Bible true and reliable? People wanted to be convinced of the truth of Scripture, or the truth of Christianity as opposed to competing truths. That's not the big question anymore (at least not in my experience). Nor was it the big question in Paul's day. That means the battle for truth won't win many converts, because that's not where the questions are--it's not where the open doors are.
The big question about God is: Is He real? Does He exist? How could we know? The failure to come up with a sure-fire argument for the existence of God has led many to conclude that agnosticism (not knowing whether God exists) is the most rational position to take. All the other arguments, whether from design, ethics, universality of religion, etc., don't persuade, because all of them have a way around them. There's always some way for people to rationalize away whatever they don't want to believe.
However, when a verifiable supernatural event happens, there is no argument left. Two x-rays side-by side, don't lie and are not subject to subjective interpretation. A woman whose Achilles tendons are torn, who after prayer can do toe lifts and knee bends is hard to argue against. A woman who leaves her walker behind for the first time in years (with a poor prognosis for ever walking unassisted) is more than "mind over matter."
A physical healing miracle is a pretty powerful persuasive tool in today's world. Yes, this 'argument' can also be resisted, but only at the expense of accepting empirically verifiable evidence as one's standard for truth.
A physical healing miracle also demonstrates that God cares about us in very specific and observable ways. It's not just a truth to hold on to, it's a truth we can sometimes see with our physical eyes.
If the supernatural is meant to be normal for us and even identify us as followers of Jesus (Mark 16:17-18), then maybe we should put at least as much effort into exploring supernatural ministry as we do exploring careful theology.
Let me be clear that I'm still on this path of experiment, discovery and understanding. I'm pondering here, but I'm becoming more and more convinced that living a supernatural life-style will do more to advance the Gospel than writing a clever tract, memorizing a evangelistic argument, or hauling someone to church. In fact, if we're not cessationists (those who believe that miracles have ceased), then I wonder whether we can see the supernatural as even optional; either it's not available to us, or it is, and if it is, and if it is God working in our world, who are we to set it aside?
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