I think much of the reason people don’t preach the Gospel to others is because they think whatever they say or do has to be flashy, has to be as big as God is. But that never works because God is always bigger! Proclaiming the Gospel, at its core, is and always should be, as simple as showing people what God has done for us and in us.
The defense St. Paul was making to the Corinthians in today’s first reading describes a way of living that might be very useful for us to consider. Rather than caring about what people thought of him and proclaiming the word in a powerful way, he instead resolved to keep himself focused on Jesus and to say what he would have him say and live as Jesus himself would live. His proclamation of example called those Corinthians to recognize a message not based on mere human wisdom but instead on the power of God. We too can proclaim that same kind of powerful message in the way that we live.
So if there are people in our lives who we wish knew the joy of the Gospel — and who among us doesn’t have someone like that? — then I think today we’re being called to take a fresh look at how we bring Jesus to them. Our proclamation of the Gospel has to be simple and authentic. If our proclamation rests on what we can do, it’s always going to fail. But if it relies on Jesus and what he has done in us, it will be irresistible.