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Good morning my “Walking With Jesus” friends;
I know most of you to be humble people. But we live in a boasting-filled world don’t we?
Athletes, actors, politicians, and so many people, are so quick to puff out their chests and draw attention to what they’ve accomplished, right? How does this make you feel when you are in the presence of someone doing that?
Paul concludes 2 Corinthians 10 with these words: “But, ‘let him who boasts, boast in the LORD.’ Do you recognize that as a small portion of one of the greatest verses in the Bible? “This is what the LORD says: ‘let not the wise man boast of his wisdom, or the strong man boast of his strength, or the rich man boast of his wealth, but let him who boasts, boast in this: that he understands and knows Me, that I am the LORD who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on the earth, for in these I delight’, declares the LORD.” (Jeremiah 9:23,24.) So down deep inside… what do you boast about?
2 Corinthians 11 may seem a bit strange to our ears as we read it. That’s because we don’t have a real good understanding of what was happening in the relationship between the Christians in Corinth and Paul, especially in the time since he had left them to go on and preach the Gospel in other places.
Word had evidently come to Paul that the moral and spiritual zeal of these new Christians in Corinth had waned considerably after he left. Without his leadership, others had filled the void with confusing teaching; suspicions about Paul’s legitimacy as an apostle; and a whole host of controversial statements, which had evidently created turmoil among these people he had poured his life into for those 18 months. Some were drifting dangerously.
Chapter 11 is a transparent, personal, appeal from Paul to these friends, to consider what is happening to the integrity of their faith, their relationship with Christ, and their relationship with Paul. May I point out just two or three things in this chapter…
11:3 “I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ.” Do you remember our lengthy reflections yesterday on the spiritual battle aimed at our minds? Here Paul is cautioning about that. These dear people in Corinth were unable to debate or argue or even confidently discuss what they knew to be true about their Christian faith, with these false and prideful teachers, who were contradicting Paul’s teaching of the Gospel. They were floundering, adrift in the confusion of public opinion, other religions, and recent confusing teachings they heard. That’s why it’s so important to prioritize our understanding of God’s Word, His truth.
It raises an important question for you and me, and every Christian in the world today… do you know the truths about Jesus, the Gospel, and God’s Word well enough, that you can detect when someone is saying something that is not in agreement with Gods’ truth? And when you hear the distortions or outright lies, what is your response?
Look around your extended family and friends. How many are confused, being led astray, away from God’s truths, because they don’t hold tightly to God’s truth? Remember Moses words we studied just a few days ago? “These are not just idle words, these are your LIFE.” (Deut. 32:47)
Paul was concerned and broken-hearted at the reports he had heard that when his friends heard false teachings “…you put up with it easily enough.” (11:4) , and thus they drifted, and took others, especially their children, with them in confusion.
In 11:7-9 Paul reminds them of his financial philosophy which he had lived, since he began as a missionary, taking the Gospel to places it was unknown. He never asked for or expected the people to pay him for the Gospel teaching he gave them. Either he worked, usually as a maker of tents, and so earned, through hard work, the money he needed, or he received some support from other churches he had already started in other places, in this case Macedonia.
He wrote “I have kept myself from being a burden to you in anyway…” It was important to Paul that he could share his life and the Gospel with people, without them feeling any obligation or manipulation. Jesus paid the full price for the Gospel. Paul was, as you and I are, a privileged Ambassador, sharing God’s good news. The Gospel was not for sale!
Sometimes in Paul’s writings he shoots an arrow of powerful truth without too much explanation, and if we’re not careful, we might just overlook it. 11:13-15 is one of those arrows. “For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, 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 masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will be what their actions deserve.”
In John 8:44 Jesus had made similar strong statements about Satan being a deceiver, speaking only lies, because there is no truth in him.
But sometimes, do you find the lies in our society are spoken in a way they appear to be only variations of truth, thus not so offensive and obvious? Have you noticed how rapidly our society has moved to embrace attitudes, actions, even statements which are now viewed as truth and mainstream, yet only a short while ago were absolutely wrong, unquestionably outside the boundaries of normal, acceptable behavior?
What has happened to us my friends? It’s the slow decline of tolerance, which eventually leads to acceptance and then embrace and endorsement! Remember God said to Moses and the people “Do not follow the crowd in doing wrong.” (Ex. 23:2.) Can you identify many issues in our society which have experienced this moral drift journey?
Not long ago these issues were way outside the boundaries of acceptability, but public opinion has shifted, and today these attitudes and actions are widely embraced, and anyone who stands in opposition is accused of intolerance, prejudice, perhaps even being a hate filled bigot! What do we sense Jesus saying to us, through His Holy Spirit, about our voice, our role, as Christ followers in our society, which is morally adrift?
Can you see Paul’s warning about the masquerading of Satan and those who allow him to dominate their thinking? Can you detect when something is said, which masquerades as truth but is in fact a lie? Of course the best way to detect counterfeit is to know the truth so well that anything, even slightly different, is recognized as a distortion.
Toward the end of chapter 11 Paul describes the persecution and hardship he has experienced in his journey of ‘walking with Jesus’. And then he says this “If I must boast, I will boast of the things which show my weakness.” (11:30.) We are a society which prides itself on what is often called, the ‘can do’ spirit. The philosophy which says, ‘anything is possible for me, if I just work hard enough, and am willing to do anything to achieve my dream.’
We’re going into an election year and that type of rhetoric will be heard often. Next summer is an Olympic summer, and again, children and young athletes will be urged to pursue their dream… that they can accomplish anything if they just work hard enough.
But Paul has a different theme, which we’ll see often in his letters, as we see here in 11:30. Paul was convinced, that the life journey and purpose God had called him to, would utilize his background, his training, his talents, but he would only accomplish his greatest potential when God was unleashing the power of His Holy Spirit into Paul’s weaknesses. Watch this carefully my friends.
While God has certainly gifted each of us, and calls us to work hard to develop ourselves as fully as we can, it is for the purpose of being available to God for HIS use, in His great plans and purposes. When that happens God is greatly glorified, His purposes are accomplished and we find our greatest life fulfillment and joy. Now that is very counter-intuitive!
You would think our greatest fulfillment and joy is found when we use our strengths, our talents, to pursue our goals, and achieve our dreams. But on the contrary, for followers of Jesus, it’s when we partner with Jesus in accomplishing His dreams, His goals in our world that we find our greatest joy! Am I right friends?
That’s why it’s so important we ‘walk with Jesus’ and HE leads the way. So take a close look in the mirror, let’s go back a few years… how has God been working in each of our lives, to help us develop the talents and abilities that He has entrusted to us? But also, how has God been working in our weaknesses, and leading us in BEING and DOING all He wants to accomplish through each of us? Oh my friends, that’s the ultimate adventure in life, as you ‘walk with Jesus’!
Click to read today’s chapter: 2 Corinthians 11. (At the top you can choose a different translation.)
Have a comment or question about today’s chapter? I’m ready to hear from you, contact me here.
Pastor Doug Anderson 262.441.8785
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
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