For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.
1 Corinthians 2:2
Paul's first letter to the Corinthians captures the problems that we still face as Christians living in a modern society. Corinth was a beautiful resort city recognized as the capital of pleasure for the entire empire. The people of Corinth loved to philosophize and they were very persuasive with their words. They placed a premium on earthly-based rhetoric and shallow thoughts that Paul referred to as "the wisdom of words." Although Paul was a man that could reason and debate, he made a deliberate decision to focus his preaching on Christ and His sacrifice for us. Paul was willing to risk rejection by changing the debate from one grounded in the earthly wisdom of man to a message of only the power of God.
As Christians, most of us have encountered times in our lives where we relied on the power of God to help us through a difficult situation. When we need help, it is easy to put our total trust in God. On the other hand, when life is firing on all cylinders, we subtly are lured into a material world that places a premium on earthly possessions and lifestyles pushing us away from God. Unlike Paul, many of us are not relentless and steadfast in our message, and almost two thousand years later could still benefit from his teachings to "know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified."
John Okrzesik
