The Remedy to Elitism Is the Simple Gospel

1 Corinthians 2:1-16

The gospel is the great equalizer. We’re one in Christ - there’s neither Jew nor Greek, bond nor free, male nor female. We’re all equal and honored by God. We see this in Scripture. David was a shepherd boy - but he became a king. The disciples were a motley crew of fishermen, tax collectors, and rebels - but were apostles who turned the world upside down. Onesimus was a slave but was brother to his master Philemon. Christ is our king, but he came to serve us as our brother. The gospel is the great equalizer. That’s why in church, the rich and poor are equal; singles and couples are equally honored; elders are even chosen from the people. But we often forget the gospel is the great equalizer. We bring in cultural baggage. We look to those who are elite. Some look to educated people. We think they can understand the Bible more. Now, to be sure, learning is commendable. We need learned people in the Word. But not the spirit of elitism. For example, in South Korea, you can’t be a senior pastor without a doctorate. Now it’s not just a South Korean or Asian thing. It’s was also a Corinthian thing. Even though most of them were not wise, mighty, or noble, they looked up to educated people - like the Greeks who honored their philosophers. The Corinthians also admired powerful people - like the Jews who looked up to men like Moses who performed signs. And this spirit of elitism in Corinth caused division. But Paul came with the simple foolish gospel. God used it to confound conventional wisdom. How does he make us wise, just, and holy? How does he save us? By sending a weak crucified savior! Such a concept could only have come from God. That’s why we glorify him alone. Is there elitism here? Of course; it’s everywhere. So Paul taught them 3 things. Firstly, our faith is founded on the simple preaching of the gospel. Secondly, only spiritual people can understand the gospel. Thirdly, only the Holy Spirit helps us to understand the gospel.

Firstly, our faith is founded on the simple preaching of the gospel. We see this thought in verse 5, where Paul says, “your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.” And the power of God is the gospel. Romans 1:16 - I’m not ashamed of the gospel of Christ; it’s the power of God to save. That’s why he preached it. But how did Paul preach it? He preached it plainly and weakly. Verse 1 - he preached it plainly - “And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God.” He wasn’t like one of their philosophers, using Greek rhetoric or human wisdom - not that he couldn’t. As a Roman citizen, he was trained classically. As a Pharisee, he trained with Gamaliel. And he used his training before in Athens at Mars Hill. He quoted their philosophers and engaged the elite there. But not in Corinth. Verse 4 says - “And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom.” Why? In fact, according to verse 2, he deliberately purposed not to know anything else except the gospel. He just preached plainly. He simply came as a witness to report without embellishment. He wasn’t a salesman but a preacher.

Now, why did he preach like this? Additionally verse 3 says he was with them in weakness, fear, and much trembling. Why? Did something happen to him? Were the Corinthians so frightening that he was in fear? After all, Acts 18:6 says they opposed and blasphemed him. Perhaps. But Paul had faced far worse! So why was he in fear and trembling? Why did he come in weakness? Notice the progression of verses 3-5; my own paraphrase - “I came in weakness, fearful, trembling, but preached plainly, demonstrating the Spirit’s power, in order so that you won’t trust in man’s wisdom but in God’s power.” Meaning, Paul was concerned, fearful, after being with the Corinthians and knowing them, that he shouldn’t speak the same way as in Athens. They’d be too drawn to that show of wisdom; attracted to it instead of Christ. He knew them. He saw through them. He knew they’d be easily impressed with high sounding things. That’s why all he’d preach about would be Jesus Christ and him crucified - a weak and foolish message to the world. People generally look to a strong general to save them - not to a person who died a criminal’s death. That’s why the thief on the cross mocked him - come down and save us and yourself! That’s why the priests, scribes, Pharisees, and rulers mocked him with the same words.

Foolish message! But interestingly, when Paul plainly preached Christ and him crucified, there was a demonstration of spiritual power, verse 4. God saved sinners powerfully. “And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power.” Remember what happened? Crispus the president of the synagogue was saved! And after him, Sosthenes, the next president was also saved. And many Corinthians - Gentiles - were also saved. Paul spent 18 months in Corinth. And that was his ministry - not by quoting a lot of Greek philosophers, or engaging in impressive rhetoric, but preaching the plain gospel. In fact, God assured him in Acts 18:9-10 - “Then spake the Lord to Paul in the night by a vision, Be not afraid, but speak, and hold not thy peace: For I am with thee, and no man shall set on thee to hurt thee: for I have much people in this city.” Preach boldly. Don’t stop. I have many chosen people. By your plain preaching, they’ll be saved. This is something that the church of God must learn. The gospel is the power of God unto salvation of everyone that believes.

Now, what’s unfortunate was this. Those who were saved, weren’t always convinced of the powerful and simple message of the gospel. Yes, the Corinthians were powerfully saved, but they were still struggling with immaturity and sinful elitism. Saved people can still be immature. And we see some evidence of that. In verses 6 and 8, Paul mentioned a group of people twice - the princes of the world. He said in verse 6 that he did speak words of wisdom to the mature, but not the kind that belonged to the princes of the world. And in verse 8, if the princes of the world truly understood God’s wisdom, they’d never have crucified Christ. Why did Paul emphasize this and the simplicity of preaching? You see, these were the very people the Corinthians were enamored by - the powerful. They thought that if only Christianity appealed more to these rich, powerful, and wise people, they’d believe.

And so Paul had to teach them that only spiritual people can understand the gospel. That’s the second point. You see, their desire is the desire of many Christians. We want the gospel to more palatable to the world. In the seeker sensitive movement, it’s to dumb down the worship, not to talk so much about sin, but to attract people by addressing their “life” concerns - like self-esteem. But what people need is the plain gospel of Christ. I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I that lives, but Christ lives in me. That message will always address our concerns. But not everyone wants that message. And we must accept that.

Not everyone wants the gospel. Paul describes 2 kinds of people - the spiritual and the natural. Verse 14 says that “the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him: neither can he know them because they are spiritually discerned.” We’re told here that natural man or unbelievers can’t understand spiritual things because they consider it foolish. Spiritual things can only be understood spiritually - by those who have the Spirit. So we shouldn’t be discouraged when unbelievers don’t understand the gospel. Rather, we should be amazed when they do. So if they can’t understand it, who can? We find the clue in verse 13. I’m reading from the ESV as it gives a clearer translation. It says, “And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual.” In other words, Paul teaches these spiritual things to those who are spiritual because only they can understand and receive it. To everyone else it’s foolishness. You know, many dumb down God’s Word to be palatable to unbelievers - to the point where God’s Word is not taught. Morality, philosophy, and religiosity are taught but not Christianity. But if the gospel is simply and plainly preached, the Holy Spirit will reveal it to the spiritual. To those who are not spiritual, who haven’t been given the Spirit, the wisdom of God is a mystery. It’s not understood by all, but by some.

When the disciples asked Christ why he spoke in parables, how did Christ respond? Let’s take a look at Mark 4:11-12 – “And he said unto them, Unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God: but unto them that are without, all these things are done in parables: that seeing they may see, and not perceive; and hearing they may hear, and not understand; lest at any time they should be converted, and their sins should be forgiven them.”What Christ is telling us is that God’s Word is meant to be understood by some, but not by others - no matter how elite and intelligent they are. This is why in verse 8, we’re told that none of the princes of this world understood who Christ was, because if they understood, they’d never have crucified him. And how ironic that the Corinthian Christians were so enamored by these high powered smart people, when Herod, the High Priests, and Pontius Pilate crucified him. Power, wealth, and smarts don’t make one more receptive to the gospel. The most intelligent person can’t grasp the gospel without being a spiritual person. This was something the Corinthians needed to understand. But many intellectual elites have bowed the knee to Christ. In fact, many of them opposed the gospel. Lee Strobel, an atheist journalist with the Chicago Tribune, became a Christian after investigating the claims of Christ. Rosaria Butterfield, a professor of gender studies, ardent opposer of Christianity - she found happiness and fulfillment in the gospel alone. Richard Dawkin’s right hand man - Josh Timonen - an avowed atheist, trusted in Christ. Dawkin’s colleague - Ayaan Hirsi Ali - a politician and academic also converted. But why? Was it because they were smart? No.

Only the Spirit of God, can give us the faith to believe the gospel. That’s the third point. Verse 11 - “For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.” So while the natural man knows only natural things, those with God’s spirit can know spiritual things. In Matthew 11:25, Jesus said, “I thank Thee Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that Thou hast hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to babes.” Who can understand the gospel? Spiritual people! And people are spiritual not through effort or intelligence, but by having something given to him. In John 3:5-6, Jesus told Nicodemus that except a man be born of water and the Spirit, he can’t enter into the kingdom of God - those born of flesh are flesh, but those born of the Spirit are spiritual. This instructs us that the reason why we could even believe in Christ as he’s presented in the gospel is because God has made us alive by the Spirit. And the reason why others don’t believe the gospel when it’s preached is because God hasn’t made them alive by the Spirit. That’s why to many unbelievers, the gospel is foolish – verse 14 – the things of the Spirit of God are foolishness to him, neither can he know them, because they can only be spiritually understood. And that’s the amazing thing - you understand the gospel not because you’re smart. You understand the gospel because you’re loved. God gave you his Spirit because he loves you, so that you can love him back.

And we’re saved for so much more. If we understand the gospel, the fullness of the gospel, we believe and understand the wonderful things that God has in store for us. Verse 9-10 say - “But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.” There are so many wonderful things of God – human eye has not seen, human ear has not heard, human heart has not conceived. But these things God has prepared for us to know – and it’s the Spirit who reveals them to us. There are deep things of God that the Spirit reveals.

Dearly beloved, what are some applications for us? Firstly, we should realize that why we believe the gospel is not because we’re smart. Salvation it’s by the Spirit alone. We’ve been given faith to believe. That God saves sinners. And that works thankfulness in us - that God would even reveal his gospel - that we should even believe. That God counted us his people, to love us and bless us richly with all heavenly blessing.

Secondly, because of the Spirit’s work in conversion; we ought to be more prayerful. We focus a lot on teaching - and that’s right. After all, the early Christians came together over the Apostles’ doctrine. But they also came together in prayer. When the apostles first were told by Christ at his ascension to return to Jerusalem, they prayed. They prayed for the coming of the Spirit. And when the Spirit came, 3000 were saved in one day. And this is how we do the work of the gospel. Do we pray that our children will be given the Spirit? Or do we just bring them to church and drum catechism into them? There will be intellectual understanding, but will there be true spiritual embracing of the gospel? Do we just argue with unbelievers and do the work of apologetics? Or do we labor in prayer, that the Spirit would open their eyes? And if not, we don’t need to change the gospel for them.

Thirdly, following the context - we need to be people who need to cultivate unity through the gospel in the church. What do I mean? Some Christians in church are very smart. They can only speak to the other smart people. Because when it comes down to it, they can’t speak to others who aren’t on the same intellectual wave length. It could be talking about anything - politics or even doctrine. And many may not be their equals in church. Now, I’m not demoting learning. Far from it. On the other hand, there are others who are not as elite intellectually and are not doctrinally astute and can’t speak much on politics or issues. And they also can only speak to certain kinds of people. But we don’t need to be uniform as people. But we are united. We can speak about the gospel with any Christian. We all have the same experience. We can speak about how Christ has saved us from our sins. How we came to understand the glories of the gospel. How Christ on the cross was the wisest thing to us. When you don’t know what to speak to a fellow Christian, you can speak about Christ in you. That promotes unity and reduces division.

Fourthly, also according to context. And this is a bit sensitive but important to point out. Your pastors are learned men in the gospel and Word. But there are far more learned men than us. Pastors you listen to, benefit from; pastors we also listen to and benefit from. But your small town pastor may never be like them - that internet pastor with many sermons. Sometimes you will want to make us into the image of those pastors. Why can’t you preach deeper, with more insight, and astuteness? Without denying the need for all ministers to grow, be careful of that carnal attitude. The plainly preached Word, moved by the Spirit, received by spiritual hearts, will always bring blessings.

And fifthly, do we truly trust and value the gospel of Christ? Are we convinced of its sufficiency? Do we believe that the wisest thing is Christ crucified to deliver us from sin and to fill our lives with every spiritual blessing? Some of you still find the gospel foolish. What do I mean? Lee Strobel, Rosaria Butterfield, Josh Timonen, and others saw the futility of their pursuits of happiness apart from Christ. They saw the deeper joys brought by the gospel. And they were at the pinnacle of their career. Paul himself was a Pharisee of the Pharisees, of the tribe of Benjamin, with a rising career in the Sanhedrin - and he saw Christ - and he would give up all of that to follow after him, even suffering for his faith. Because the joys here are nothing compared to the joys there. That’s why he preached the simple gospel. It saves. It equalizes.

But many of us here are seeking self-esteem, affirmation, companionship, education, etc - but all apart from Christ. You won’t find that deeper happiness. Only in Christ, through the Spirit, as you seek after him in the gospel, will you truly know the deeper things of God - where now, eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. That’s the gospel.

1. Our Faith Is Founded on the Simple Preaching of the Gospel

2. Only Spiritual People Can Understand the Gospel

3. The Holy Spirit Enables Us to Understand the Gospel