Paul's Hardships
3We put no stumbling block in anyone's path, so that our ministry will not be discredited. 4Rather, as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: in great endurance; in troubles, hardships and distresses; 5in beatings, imprisonments and riots; in hard work, sleepless nights and hunger; 6in purity, understanding, patience and kindness; in the Holy Spirit and in sincere love; 7in truthful speech and in the power of God; with weapons of righteousness in the right hand and in the left; 8through glory and dishonor, bad report and good report; genuine, yet regarded as impostors; 9known, yet regarded as unknown; dying, and yet we live on; beaten, and yet not killed; 10sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; poor, yet making many rich; having nothing, and yet possessing everything.
11We have spoken freely to you, Corinthians, and opened wide our hearts to you. 12We are not withholding our affection from you, but you are withholding yours from us. 13As a fair exchange—I speak as to my children—open wide your hearts also.
Dig Deeper
You can turn on your television set almost anytime of day these days and watch a preacher or televangelist of some sort. Each of them has a different message and many of them spout a different version of the gospel altogether. The difficulty comes in knowing which ones are speaking the true gospel and which are not. Although it is not the only determining factor, the visible life of the man giving the message definitely plays a part in discerning whether his message is accurate or not. This was especially true in Paul’s day, which took place before the New Testament was written down. The signs of the Spirit in the life of the speaker meant everything, so it is vital for Paul that he defend his way of life and ministry so that no one thinks that he is a false teacher, and are subsequently led astray.
Paul wants to be very clear that he has not done anything that should have caused anyone truly seeking the Kingdom of God to stumble or struggle. He has carried his message and lived his life in an intentionally holy manner so that the ministry of reconciliation that he has attempted to embody would not be discredited. He is making his appeal of that ministry through the very vehicle of his life and manner of living, so he realizes that the appeal is only as strong as the apostle who espouses it. So when Paul commends himself the reasons are twofold. First, it is really a commendation of Christ living in him and not Paul himself, because anything he has done, he has done through the power of God. Paul is constantly well aware of the fact that his will has been crucified and that he no longer lives, in that sense, but Christ lives through him (Gal. 2:20) Second, is that a defense of his ministry as the embodiment of the true gospel must be made by him because the Corinthians should have defended his life and ministry against his detractors but they had not (2 Cor. 5:12; 12:11).
Paul lists a catalogue of the things which the Corinthians could have mentioned in defense of his embodiment of the gospel of Christ. This catalogue list can be broken into four distinct sections. The first part is contained in verses 4b-5, in which he gives a list of hardships that all begin with “in” and are all in the plural. He begins the list by denoting that he has went through them all in great endurance. The rest of the list relates to and are further explanations of his endurance. He has endured despite troubles, hardships, distresses, beating, imprisonments, riot, hard work, sleepless nights, and hunger.
The next section, verses 6-7a, is a catalogue of graces that have bestowed upon him. Each one also begins with “in” but all are in the singular, denoting that the things he must endure come from many sources, but the grace that has been bestowed upon him has but one source. He has received the grace of God as evidenced by the fact that he has been able to demonstrate purity, understanding, patience, kindness, the Holy Spirit, sincere love, truthful speech, and the power of God. Each one of these things is, Paul believes, evidence that God has poured out his grace and blessing on Paul’s ministry and life.
The third section comprises verses 7b-8a, and is a list of the changing circumstances that he has gone through in his ministry. It is a list of the reality of his ministry countered by the charges of his critics. He has battled with weapons of righteousness in the honorable right hand although he has been accused of doing so with his dishonorable left hand (this sentence should be, of course, taken as imagery and not literally). He has continued on whether he was receiving glory and a good report or dishonor and a bad report. He has continued to embody the genuine gospel despite how he has been treated by his critics.
The final section, verses 8b-10, details the display of God’s transforming power through the sacrifices Paul has faced. Each begins with “as” and plays against one another as in “A yet B”. He has been genuine even if treated as as an imposter. He has lived so as to be truly known by them, even if they treat him as if they don’t know him. He has felt the pain of dying, but the power of Christ allows him to live on. He has been regularly beaten, but he isn’t dead yet. Even when he is sorrowful, God allows him to rejoice in his suffering. He has given up everything to bring the treasure of the Kingdom to everyone who will listen. He has nothing by the world’s standards but realizes that he has the Kingdom of God and has been given the life of the age to come, and so he has everything. We truly get the feeling that Paul would not recognize the modern prosperity gospel of health, wealth, and power as the true gospel at all.
Paul begins to truly address the Corinthians in verse 11 as their spiritual father. He is simply telling them like it is because he loves and cares deeply for them. They have accused him of not being straightforward, of having impure motivations, and having a hidden agenda. None of that is true, says Paul. He has done nothing but open his heart and love them, holding nothing back. If there is a problem, if they have stumbled, it is not due to Paul’s actions (v. 3), it is due to the fact that they have viewed Paul and his ministry from a worldly point of view. Paul knows that it is easy to twist someone’s motivations, even when they are pure, if we view them from a worldly vantage point. What looks so muddled to the Corinthians would be revealed as clear and pure if they would only see things from God’s vantage point and not the world’s. Paul has already said that his is a ministry of reconciliation. He is calling the world to be reconciled to God. The obvious implication is that if they continue to act like little children and are not reconciled with Paul, then they are not truly reconciled with God. If they do not open their hearts to Paul, God’s apostolic agent, then they are denying God himself. Paul is not saying that he is above the gospel or that he is the gospel, but he truly believes that he is a genuine embodiment of the gospel. If his life is called into question, then so is the gospel of Jesus Christ.
It’s important for us to note that Paul is not claiming to be above examination. He vigorously encouraged examination of his life (1 Thes. 1:5) and message (Acts 17:11). Paul is not saying, “Hey, I’m an apostle so listen to me and accept it without examination or you’re in the wrong.” Paul’s words here should never be used by a spiritual leader to shut down discernment of what he says or does. Just as Paul did, spiritual leaders should encourage people to examine their life and message. They should be open and transparent in every area of their life. Of course Paul has words in other places for those who abuse that privilege and unfairly assault leaders and unload their own bitterness and responsibility on to them. Paul’s primary point is that when you are judging a ministry or a leader to do so from God’s perspective so much as is possible. Examine it according to the truth of the Scriptures rather than feeling, emotion, perception, or worldly standards. The Corinthians were judging Paul’s ministry unfairly but he never tries to take aware their right to examine him, he just wants them to do it in a manner worthy of the gospel that they claim to believe in. I believe that Paul would expect no less of us today.
Devotional Thought
Paul felt that his life so genuinely embodied and reflected the gospel that anyone who examined his life would see an honest representation of it. Does your life look like that? Would you be comfortable with someone judging the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ just by observing you life?
No comments:
Post a Comment