PREACHING: Style or Substance?

Sophistry was popular in Paul's day, and, in Corinth, it had infiltrated the church. Preachers focused on manipulating people through style without substance, superficiality, and self-promotion. Persuasion was the purpose of rhetoric, and these oratorically skilled preachers were highly successful persuaders. They ridiculed Paul because he did not employ the techniques and styles that were successful in the world. Paul, too, sought to persuade people (2 Corinthians 5:11) but he did not place emphasis on the showy skills of the sophists. He tried to persuade people in the fear of the Lord. Paul used rhetoric carefully and ethically.

We are not again commending ourselves to you but are giving you an occasion to be proud of us, so that you will have an answer for those who take pride in appearance and not in heart (2 Corinthians 5:12).

The sophists of Paul's day practiced four kinds of rhetoric. Epideictic rhetoric honored rulers with flowery words. Deliberative rhetoric used arguments to persuade people in a public assembly. Forensic rhetoric defended people in court settings. Declamation or ornamental rhetoric emphasized form over substance, eloquence over content (Witherington, Conflict & Community, p.392). Paul used mostly deliberative rhetoric - the language of the assembly. He rejected the showiness of sophistic rhetoric commonly used by the preachers traveling through Corinth.

Paul says we are not commending ourselves to you even though he is obviously commending himself to them. He is rejecting the kind of commendation that the sophists used. The word "commending" (συνιστάνομεν) means to present or recommend someone to someone (BAGD, p.790). There is some evidence to suggest that when Paul wants to disapprove of self-commendation, he places the pronoun before the verb as in this case (ἑαυτοὺς συνιστάνομεν cf. 2 Corinthians 10:12). When Paul wants to approve of self-commendation, he places the pronoun after the verb (συνίσταντες ἑαυτοὺς, cf. 2 Corinthians 6:4). Paul seems to make a distinction between good and bad self-commendation in this way (Witherington, Conflict & Community, p.393, fn.5).

Paul's goal in good self-commendation is to give the Christians an "occasion" (ἀφορμὴν) or opportunity for "boasting" (καυχήματος) about him. He would use rhetoric so that others could speak positively about his ministry because such "boasting" was boasting in the Lord, not in Paul. He qualifies the boasting as a way to answer those who boast in appearance, not in heart. The sophistic preachers put their faith in the latest methods and approaches to attracting people, but Paul was more interested in using rhetoric to get to the heart - the content - of the truth.

We don't want to embarrass Christians by how we look, talk and act so we preach in culturally appropriate styles. Whether we preach in jeans and a t-shirt or a three-piece suit is a matter of style, not substance. We use the style that fits the cultural context to give people a reason to be positive about our message. However, these are all matters of appearance (προσώπῳ), literally the "face" of the matter (BAGD, p.720). Styles are external. By themselves, they are all show but no substance. Styles and methods are not "heart" (καρδίᾳ) issues. Matters of the heart are matters of substance. We must not compromise content to achieve persuasion. Such persuasion is manipulative and deceitful. Emphasizing style over substance to reach people may be popular but leads to a superficial faith.