Sunday mornings at my grandmother’s house meant one thing, church. It wasn’t an option or argument; you got up early and went to worship. I can still remember the smell of the building, the look of the red pews, the smell of peppermints, and perfume in the air. Looking back, these were precious moments for me. Sunday school, singing in the youth choir, vacation Bible school, and Sunday fellowships. In my young life, the foundation was Jesus Christ and Him crucified. I am thankful for grandparents who took me to church and a great aunt who read Bible stories to me.
Even at five or six years old, I remember the preaching. The message started with Jesus, zoned in on Jesus, and ended with Jesus. As a young boy, I knew one thing, Jesus lived, died, rose again, and was to come back soon. In short, the message, Sunday in and out, was simply Jesus Christ and him crucified. I am glad that this was the foundation laid in my heart. In fact, this was foundational in my actually coming to saving faith in college. There were no smoke machines, strobing lights, or Instagram stories to promote the church. The church was small in number, traditional in worship, and steady on preaching Christ.
Regardless of your song style, cool lights, or social media presence, is your church known for preaching the message of Christ? “For the Jews ask for signs and the Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified,” 1 Co 1:22–23.
For both the Jews and Greeks, the message of Christ was not sufficient. Although Christ in his ministry offered sufficient miracles by the work of His hands, these were not enough to move them to say he was indeed the Messiah. One reason, they were looking for a Messiah that was not a suffering savior, but a conquering King over the oppressive Roman government.
Jesus told the religious leaders, asking for a sign. “He answered them, “An evil and adulterous generation demands a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah,” Mt 12:39. Jesus makes it clear, it was not more miracles they needed, but trust in Him as the Messiah. They needed only look at his death, burial, and resurrection for the evidence they needed. The Cross was deemed as one of the most excruciating, but also shameful ways to die. Is it any wonder, the idea of a suffering Savior on a cross was such an offense to the Jew?
Yet, for the Greeks who prided themselves on their philosophy and wisdom, the message of the Cross seemed foolish. Why would God deem the wisdom of man empty? All of man’s wisdom and philosophy can’t garner them salvation or point them to the Messiah. Warren W. Wiersbe wrote, “God has written a big ‘Failure’ over the wisdom of men.” We are finite, and God is infinite; compared to his standard, we will always miss it. He is showing us, again and again, our desperate need for a Savior.
Has contemporary Christianity begun to do what Jesus and Apostles refused? To make Christianity appealing, hold up miracles and the wisdom of man, over Christ and Him crucified? The message of miracles over Christ is what sells the prosperity message so well.
In short, do this, give that, say this and prepare for a miracle in your life. It is a burden of works that is difficult to keep up. The weight of it crushes all that try to live that way. I liken it to the worship of an idol. When will you know if you have given enough to appease the idol? If you are a child of God, trust in the finished work of Christ. He is sufficient and enough. Your faith is not in what you do or give, but in Christ and Him crucified.
On the other hand, we have those who, instead of merely preaching Jesus Christ and Him crucified, have forsaken the message of Christ for self-help, sociology, and philosophies of man. When Paul showed up at Mars Hill, his method to reach the greeks may have modified, but the content of the message stayed the same. As the world continues to push against the message of Christ and Him crucified, will we stand and preach regardless?
“Yet to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God, because God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength, 1 Co 1:24–25.”
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