Day By Day - 2 Corinthians 11
By Leanne Rich
Opening Thoughts:
Meekness vs Strength
In this chapter, Paul is striving with the Corinthian church regarding their acceptance of false teachers who have infiltrated the church and are misleading them. You can sense his exasperation as he describes how they have judged the outward appearance instead of the attitude of the heart, of both himself and those he referred to as 'super-apostles'.
Let's compare and contrast the two: Paul and the 'super-apostles'.
1. Paul was the sower of the Corinthian church.
Paul was their spiritual father and sacrificed himself for them. He was never a financial burden, even while ministering among them for months at a time. He preached the gospel of Christ and his words were followed by signs and wonders.
The super-apostles followed in his footsteps and attempted to steal people away and hijack the church. It seems these people had been active in other churches too. Often they would claim that the gospel that Paul preached was inadequate in some way and needed to be supplemented, for example, with circumcision.
In his letter to the Galatians, Paul said, “I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel—not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed” (Galatians 1:6–9).
2. Paul’s meekness is similar to the example of Jesus and the way He instructed His followers: “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their superiors exercise authority over them. It shall not be this way among you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must be your slave” (Matthew 20:25–27).
The super-apostles would not be characterised as meek. To the contrary, they were bold, boastful and authoritarian. Paul describes their work as follows: "You bear it if someone makes slaves of you, or devours you, or takes advantage of you, or puts on airs, or strikes you in the face” (2 Corinthians 11:21).
3. Paul was motivated by a godly jealousy, protectiveness and love. Paul, in verse 2 says: "I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy. I promised you to one husband, to Christ, so that I might present you as a pure virgin to him."
The super-apostles were motivated by greed, jealousy and pride.
In verses 13-15 , Paul identified where the hearts of the super-apostles were: "For such people are false apostles, deceitful workers, masquerading as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. It is not surprising, then, if his servants also masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will be what their actions deserve."
Final Thoughts:
How do we judge church leaders to whom we submit ourselves? Do we form part of a 'fan club', or do we critically and prayerfully appraise our leaders, with an eye on our own salvation?
As leaders, what is our motivation? Is it to gather numbers to make it big? We have a mighty example of ministry leadership in Paul as he followed the example of Jesus. One that we can confidently apply today.
Opening Thoughts:
Meekness vs Strength
In this chapter, Paul is striving with the Corinthian church regarding their acceptance of false teachers who have infiltrated the church and are misleading them. You can sense his exasperation as he describes how they have judged the outward appearance instead of the attitude of the heart, of both himself and those he referred to as 'super-apostles'.
Let's compare and contrast the two: Paul and the 'super-apostles'.
1. Paul was the sower of the Corinthian church.
Paul was their spiritual father and sacrificed himself for them. He was never a financial burden, even while ministering among them for months at a time. He preached the gospel of Christ and his words were followed by signs and wonders.
The super-apostles followed in his footsteps and attempted to steal people away and hijack the church. It seems these people had been active in other churches too. Often they would claim that the gospel that Paul preached was inadequate in some way and needed to be supplemented, for example, with circumcision.
In his letter to the Galatians, Paul said, “I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel—not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed” (Galatians 1:6–9).
2. Paul’s meekness is similar to the example of Jesus and the way He instructed His followers: “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their superiors exercise authority over them. It shall not be this way among you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must be your slave” (Matthew 20:25–27).
The super-apostles would not be characterised as meek. To the contrary, they were bold, boastful and authoritarian. Paul describes their work as follows: "You bear it if someone makes slaves of you, or devours you, or takes advantage of you, or puts on airs, or strikes you in the face” (2 Corinthians 11:21).
3. Paul was motivated by a godly jealousy, protectiveness and love. Paul, in verse 2 says: "I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy. I promised you to one husband, to Christ, so that I might present you as a pure virgin to him."
The super-apostles were motivated by greed, jealousy and pride.
In verses 13-15 , Paul identified where the hearts of the super-apostles were: "For such people are false apostles, deceitful workers, masquerading as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. It is not surprising, then, if his servants also masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will be what their actions deserve."
Final Thoughts:
How do we judge church leaders to whom we submit ourselves? Do we form part of a 'fan club', or do we critically and prayerfully appraise our leaders, with an eye on our own salvation?
As leaders, what is our motivation? Is it to gather numbers to make it big? We have a mighty example of ministry leadership in Paul as he followed the example of Jesus. One that we can confidently apply today.
Posted in 2 Corinthians