The Word of the Cross is Folly and Power.

The Lord has been teaching me about those who blatantly oppose Christianity, Who scoff at the very idea of God, calling Him a fairy tale for the ignorant.

Thankfully, He reminds me that I too once hated Him with all of my heart, soul, mind, and strength. That even now, after I've been given a new heart, I turn so often from Him, denying Him with my actions, words, and thoughts.

He reminds me that "no one can come to [Christ] unless the Father draws him" (John 6:44).

That latter reminder is twofold.

First, that I am saved by grace, through faith, not of myself so that I cannot boast (Ephesians 2).

Second, that they can be saved by grace, through faith, not of themselves and especially not through my words, so neither I nor they can boast.

I listen, wishing I knew a hundred things to say to prove 100% that God exists. That God saves. That He is coming again to judge the earth according to His commands. But I must remember, through all my studying, my "debating," that people are not saved by eloquent arguments.

I was so burdened yesterday and spent a most of my time at work pondering the best wording for various arguments. I'm sure someone out there has wonderful logic that can explain everything in extensive detail. I am thankful those people exist. I'm not that person. I lose my train of thought a few syllables in, and I can't think of the words I want to use, and my sentences are out of order.

I'm intimidated by the opposing arguments. They have all these catchy phrases and scientific facts and things that really do seem so convincing on the surface. But wit and eloquence don't make a person right; we cannot confuse these when trying to discern truth. A lie attractively spoken is still foolish.

I'm a sucker for arguments that show understanding of the topic and not just ad hominem. That's where a lot of Christians stand when it comes to "debates." They get this cynical, scoffing tone that comes across just as clearly over text as it does in person. At the same time, they don't make any real points and rarely address the topic at hand. Or they repeat the same sentence that they heard someone say once over and over again, showing no further thought about the subject.

They turn it to a personal attack. Why? So they can "win"? To what end?

Do we forget we are saved by grace through faith given to us by the Father? It is He Who awakens us and draws us to His Son. It was His Son Who lived perfectly and died for us and raised Himself to life, and He Who gave us the Holy Spirit to work in us to will and to act according to His good pleasure. 

It's frustrating that the loudest are not often the most understanding. I don't want to be there.  I want to answer for the hope that I have in Christ, with all gentleness and respect (1 Peter 3:15). I want to be able to speak the evidences for God that exist, because He does exist. 

Anyway, after much discouragement over my lack of eloquence, I sat down to read the next chapter of my read-through-the-Bible plan, the chapter I was supposed to read the day before but didn't.

1 Corinthians 1-2.

Guys... sovereignty.

It's exactly the answer to my thoughts and prayers of that day.

"For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the Gospel, and not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.

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. For it is written, 'I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.'

Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. And because of Him you are in Christ Jesus, Who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that, as it is written, 'Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.'

And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.

Yet among the mature we do impart wisdom, although it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to pass away."

Please, seek knowledge; study arguments for and against Christianity. Do it in a manner worthy of the Gospel.

But do not "worry about what to say or how to say it, for in that time it will not be you speaking but the Holy Spirit speaking through you" (Matthew 10:20). His are the words that need to be heard; Christ is the message that saves; His is the wisdom irrefutable (Acts 6:10).

“Suppose a number of persons were to take it into their heads that they had to defend a lion... Well, I should suggest to them, if they would not object, and feel that it was humbling to them, that they should kindly stand back, and open the door, and let the lion out! I believe that would be the best way of defending him, for he would take care of himself; and the best 'apology' for the gospel is to let the gospel out.” - Charles Spurgeon

Thinking you need eloquent arguments to convince people to follow Him "empties the cross of its power," and betrays your subconscious belief that the Gospel is not powerful enough on Its own to save.

But It is. 

The truth is enough on its own. What an honor it is to speak it.