Higher Than Highly Recommended (Friday Devotional)

I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, so that no one can say that you were baptized in my name. (I did baptize also the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I do not know whether I baptized anyone else.) 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. For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

- 1 Corinthians 1:14-18

“Just take my word for it.”

Most recommendations are built on that principle, if not those exact words. If you’re encouraging a friend to try your favorite restaurant or join your gym, you make your case primarily through the lens of your own experience. You don’t recite statistics off the company website or read their mission statement; instead, you simply explain what you personally like and appreciate about the place, maybe with a story about how it won you over. Ultimately, your endorsement boils down to your friend taking your word for it—I liked it, so I think you will too.

Personal testimony has a long and powerful tradition in Christianity, starting in the days of the apostles. After all, how could someone with Paul’s story, someone who had moved from throwing believers in prison to being imprisoned as a believer himself, not tell others about his experience with Christ? Starting as soon as he got off the road to Damascus, Paul was telling people how the gospel had changed him and urging them to answer Jesus’s call themselves.

But his testimony never sank to the level of personal recommendation, and neither should yours. When Paul told his story, it was first and foremost with the intention of exalting Christ, never himself. Paul didn’t urge people to follow in his footsteps (the way you might if you were recommending a restaurant to a friend), but rather pressed them to follow the way of Jesus. In fact, when Paul heard that there were some baptizing in the names of certain apostles (instead of in Christ’s name), he thanked God that he had baptized too few people for his own name to join the fray. He never wanted any personal element of his story, however powerful, to supersede the message of the cross.

The gospel is an old story, and its familiarity can lead us to falsely believe we need to add our own spin to interest people. But when your testimony becomes more about yourself than Christ, when the gospel story gives way to your story, you lessen its authority. Though it may seem like foolishness to the world, the cross is power to those called by the Holy Spirit, and it should always be the foundation of your witness. Christ alone—not you, not your pastor, not a politician—can save. Don’t take my word for it, take His.