In this way I have aspired to preach the gospel where Christ was not known, so that I would not be building on someone else’s foundation.
Paul has aspired to preach where Christ was not known, so he would not be building on another’s foundation.
This verse names the pioneering instinct that shapes Paul’s missionary strategy.
14I myself am convinced, my brothers, that you yourselves are full of goodness, brimming with knowledge, and able to instruct one another. 15However, I have written you a bold reminder on some points, because of the grace God has given me 16to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles in the priestly service of the gospel of God, so that the Gentiles might become an offering acceptable to God, sanctified by the Holy Spirit. 17Therefore I exult in Christ Jesus in my service to God. 18I will not presume to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me in leading the Gentiles to obedience by word and deed, 19by the power of signs and wonders, and by the power of the Spirit of God. So from Jerusalem all the way around to Illyricum, I have fully proclaimed the gospel of Christ. 20In this way I have aspired to preach the gospel where Christ was not known, so that I would not be building on someone else’s foundation. 21Rather, as it is written: 22That is why I have often been hindered from coming to you.