The Proof of Power

1Co 4:18-20
18 Now some have become arrogant, as though I were not coming to you. 19 But I will come to you soon, if the Lord wills, and I shall find out, not the words of those who are arrogant but their power. 20 For the kingdom of God does not consist in words but in power.
http://olivetree.com/b3/1Co.4.18.NASBStr

How do you know?  It is the basic debate question among friends and frenimies.  It drives to the essential epistemological foundation of the incredulous.  It signals the 'loser' in a formal debate, is the scariest question for followers of Jesus in 'God discussions', and marked much of the arguments of my childhood.

In these verses it is an unasked question, but is assumed.  How do the Corinthians know they are right, and Paul is wrong?  Who's to say he has authority, wisdom, and insight to instruct them, and not these teachers who came after him? Well, Paul proposes a comparison of power.

Like the conversation Jesus had on the road to Emmaus, I'd like to know what a test of power looked like.  How does Paul propose to find out their power?  Even more though, how does the Kingdom of God consist in power?  Is he referring to 'gifts of the Spirit'?  Is he referring to the ability to endure persecution?  What does kingdom power look like?

The real tradgedy in asking such questions is that I have to ask.  You may read this and assume I will get to the answer but I don't.  I don't know.  I feel terrible to say that, but I don't think I've experienced something that I would call the power of the kingdom of God.  I've experienced the presence of God, and that is powerful.  I've experienced the rescue of my life by God; and that is a demonstration of His power, the Power of His Kingdom.  Salvation opens our lives, but what about after that?

I don't think that is what Paul has in mind here.  On the otherhand, I don't think he has in mind a challenge on Mount Carmel either.  I suppose they could compare the numbers of believers they brought to Jesus, or the number of baptisms I  the past year.   Maybe he intends to have a healing service and see who heals more people.

I honestly don't think it's any of those.  I'm still not sure what it looked like if it happened, nor what Paul had in mind as he wrote this, but I'm fairly confident it wasn't the options in the above paragraph.  That bothers me because Paul thought it was either obvious not to need explanation, or using a scare ploy by not explaining (make them wonder).  In either case he knows what something like this looks like and I don't.  Shouldn't we?

Shouldn't a demonstration of Kingdom Power be a regular thing for us?  We're the people of the Kingdom, so Kingdom Power should be a norm, not an unexpected thing.  We shouldn't be baffled by what such power looks like, we should be nodding our heads in agreement as we read this passage.  It's also not sufficient that we have an idea or a guess, or an interpretation of this power, we should KNOW.

But I don't.  I'll admit it.  I don't know what Paul had in mind, what kingdom power looks like, what such a challenge looked like.  And that bothers me.  Maybe it shouldn't but I think it should.  I want to know what Kingdom Power looks like, feels like, and sounds like.  I want to see it in action, demonstrating that the Kingdom of God has come.  Is it too late for me?