2 Corinthians 10 & 11: Why do you gotta' be so mean?
Thank you for listening to First Today. I am Patrick Cooley. I'm gonna start off here or or move into second Corinthians chapter 10. And as mentioned in the introduction episode of, second Corinthians, with its radical shift in tone and subject matter, there is a thought among some scholars that second Corinthians chapters 10 through 13 represent another Pauline letter addressed to the church, a 5th letter. In my estimation, I think this is reasonable.
Patrick:As we will go into chapters 10 through 13, the tone is very, very different than the one, wrapping up chapter 9. So reread, the chapters before this one and tell me that Paul's words haven't become harsh. Some argue that, this is not a 5th letter, but is in fact the harsh letter that Paul refers to at the beginning of 2nd Corinthians. Now now, of course, nobody knows for sure, and decide for yourself. Verse number 1.
Patrick:I myself, Paul, appeal to you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ. I, who am humble when face to face with you, but bold toward you when I am away. I ask that when I am present, I need not show boldness by daring to oppose those who think we are acting according to human standards. Indeed, we live as human beings, but we do not wage war according to human standards. For the weapons of our warfare are not merely human, but they have divine power to destroy strongholds.
Patrick:We destroy arguments and every proud obstacle raised up against the knowledge of God, and we take every thought captive to obey Christ. We are ready to punish every disobedience when your disobey when your obedience is complete. I ask that when I am present, I need not show boldness by daring to oppose those who think we, Paul, are acting according to human standards. Someone in the Corinthian church or maybe even a small group within it has charged Paul with acting according to human standards and that he is unfit to follow. He states that he may be merely human, but when the message of the gospel is threatened, his weapons will have divine power to destroy strongholds.
Patrick:These accusers are hindering the church in this knowledge of God, but Paul's arguments will overcome their efforts and will take every thought captive to obey Christ. This matters so much that Paul himself is writing these words as he expresses his readiness to go to war and to punish every disobedience when the congregation has come to fully obey God. Perhaps the church was beginning to side with Paul's accusers, maybe? I don't know. Verse number 7.
Patrick:Look at what is before your eyes. If you're confident that you belong to Christ, remind yourself of this, that just as you belong to Christ, so also do we. Things don't seem to be going too well in the church, which is another indication that this is most likely not a letter connected to second Corinthians up to verse number 9. That this may in fact be the harsh letter, because here, it seems like things are not going well in the church when just the chapter before, Paul is praising them for the fact that everything is going well in the church. So so things here don't seem to be going too well, the in in in Corinth.
Patrick:And is and it is indicated by the fact that the Corinthians have allowed themselves to be led astray. He says remember, Paul says here, if you are confident that you belong to Christ, you better look at me and ask yourself if you really still do belong to Christ. He essentially tells them here to compare their lives in Christ with him and his life with Christ. Verse number 8. Now even if I boast a little too much of our authority, which the Lord gave for building you up and not for tearing you down, I will not be ashamed of it.
Patrick:I do not want to seem as though I am trying to frighten you with my letters. I can't help, but hear, Cartman from South Park here. You will respect my authority. Of of course, Paul isn't using his apostolic authority in the same way that Cartman uses his authority, in South Park. He has been given this authority in order to build up the church and not to destroy it.
Patrick:He reminds the church of this with the caveat that he doesn't want them to think that he is trying to frighten them back, to an unhindered walk with Christ. He doesn't wanna scare anybody into a relationship, you know, unlike, you know, the churches and traditions and preachers that, you know, they're gonna they're gonna scare the hell out of you. You know, we're gonna we're gonna we're gonna hail you to Jesus. It's essentially what it is. Paul doesn't want to do that.
Patrick:He doesn't want to scare them. You know, he doesn't he's not he's not saying, you better come back to Jesus or else. He he wants them he is he is using his authority not to scare them back to Christ, but to draw them to Christ. His statement here implies that his accusers may well be claiming authority within the church, but, they're using that authority the way that Cartman does. You know, you will respect my authoritae.
Patrick:You will listen to me in the church. And that's it. If what I say goes, if this is what it means, then it this is what it means. So Paul, who has actually received authority from Christ, doesn't use his authority to dictate to people and to and to frighten them back or command them back. But apparently, someone in the Corinthian church has claimed authority, and they are using it to manipulate and control others.
Patrick:Verse number 10. For they say, his letters are weighty and strong, but his bodily presence is weak and his speech contemptible. Let such people understand understand that what we say by letter when absent, we will also do when present. Let's let's not call them accusers. Let's call them challengers.
Patrick:And they say that Paul talks a big game on paper, but in person, he's just too afraid to. Paul responds that he will speak what he has written when present with them in the church. So essentially, you know, you better watch out what you're asking for. Verse 12. We do not dare to classify or compare ourselves with some of those who commend them who commend themselves.
Patrick:But when they measure themselves by one another and compare themselves to one another, they do not show good sense. We, however, will not boast beyond limits, but will keep within the field that God has assigned to us to reach out even as far as you. Paul understands his limits and will not even attempt to give the Corinthians an opportunity to choose between him and the challengers, as a way of a comparison. They are boastful and proud and apparently number more than one since they measure themselves by one another and compare themselves to one another. By doing so, they they so they do not show good sense.
Patrick:They are behaving like the Corinthians were in Paul's first letter to the church, each trying to stand above the other, each trying to, claim authority and position and power in the church. Paul, on the other hand, submits himself to God and will not go beyond the boundaries that have been divinely set for him to to inhabit. He knows his limitations, and he knows his strengths, but more importantly, he knows why he does what he does. And he does this. He does it all.
Patrick:Everything that Paul does is for the sake of God and for God's kingdom, not for himself. And this is sort of the comparative, the the juxtaposition that Paul wants the Corinthians to, to have. Now, of course, he's okay. He's just criticized them for the these these other challengers for comparing themselves to each other. And he says, I'm not gonna compare myself to them.
Patrick:But essentially, this is what he's doing in this letter. He's telling the Corinthians, compare yourself and your walk with Christ to me. Compare the way that these challengers are living and using their authority. Compare it to the way that I am using the authority that God has given to me. So so you see that, God has sent him to the Corinthians and equipped him appropriately to reach them with the good news.
Patrick:He doesn't he doesn't claim to be able to do more or anything like that or anything particularly special, since all he wants to do is what God would have him to do. And so God has approved Paul and his mission, he says. For we were not overstepping our limits when we reached you. We were the first to come all the way to you with the good news of Christ. We do not boast beyond limits, that is in the labors of others.
Patrick:But our hope is that as your faith increases, our sphere of action among you may be greatly enlarged so that we may proclaim the good news in lands beyond you without boasting of work already done in someone else's sphere of action. Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord. For it is not those who commend themselves that are approved, but those whom the Lord commends. He goes on here at the beginning of chapter 11. I wish you would bear with me in a little foolishness.
Patrick:Do bear with me. I feel a divine jealousy for you, for I promised you in marriage to one husband to present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. But I'm afraid that the serpent deceived Eve. But but I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by its cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from sincere and pure devotion to Christ. Now we see that these challengers are presenting the Corinthians with an alternative message.
Patrick:They are tempting the church to say that it doesn't need the gospel that Paul has preached to them and has formed them into a church with. He, as their spiritual father, had betrothed them, the church, to Christ as a bride. He was convinced that they would rise to the challenge and become chased again. They would rise to the challenge and and and and take on this new identity as the bride of Christ. But now he's just not that sure.
Patrick:He's unsure about their ability to persevere because they seem willing to embrace any false teaching or different spirit that comes their way. Sound familiar to anyone in the world in which we live in today? Verse number 4. For if someone comes and proclaims another Jesus than the one we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you submit to it readily enough. I think that I am not in the least inferior to these super apostles.
Patrick:I I may be untrained in speech, but not in knowledge. Certainly, in every way and in all things, we have made this evident to you. A clearer picture of Paul's challengers begins to develop with one compound word, super apostles. Perfect hair, speech, and physique, they were the tools of the trade in the Roman Empire's traveling philosopher industry. These philosophers would come into a town and share their wisdom, for price, of course, And they would use and they would use themselves as the proof of their message.
Patrick:Strengthening Paul's doubt that the Corinthians will remain faithful to the gospel of Jesus Christ is that these apostles' message often aligned perfectly with the lives that they were already living before Paul preached to them. So these super apostles and their message of perfection was what was in was already in line with how they were living before they came to know Christ. So this is why Paul doubts right here that the Corinthians are going to be able to turn the corner and return to the pure message of the gospel that he preached to them while he was there in Corinth. On the contrary, Paul failed on all of these accounts except knowledge. He wasn't pretty.
Patrick:He wasn't strong. He didn't have the physique. He didn't have the hair. He didn't have the speech, but he had the knowledge. And apparently, Paul was not much to look at or listen to.
Patrick:Verse number 7. Did I commit a sin by humbling myself so that you might be exalted because I proclaimed god's good news to you free of charge? I robbed other churches by accepting support from them in order to serve you. And when I was with you and was in need, I did not burden anyone, for my needs were supplied by the friends who came from Macedonia. So I refrained and will continue to refrain from burdening you in any way.
Patrick:As the truth of Christ is in me, this boast of mine will not be silenced in the regions of Achaia. And why? Because I do not love you? God knows I do. Paul distinguishes the way that he came to and preached and lived with the Corinthians from the way that these super apostles are.
Patrick:He preached the message to them free of charge. He found financial support from alternate sources and refused to make himself a burden to the Corinthians financially. He was everything that these super apostles were not, and he's he was everything that the Corinthians before Christ were not. How he answered his call reveals that the truth of Christ is in him. And even if the Corinthians abandoned him, he, has already stated that he believes that they will.
Patrick:He will not be silenced in the regions of Achaia. If they abandon him, he will go on to the next town, not because he no longer loves them, but in fact, he will go on to the next town because he does love the Corinthians. Verse number 12. And what I do, I also continue to do in order to deny an opportunity to those who want an opportunity to be recognized as our equals in what they boast about. For such boasters are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ.
Patrick:And no wonder, even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. So it is not strange if his ministers also disguise themselves as ministers of righteousness. Their end will match their deeds. I mean, so is it not strange if his ministers also disguise themselves as ministers of righteousness, their end will match their deeds? These these, 3 verses, 4 verses are man.
Patrick:Just ponder them for just a second. Paul will continue to do what he does to combat their the super apostle's message and their work because of who these apostles are working for. They are boasters, false apostles, deceitful workers who disguise themselves as apostles of Christ. This is who they are. And who do they work for?
Patrick:Say it with me now, church lady. Could it be Satan? And their end will be the same as their master's ends because their deeds are the same as their master's deeds. If it is not of God, it cannot and will not last no matter how shiny, expensive, complicated, or respected. Verse number 16.
Patrick:I repeat, let no one think that I am a fool. But if you do, then accept me as a fool, so that I too may boast a little. What I am saying in regard to this boastful confidence, I am saying not with the Lord's authority, but as a fool. Since many boast according to human standards, I will also boast. Their talk, the way they carry themselves, everything about them is foolish, and from Paul's perspective, ridiculous.
Patrick:But for some reason, the Corinthians are lapping it up. So Paul tells them that he is going to change his tactics and act toward the Corinthians in the same way that the super apostles are acting towards them. He'll boast and tell you how awesome and cool he is. And why will he do this? Verse 19.
Patrick:For you gladly put up with fools, being wise yourselves. For you put up with it when someone makes slaves of you or preys on you or takes advantage of you or puts on airs or gives you a slap in the face. To my shame, I must say you were too weak for that. There may be a touch of sarcasm here. Maybe just a touch.
Patrick:The Corinthians think that they are so wise. Yet even in their wisdom, they put up with the foolishness of the super apostles. Even when these apostles make the Corinthians slaves, praise upon, or takes advantage of, or puts on airs, or or gives them a slap in the face. If that is the result of your wisdom and strength, I am glad I am not those things, Paul says. But whatever anyone dares to boast of, I'm speaking as a fool.
Patrick:I also dare to boast of that. Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I.
Patrick:Are they descendants of Abraham? So am I. And the picture becomes even more clear here. These super apostles are Hebrews. They're Jews.
Patrick:Paul's evidence against them so far doesn't suggest the exact content of the false gospel that they're teaching. His main criticism thus far is how they are teaching this gospel. Although the more I think about it, it may well be in keeping with today's prosperity gospel. That that would have gone over very, very well in Corinth. But we don't know the exact content of that gospel.
Patrick:Are they ministers of Christ? Paul says at first 23, I am talking like a madman. I am a better one, with far greater labors, far more imprisonments, with countless floggings, and often near death. Five times I have received from the Jews the 40 lashes minus 1. Three times I was beaten with rods.
Patrick:Once I received a stoning. Three times I was shipwrecked. For a night and a day I was adrift at sea. On frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from bandits, danger from my own people, danger from gentiles, danger from the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers and sisters, in toil and hardship, though through many sleepless night, hungry and thirsty, often without food, cold and naked. And besides other things, I am under daily pressure because of my anxiety for all the churches.
Patrick:Who is weak and I am not weak? Who is made to stumble and I am not indignant? Here is Paul's proof that he is more awesome and manly than the super apostles and why the Corinthians should listen to him. All these things that he has been through, all of these things that he has faced, and he still has to deal daily with the anxiety about the churches. And to think, he says, you Corinthians or the super apostles, call me sad and pathetic.
Patrick:Look what I've had to put up with, and look what I deal with each and every day. And you choose to listen to them, I'm much more manly than they are. If I must boast, he says at verse number 30, I will boast of the things that show my weakness. The God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ, blessed be he forever, knows that I do not lie. And Damascus, the governor under King Artaeus guard guarded the city of Damascus in order to seize me.
Patrick:But I was let down in a basket through a window in the wall and escaped from his hands. But Paul isn't going to boast about these things that he has endured. They they don't mean anything in and of themselves to Paul. What matters is why he underwent them. What was so important to him that he was willing to endure all of these things?
Patrick:The gospel, that is what was so important to him. Thank you for listening to FirstDay. I am Patrick Cooley, pastor of Northport Methodist Church. You can visit, the my website, the podcast website at firstday.us. You can listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Amazon Podcasts.
Patrick:Shoot me an email at connect at first day dot us if you wanna deeper dive into anything you hear on the podcast. So until next time, thank you for listening. Blessings, and goodbye for now.