Continued Concern- Part 25

Introduction- II Corinthians 10:7-11

Last time we were here in the book of II Corinthians we considered Paul’s defense of his ministry and his desire to impress upon the Corinthians that he was acting in accordance with the leadership of the Lord.

He sought to express to them that he was engaged in a spiritual warfare but he and his co-laborers were intent upon fighting this battle with spiritual and not carnal weapons.

Their aim was to minister in such a way so as to cause the Corinthians to bring every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.

It is evident here that Paul’s desire is to convince the believers in the church at Corinth that he and his companions are not acting in the flesh but in the Spirit and that their goals are not carnal but spiritual.

Their methods may be questioned by others but Paul wants the believers in the church at Corinth to know they have done only what God has directed them to do.

Tonight we will consider Paul’s continued effort to defend his ministry against those who sought to cast doubt on it, and his challenge to the believers in the church at Corinth to consider it from the right perspective.

Proper Perspective (Vs. 7)

This passage opens with a question directed towards the believers in the church at Corinth.— “Do ye look on things after the outward appearance?”

Some insight is gained by understanding the context of the situation in Corinth at the time that Paul pens these words.

As Paul is writing to the church at Corinth, there are individuals who have professed to be “spiritual leaders” exerting influence among the Corinthians.

These self-professed spiritual leaders are not only influencing the believers in the church at Corinth toward false doctrine but are at the same time attempting to disparage Paul’s ministry among them so as to limit Paul’s influence over them while also increasing their own influence.

Paul leads with this question so as to challenge their perspective—it seems that the “spiritual leaders” who were influencing them may have an impressive appearance and may also have had impressive credentials in the eyes of the Corinthians.

The problem is that they are judging them from the wrong perspective—they have considered only the outward appearance of these leaders and not their actual inward motivations.

There is a real danger for all of us that we may be impressed by the outward appearance of men and that as a result we may give them undue influence in our lives while at the same time limiting the influence of those whom God has actually placed in our lives for our benefit.

Illustration—A great example of this pattern in our world today is when believers allow themselves to be influenced to a much greater degree my someone on Youtube or on Social media while resisting or limiting the influence of their pastor or other spiritual leaders in the church.

Paul challenges their perspective and insists that if these “spiritual leaders” would make the claim that they are acting on Christ’s behalf, that he also has a right to make such a claim.

Note here that Paul does not at this point personally attack his opponents (he will later refute their teachings and point out their errors)—instead he insists that he is also acting on Christ’s behalf—this is to impress upon the Corinthians that he is worthy of at least an equal share of influence in their lives.

Authority and Its Proper Use (Vs. 8-9)

At this point Paul reminds the believers in the church at Corinth of the fact that the authority which he now has in their lives was given him by the Lord.

God had appointed Paul as an apostle and had given to him a measure of authority over the churches—Paul is only exercising the authority that had been given to him by the Lord.

He seems to indicate here that this authority should carry a greater weight than that which his opponents claim to have because it has been given expressly by God.

These “spiritual leaders” may claim to have authority but there is no evidence that this authority comes from God.

Again this may be illustrated in a very practical sense—there are many self-professed “spiritual leaders” on various platforms who put themselves forward as an authority in the lives of believers and yet there is no substantial evidence in many cases that they have been given any authority by God.

On the other hand there are pastor’s and teachers whom God has called to fill a specific role in the local church that plainly have been given authority by God to wield a measure of influence in the lives of believers.

Paul is simply expressing the fact that the Lord is the source of all legitimate authority and that those appointed to positions by him should certainly have a greater degree of influence in our lives.

He also speaks here of the proper use of this authority—for the purpose of edification not destruction.

When the Lord gives a person a position that involves authority it is always for the purpose of edification—building up believers.

The nature of Paul’s ministry among the believers in the church at Corinth was always for this purpose—his desire was to build them up even though at times that involved confrontation and correction.

On the other hand it seems that those who were attempting to cast doubts on his ministry and to influence the Corinthians were in reality not concerned with building up believers but rather with building up themselves.

Again this is very relevant in much of the Christian culture today—there are far too many “spiritual leaders” in our day who are more concerned with building their brand or making a name for themselves than they are with edifying believers.

Paul has nothing to be ashamed of in the manner that he has used the authority that God has given to him for his goal has always been to edify the believers in the church at Corinth not to build his own reputation.

He insists that his intent was never to scare them with the letters that he had written to them—this of course was an accusation which had been brought against him by his opponents.

He wants the believers in the church at Corinth to know that his intention has always been to edify them not to terrify them.

A Genuine Ministry (Vs. 10-11)

Now he turns his attention to a specific accusation which had been brought against him by these false teachers.

They has said that his letters were indeed impressive—they were considered to be “weighty and powerful”—this of course is absolutely true.

Yet they said that his bodily presence was weak and his speech (while among the Corinthians) was contemptible.

The point that Paul’s opponents were attempting to make with regard to his ministry to the Corinthians was that he was willing to be bold and confrontational when he was not present but that he was cowardly and weak when he was actually among them.

Their aim of course is to disparage his character and to cast doubt on his willingness to confront and correct them in person.

These spiritual leaders point to their boldness in person as evidence that they are worthy of authority and influence while using Pauls’ humble and kind demeanor towards them to attempt to cast doubt upon his ministry.

There are men today that make similar accusations—they insist that if a pastor or ministry leader doesn’t speak out in a certain tone about certain issues that they are not worthy of influence and authority and that because the put out social media posts and Youtube videos angrily denouncing them that they are in turn worthy of influence and authority in your life.

Paul answers their accusation by insisting he will be precisely as bold as is required in order to correct the believers in the Corinthian church.

Paul is simply expressing the fact that what he is in the letters that he is written to them—he will also be when he is present among them if that is what is required to cause them to be obedient to Christ.

Paul is not one thing in his letters and then something else entirely when he is present—rather he has written to them with boldness in the hope that such boldness will not then be required when he is present among them.

It should be the case for every pastor and ministry leader to whom God has given any degree of authority that he/she would exercise that authority in whatever manner is necessary to encourage and edify believers to follow Christ.

It should never be the case that we would behave one way in certain contexts and then behave in an entirely different manner in another context simply to please men.

Paul wants the believers in the church at Corinth to know that if boldness is needed when he is present with them, he will be bold because he is intent upon leading them to honor and to follow Christ.

Yet in the end the boldness or lack thereof is not a proper measure of whether or not a person is worthy of influence in our lives—God uses a variety of methods to accomplish His will and boldness is not always what is needed.

We who minister on Christ’s behalf should not be afraid to be bold and even confrontational when the situation requires it but we ought also to consider that in many instances a humble and quiet approach may prove more effective.

Conclusion

It is clear in this passage that the self-professed “spiritual leaders” who are now exerting some measure of influence in the Corinthian church are making great efforts to cast doubt on Paul’s ministry in the hope that in doing so they may limit his influence and increase their own.

Paul’s response to their accusations is simply to affirm the fact that he is acting on Christ’s behalf and that God has given him a measure of authority which should allow for him to have influence in their lives.

He also plainly expresses the fact that his aim is not to terrify or hurt them, but rather to edify them and to encourage them to follow Christ.

His ministry, be it by his letters to them or his presence among them is with this same goal in mind—where boldness is required they can be confident that he will be bold whether it is when he writes or when he come to minister among them.