1 And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom.
2 For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.
3 And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling,
4 and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power,
5 so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. What does it mean “to know nothing…except Jesus Christ and him crucified”?
Why was Paul resolved to do this in Corinth?
2. Describe Paul’s view of preaching and teaching according to this passage.
3. In what ways has our celebrity culture (i.e. we like to set up people to be celebrities; we then glorify them or tear them down) influenced the church?
Why is a celebrity culture antithetical to a cross-shaped lifestyle?
4. What other things in our culture should we be aware of that would comprise the gospel’s
focus on Christ crucified?
5. How can we effectively relay (or “contextualize”) the gospel within our culture without
jeopardizing the essential message of the gospel? Or, to put it another way, how can you
better connect with the people in your life but do so with a firm commitment to a cross
-shaped life?
6. Do you pray that you might proclaim the gospel in such a way that people’s faith would
come as a result of a “demonstration of the Spirit and of power”?
Take some time now to pray that the Lord would give you (and our church) the kind of words and life that would result in many people believing in Christ because they have seen his power and been changed by his Spirit through your proclamation of Christ.
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