1 Corinthians 4:18-21 (NIV): Some of you have become arrogant, as if I were not coming to you. But I will come to you very soon, if the Lord is willing, and then I will find out not only how these arrogant people are talking, but what power they have. For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power. What do you prefer? Shall I come to you with a whip, or in love and with a gentle spirit?
The kingdom of God is not a matter of talk, but of power. If it was a matter of talk, the Pharisees would have won every time they came against the apostles, because the Pharisees were the ones who were formally educated in the Law, and who had practiced debate for years, in some cases, for decades. They would even have bested Jesus Himself, if it had been merely a matter of words, because Jesus wasted very few words in debate with them. But in all of those cases, it was power that carried the day. When Jesus healed the man born blind, that display of power dumbfounded the professional debaters, and took away every argument (to the point that even the unschooled could tell exactly who Jesus was and were he had come from – John 9:30-33). When Peter and John healed the lame man at the Temple gate, that display of God’s power blew all of their opponents away. The Jewish leaders knew all of the “theology,” but they had no power to do what those simple, uneducated followers of Jesus had accomplished.
The kingdom of God is not a matter of talk, but of power. But almost always in America today, God’s people are trying to debate the merits of Christianity with words, and have almost completely lost the power. They craft fine argument, draw diagrams, write books without number, but the power to really be a witness to the reality of the kingdom is missing. Some claim that God doesn’t need to do miracles any more, since people have the Bible. But that is a cover for their own powerlessness. God does do miracles in many parts of the world where the people know and understand that the kingdom is not a matter of talk, but of power. It is the power, God’s power, working through the lives of His people, that is the mark of the true Church.
The solution for those who have ears to hear and eyes to see, is simple: Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all else that is needed will be given as well. (Matthew 6:33 paraphrased) But this must not be a casual seeking; it must be a robust, whole-hearted, self-consuming seeking after God and His kingdom. It must take center stage in a person’s life, become their hunger and thirst, based on faith in God’s own promise of His power (Acts 1:8). It may take 10 full days to fully develop the hunger and thirst that is needed and receive the power, as it did with the disciples, or it may take less than a day of intense seeking, as it did with Dwight Moody, Billy Graham, Keith Green, and others. It may take some longer. But without this passionate seeking, hungering, and thirst for the power God has promised, it won’t happen. And then God’s people will only have words.
Father, this is a precious promise. Forgive us for being satisfied with talk, mere words, and when those are ineffective, for seeking more or better words, instead of seeking Your power. Help us to see clearly this promise, to really hunger and thirst for the power that You have promised, so that we can do the work of expanding the kingdom today. Amen.