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1 Corinthians 2:2-5

²For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. ³I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling. ⁴My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power, ⁵so that your faith might not rest on men's wisdom, but on God's power.

In this passage Paul is describing the difference between the wisdom of men and the wisdom of God. He wrote that God trips men up in their worldly wisdom. The work of salvation is not intellectual enlightenment but a work of the Spirit of God drawing us to Christ. He becomes the Wisdom of God to us.

Then Paul illustrates his point by describing how he acted when he was with them. He intentionally focused on two things: Jesus and His death on the cross. He knew that the Greeks were into intellectual debates, but he also knew that he needed to stay focused on what mattered. How far we often wonder from the central truth when we begin trying to prove our points, tit for tat, with a skeptic. When Christ draws them, they will yield or they won't. How many arguments have you observed where neither party was open to anything the other said? I think that describes most arguments.

Paul reminded the Corinthians that he did not follow this route of reliance on the mind of man. He didn't cajole and plot to manipulate while sharing Christ with them. Instead he allowed the Spirit of God to work through him. One reason he preached in that manner was so that they would not rely on men's wisdom, but on God's power. If their faith rested on the wisdom of men, the next clever speaker would have them off in another direction.

Consider: Do you rely on wisdom of men or the demonstration of the Spirit and of power? We should study our Bible and understand the passage we share as fully as we can, but what are we trusting in to move the heart of our listeners?