Great Oratory or The Spirit of God?

When I came to you, brothers and sisters, I did not come proclaiming the mystery of God to you in lofty words or wisdom.

 - 1 Corinthians 2

Of course, when a person writes a blog, he hopes to stir the reader through elegant and persuasive writing. 

I scored in the 99th percentile of the GRE Analytical writing exam, a few years ago. So I expect my writing to be pretty good. Every now and then, someone affirms that, which motivates me to keep improving my writing.

It's the same with our preachers. We want them, first, to be good public speakers. But I've often wondered if we've confused the ability to impress audiences through oratory, with the gift of preaching? 

A good rock band can mesmerize masses of people. Great orators in history were able to sway events, regardless of how virtuous, or wise, they were. Americans traditionally are taught to hold in suspicion anyone that can sway the population through their platform eloquence.

The Apostle Paul, here, in the epistle that is famous for stressing love above all other virtues, downplays the importance of eloquence. He leaned on the Spirit of God to get the message out.

On Facebook, I am involved in some on-going discussions with doubters that seem ensnared with their need to understand every dot and tittle of the Gospel message. They can point out errors, inconsistencies, and logical fallacies. They have allowed one or two unanswered questions to draw down an entire simple belief in the Cross.

Paul will have none of that. In fact, he skips the idea of logically working out the Gospel plan, entirely. 

We need to get away from silver-tongued oratory, and just let the Spirit of God build His Kingdom.