Many times when we engage in God’s kingdom ministries: sharing Jesus with others, building up others in their faith in Christ, we let our own credentials and our charisma get in the way.
People may be persuaded and convinced by our sound arguments, impressed by our titles and positions, our degrees, and our demonstration of vast knowledge, but we don’t realize the severe spiritual consequence of robbing people from their opportunity of full encounter of God and His power, if we get their attention instead of God. Faith built upon men’s words and their credentials and charisma is standing on shaky ground.
This reminds me of one of my childhood friend. When we were in our last year of high school, she and I went to a sunday school class taught by a very learned man who had two PhD decrees, including one from Oxford University. My friend became a Christian because she was so impressed by how learned he was and how amazing was his teaching. Years passed. This learned man was no longer in our lives after high school. Nor was Jesus in my friend’s life.
Sharing Paul’s warning, if we desire to be effective in kingdom ministry, we must be mindful that as we share our messages, as we preach, as we proclaim our testimonies, it must not be based on our eloquence, our superior wisdom, our wise and persuasive words (1 Corinthians 2:1-5). We cannot let our ego obstructs others from encountering God for who He is in our lives.
Instead, may our testimonies, our messages be full demonstrations of the transforming power of Jesus Christ crucified (1 Corinthians 2:2), and the power of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthian 2:4), so that the faith of those who hear will be rooted on God’s power alone, and not rest on men’s wisdom (1 Corinthians 2:5). Let no part of us come in blocking people from seeing what God has done, His glory, His love and mercy, His fullness, in our lives.
The power of God manifested in Joyce Meyer’s ministry who only has a high school education, but used mightily by the Lord as she preached His Truth. The same thing happened when Peter, who was filled with the Holy Spirit, preached powerfully despite of his lack of education (Acts 4). People whom Joyce Meyer and Apostle Peter ministered to had full encounter of God’s mighty power. The tragedy in today’s church is the opposite: ministers pride themselves with many titles and degrees but void of God’s anointing and the power of the Spirit in their ministry. Ministers’ preparations for ministry have more hours spent on researching from theological books than hours they spent on their knees praying, asking for divine revelations of what’s dear on the Lord’s heart. This is not to put down titles and degrees, but instead, it is about time to repent from our self-dependence on credentials and human wisdom as the foundation of our ministry instead of total dependence on God. The Truth in His Word reveals how His kingdom operates with no uncertain term: without the power of the Spirit, ministry will be built upon the sand that won’t stand the test of time.
“This is what we speak: not in words taught us by human wisdom, but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truth in spiritual words.
The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.. No one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God… Those who are spiritual have the mind of Christ.” (1 Corinthians 2: 11, 13-16)
