Called to Be Real--May 10, 2022

Called to Be Real--May 10, 2022

"For Christ did not send me to baptize but to proclaim the gospel, and not with eloquent wisdom, so that the cross of Christ might not be emptied of its power." [1 Corinthians 1:17]

Smooth-talkers and celebrity endorsements are for sales-pitches.  If you're selling a product, schmoozing a potential customer, or trying to persuade voters, you need the skills of the silver-tongued. You need to wow, to dazzle, to impress--and bottom line, to get people to sign on the dotted line as quickly as possible.  Always be closing, right?

But for people who are tired of being sold an endless stream of products that never measure up, and for people who have heard every cliche campaign slogan from A-list celebrities to D-list wannabes, we are a bit cynical if someone steps onto the stage with a "deal of a lifetime" for us, or with "just what you've been waiting for."  We've heard that old schtick before, from dealmakers and demagogues alike, and we are just tired of it.

When you've got the real deal, however, you don't need to polish up a sales pitch.  When you really have the goods, you don't mind people bringing questions, mulling things over, and kicking the tires a bit.  More to the point, when you aren't selling anything but rather are giving something good away for free to people who need it, you don't need to have to entertain a crowd with gimmicks or reel them in with tricks.  In fact, the more you rely on strategies like that, the more you might just push folks away who have been lied to before by hucksters and con-men.  For those of us who grew up watching infomercials and their "But-wait-there's-more!" sheen on everything, all of that polish and sparkle just makes us more skeptical that the speaker is, as they say, all hat and no cattle--all style and no substance.

If you have something genuinely good--and if you are giving it away for free--you just have to offer it and trust the sheer goodness of what you have to give will draw people. No celebrity testimonials required.  No shallow slogans or tired taglines. Just a real person being honest about something genuinely good. And that's what Paul saw as his gift and his calling from Jesus--he could be the one who didn't rely on polish, poise, or public relations techniques, because he was convinced that the good news of Jesus had its own power apart from the press secretary's podium.

Paul says here that Jesus had not called him primarily to baptize people, but rather to bring the Good News of Jesus to all people--but what's noteworthy here is that Paul doesn't seem to think that Jesus' reasoning behind that choice was that Paul was a particularly accomplished public speaker. Paul doesn't say, "Jesus chose me to preach because I've got the gift of gab," nor does he say, "I was captain of my school's debate team, so I was the obvious choice for being a compelling and persuasive preacher."  What Paul brings isn't articulate eloquence or charisma on stage.  He brings the ability to be real about how good God's grace is, and about how wonderfully strange God's way of saving the world is through the cross of Jesus.  Paul deliberately abandons any attempt to prove how the way of the cross makes Christ look like a "winner" or a "success" and instead he zeroes right in on the scandalous idea that God's victory is in a shameful death and God's power is seen most clearly in vulnerable self-giving love.  

And, as we'll see in the coming passage, Paul isn't trying to "sell" anything.  To Paul, the gospel is a declaration of what God has done in Christ, not what God might be willing to do for you if you will only act now and subscribe to Jesus as your salvation service provider.  That makes all the difference, especially because it doesn't have the polished appeal of a sales-pitch.  That is something real.

Now, if that much is true (and I dare say it is), then it also means that you and I are already equipped with all we need to be the same kind of voices of good news, too.  We don't need to take a class in rhetoric or memorize someone's packaged program of persuading people to buy the Gospel like a product (and I regret to inform you that there are a lot of them out there).  We don't need even need to polish ourselves up to look all put together and successful so that people will be more interested in going to our church to become "winners" like us.  All we need is to be real.  All we need is to let people be brought into relationship with the real Jesus, who can bear our questions and doubts and mess-ups, who lets people kick the tires without insisting on closing a deal first, and who has already accomplished salvation through a Roman cross.

Today, our mission in the world is simply to be real.  Let the good news of Jesus be real.  Let our own selves be real.  Let grace be genuine.

Let's go.

Lord Jesus, give us the courage to speak your audacious grace just as we are--and let that be enough.