Superficial vs. Spiritual Wisdom...Continued from page 3

But wait! This is not all that Paul is talking about. He now makes the transition in his argument that is extremely important. He wants to repudiate any notion that would imply that the Gospel that is so simple in its utterance ends up producing a Christianity that is a "no-nothing" religion that encourages and coddles ignorance and "anti-intellectualism." That just is not the case. Available to the Christian is a realm of discourse, a knowledge and wisdom that does not repudiate the healthy aspects of this world's wisdom but actually goes far beyond it.

Every pastor lives at the center of an unrelenting tension. It is my responsibility every time I speak to declare the Gospel of Jesus Christ in a way that is so straightforward, so simple, that an uneducated child, an adult with a limited IQ or a person with waning intellectual capacities can understand it. I have the responsibility to declare the kerygma, a herald's announcement of the plain, blunt facts of the Christian life. That's the starting point. It's the message of that wonderful children's song, "Jesus Loves Me, This I Know, For the Bible Tells Me So." It calls every person, no matter how sophisticated or how modest in intellectual background, to come in repentance to the cross of Jesus Christ. This is evangelism.

On the other hand, I have the responsibility for another kind of instruction that is called didache. This means teaching. This is the explanation of the significant facts that have been announced. It is a stage beyond the basic work of evangelism. It is the responsibility to take the Scriptures, which have been revealed to us by the Holy Spirit of God, and to impress these additional spiritual truths upon you in a way in which you will grow spiritually. I have a responsibility to lead you to growth that goes beyond the basics of the Christian faith without repudiating that basic foundation. There is a lot more to the Christian faith intellectually, doctrinally, theologically than the basic facts. The basic facts, when brought to life by the Holy Spirit's actions in your life, enable you to be born again, receiving the gift of God's grace. It is God's intention that you and I move forward in a growth process that takes joy in the basic facts of what God has done for you, while at the same time exposing ourselves to the deeper teachings of God's Word.

Paul has to stop at this point and remind the Corinthian believers, as he also reminds you and me in Newport Beach, that once you have come to faith in Jesus Christ, you have the privilege of growing in wisdom.

This growth is a rigorous process. This wisdom has depth to it. A Christian who is maturing in his or her faith is not coming to church on Saturday night or Sunday, adult education, or all the other activities, to be entertained by some clever, eloquent performer who orchestrates your emotions and makes you feel good. It is our responsibility to teach you. It is your responsibility to learn. That is why Paul says, "Yet among the mature we do speak wisdom, though it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to perish. But we speak God's wisdom, secret and hidden, which God decreed before the ages for our glory" (1 Corinthians 2:6-7).