I'm sorry I wasn't able to make a blog post on Sunday. I was having one of my vertigo spells and couldn't even look at the computer screen long enough yesterday morning to explain what was going on. Thankfully I only have these a few times a year and I feel better now. Today Paul warns his readers about comparing him and the other apostles with philosophers and false teachers. He speaks of not comparing himself with others, and we shouldn't compare ourselves with others either. He also reminds us that if we are to brag about anything, it should be to brag about what the Lord has done for us and through us.
He begins with a word of warning to those who think they can dismiss the instructions for godly living that he's given them. "And we will be ready to punish every act of disobedience, once your obedience is complete." (2 Corinthians 10:6) Some have mocked the Apostle Paul by saying, "He talks tough in his letters but he hasn't been back to visit us in a year. He isn't brave enough to scold us to our faces." That is not at all the case. Paul has been giving them time to repent. But when Paul returns to Corinth, those who have received the gospel but are living in disobedience will be dealt with face to face. So he's saying, "As soon as all of you who are willing to repent have repented, I will take to task those who are refusing to get back on the right track."
"You are judging by appearances. If anyone is confident that they belong to Christ, they should consider again that we belong to Christ just as much as they do. So even if I boast somewhat freely about the authority the Lord gave us for building you up rather than tearing you down, I will not be ashamed of it. I do not want to seem to be trying to frighten you with my letters. For some say, 'His letters are weighty and forceful, but in person he is unimpressive and his speaking amounts to nothing.' Such people should realize that what we are in our letters when we are absent, we will be in our actions when we are present." (2 Corinthians 10:7-11) The early church tradition says that Paul was a short bowlegged man with a bald head and a unibrow. When reading his letters I tend to picture him as a distinguished man of about fifty, tall and academic-looking, with a head full of graying hair and dressed in a nice suit. I know he didn't really look that way, but I can't help picturing him that way. I think the people of Corinth tended to picture him that way too when they read his letters, even though they knew he looked very different. So they say to themselves, "He sounds like a big deal in his letters, but in person he's not very imposing."
The intellectual people of Corinth were used to being visited by the very best philosophers, poets, and playwrights of their time. They were used to teachers who worked hard creating an impressive image of themselves and who made a big deal of themselves in the press, so to speak. Paul and the other apostles, in contrast, make a big deal only of Christ. They don't talk themselves up; they talk Christ up. So Paul says, "We do not dare to classify or compare ourselves with some who commend themselves. When they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they are not wise." (2 Corinthians 10:12) When we compare ourselves with the world, we probably come off looking pretty good because we who are believers generally live by higher morals than the world. But when we compare ourselves with the word of God, we can clearly see that we fall short every day. This ought to keep us humble and remind us that we have to lean on the Lord in order to live lives that honor Him. Paul says, "Your false teachers are comparing themselves with each other, which is not wise. If one false teacher is a better speaker than another or if he is better looking or has nicer clothes, he is no better off. A false teacher is still a false teacher, no matter what he looks like or sounds like."
"We, however, will not boast beyond proper limits, but will confine our boasting to the sphere of service God has assigned to us, a sphere that also includes you. We are not going too far in our boasting, as would be the case if we had not come to you, for we did get as far as you with the gospel of Christ." (2 Corinthians 10:13-14) Is it wrong for Paul to be proud the Lord chose him to bring the gospel to Corinth? No, because the glory for this goes to the Lord. Is it wrong for Paul and the other apostles who ministered to the Corinthians to rejoice about how many souls were saved at Corinth through their ministries? No, because the power of their ministries comes from Christ and not from themselves. These men labored a great deal to bring forth a harvest of souls in Corinth, and they have a right to rejoice that the Lord allowed them to partner with Him in this task.
"Neither do we go beyond our limits by boasting of work done by others. Our hope is that, as your faith continues to grow, our sphere of activity among you will greatly expand, so that we can preach the gospel in the regions beyond you. For we do not want to boast about work already done in someone else's territory." (2 Corinthians 10:15-16) Paul was interested in taking the gospel to places where it had never yet been preached. He didn't want to step on another apostle's toes or take authority over another preacher. His calling in the Lord was to enter regions where the gospel had never been heard and to plant churches there. He helped churches get started and then he trusted them to grow. He trusted the Lord to call teachers and preachers out of those churches to minister to the people of those regions. He doesn't brag about what any other man has done. He can say, "Praise the Lord for what He's done in the regions where Peter has preached and where Apollos has preached!" But he can't take any credit for converts other men have made, and he doesn't want to take credit for that, and he doesn't want to move into another apostle's territory and take over another man's ministry.
We will never accomplish anything worthwhile for the kingdom of Christ in our own strength and we won't honor Him pushing aside another faithful preacher or teacher and taking over their work. Instead we must always keep in mind that we would be nothing without the Lord, that all the glory goes to Him for anything good we are able to do, and that we owe Him our gratitude for allowing us to partner with Him in bringing souls to the truth. "But, 'Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.' For it is not the one who commends himself who is approved, but the one whom the Lord commends." (2 Corinthians 10:17-18)
Paul quotes the prophet Jeremiah in the paragraph above, and we will close with Jeremiah's words because they are good advice: "This is what the Lord says: 'Let not the wise boast of their wisdom or the strong boast of their strength or the rich boast of their riches, but let the one who boasts boast about this: that they have the understanding to know Me, that I am the Lord, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight,' declares the Lord." (Jeremiah 9:23-24)
No comments:
Post a Comment