Session 3 · 1 Corinthians 2:1-5
Magic: The Problem with Romeo
Don't soften the story, and don't oversell it.
Book reading: Chapter 3
Today's reading is Chapter 3 of Blue Like Jazz.
Miller recalls a pastor who seemed like a salesman or a magician, half-convinced by his own pitch about Jesus making people new. He also says the church softens children's Bible stories, such as Noah's ark, by leaving out the violent parts. He admits that he once judged the gospel by how fashionable or unfashionable its delivery was, and he thought Christianity was for the intellectually naive. A literature course changed that. It showed him how stories work, with a setting, a conflict, a climax, and a resolution. He concludes that Christian spirituality is mystical and strange, not a children's story.
Paul in 1 Corinthians 2 is thinking about delivery too. He says he “did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom.” This is not because Paul was untrained. He was well educated, and his letters show a sharp mind. Even so, in 2 Corinthians he admits he is unskilled in speaking, and he reports that his critics called his speech of no account. His choice in Corinth was to not lean on rhetorical polish. His reason: “so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.” A slick pitch can win people to the pitch. Paul wanted them won to God.
Now connect that to the softened stories. Paul says, “I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.” A crucifixion is the opposite of a cute story. Noah's ark works the same way. Genesis 6 and 7 tell of a world full of violence and a flood that ends it. Turn that into a smiling boat full of animals, and you keep the zoo and lose the judgment and the mercy of the rescue. If we trim the hard parts, the cross stops making sense, because we have removed what it answers.
Miller's literature-course insight is a helpful lens. Look at the Bible's whole story the way a story works. The setting is a good creation. The conflict is human rebellion and its damage. The climax is the cross. The resolution is resurrection and a world made new. That is one way to apply his point, not a claim about the chapter's outline. A children's version that skips the conflict can make the climax feel pointless.
Paul also says he came “in weakness and in fear and much trembling.” He did not sound like a salesman. He trusted the Spirit's power rather than polish, and that frees us too. We do not have to make the gospel sound easy or impressive. We can tell it plainly, hard parts included, and trust God to do what we cannot.
Key idea
Telling the gospel truthfully means keeping its hard parts, because the cross answers the conflict that softened stories leave out.
Questions to consider
- Miller says the church softens stories like Noah's ark. What hard part of a Bible story did you never hear as a child, and how does it change the story's meaning?
- Paul chose not to lean on rhetorical polish so faith would rest on God's power. Where are you tempted to make faith sound smoother or more impressive than it is?
Journal prompt
Think of a Bible story you first heard as a gentle children's tale. Write down what the full story includes. How does the fuller version change your view of the cross?
Practice
Retell one Bible story without softening it. 1) Pick a story you know from childhood, such as Noah in Genesis 6-9, and read it straight through. 2) Write or say a 5-minute retelling that includes the setting, the conflict, the climax, and the resolution, keeping the hard parts. 3) Tell it to one other person or say it aloud to God, then note what you now notice that you didn't before.