- As we begin, let me give a little context to the situation Paul is addressing. Paul has been to Corinth but during his absence there were some false teachers who came in and began to move the Corinthian church in another direction.
- This is an extension of the earlier part of this chapter, where Paul spoke of the accusations that were being leveled against him, including that he was a weak preacher. Obviously, they were on the wrong side of these issues, since we know Paul was used powerfully by God.
- In this passage, Paul addresses some specific shortcomings of the way his enemies were acting. Interestingly, here the issues discussed aren’t really theological ones.
- There are a number of ways to approach discussing this passage. I’m going to talk about it in terms of standing in the way of Kingdom growth. These false teachers were standing in the way of what God wanted to accomplish through His messenger Paul.
Five Ways to Stand in the Way of Kingdom Growth:
1. Make up your own standards of success.
- 2 Corinthians 10:12.
- Paul opens with a little sarcasm, as he is prone to do from time to time. He says that he and his people “do not dare to classify or compare ourselves with some who commend themselves.” They are quick to brag on themselves and their spiritual prowess, but Paul says, “We wouldn’t dare measure ourselves against these guys who are constantly saying how great they are!” He’s not saying they’re better – he’s making fun of the fact that they are so full of themselves.
- This is emphasized by what he says next. He notes that these false teachers measure themselves by their own standards and compare themselves to what they already are, declaring that to be the ultimate standard. It’s a little bit like the kid who shot the arrow at the wall, walked over and drew red circles around it, and then said, “Look! I hit the bullseye!” Anyone can hit the bullseye when you have free rein to make up your own standards.
- What might this have looked like?
- Perhaps they were teachers who liked digging around into the mysterious shadows around the faith. So they made the standard of success being people who knew about the “hidden mysteries” of the faith. That might not have been God’s standard of success, but it was their standard and it made them feel like they were the best.
- Perhaps they were teachers who believed that Christians should continue to follow the Jewish Law. So they made the standard of success how much of the Pharisaical teaching they could try to obey. That might not have been God’s standard of success, but it was their standard and it made them feel like they were the best.
- Perhaps they were excitable, loud preachers. So they made the standard of success how worked up you got everyone. That might not have been God’s standard of success, but it was their standard and it made them feel like they were the best.
- Do we do similar things today? Absolutely. We make up our own standards of success and then praise ourselves for meeting them.
- Some examples:
a. The gold standard of measurements is Sunday morning attendance. You can tell a lot about a church simply by asking, “How many you running?”
- Certainly having a lot of people in church is not an intrinsically bad thing, but if we make that our standard, we can find ourselves in trouble. First of all, we might find ourselves watering down the message to keep it from being offensive in order to attract greater numbers. Second of all, we were called to make disciples, not pew sitters.
b. In many churches, a key standard is how much Bible you know. The most impressive Christians are deemed to be the ones who know the most Bible minutiae.
- Again, it’s not an intrinsically bad thing to know more Bible, but the goal is not to win a game of Bible trivia. It’s not ultimately about how much Bible we know, but how Christlike we are. I’ve known some people down through the years who knew a ton of Bible and were mean as snakes.
c. Some churches make excitability in worship to be the proof of maturity. They look around at other churches that don’t “whoop and holler” and they look down their noses.
- Loud praise to God can be a great thing, but it’s quite possible that the services are triggered more by emotional manipulation than by genuine praise.
2. Do someone else’s job.
- 2 Corinthians 10:13-14.
- In v. 13 Paul says that if he is going to boast it’s going to be concerning the task that God has given to him. Or, as he calls it, “the field God has assigned to us.” What was Paul’s “field”? Two things: a. The conversion of the Gentiles, and b. Preaching where the gospel had not been preached.
- Both of these come together (as they also did elsewhere for Paul) at Corinth. This is why he concludes v. 13 by saying that this “field reaches even to you.”
- V. 14 continues the point. Paul would be wrong to boast if he hadn’t actually come to Corinth and done what he was called to do: preach the gospel to Gentiles who’d never heard. Instead, he did exactly what God called him to do.
- We know that in 1 Corinthians Paul spends a lot of time on spiritual gifts. Here we see an application of those truths. Every Christian has certain gifts that God has given them for the advancement of the Kingdom of God. He expects us to do those things.
- There are multiple ways we can fail here:
a. We can fail to figure out what our gifts are.
b. We can serve where we want to, not where we are gifted.
c. We can do what we think is praiseworthy rather than what is important. (I.e. doing what will get others to say good things about us rather than what we’ve been called to do.)
- How often is a church hindered from accomplishing God’s vision because the wrong people are in key roles?
- Maybe they took them because they felt guilty about saying no.
- Maybe they took them because they don’t know that they are supposed to be doing.
- Maybe they took them because those roles are more prestigious.
- In any event, when you have people doing things they are not gifted for as well as people who are gifted not getting to serve, you’ve got problems.
3. Take pride in what your church did while you sat.
- 2 Corinthians 10:15a.
- Verse 15 begins with Paul implying that these false prophets were taking credit for things that they didn’t do. They were boasting about work that was actually done by others.
- Presumably the Corinthian church would be a primary example. Paul had been the one to establish that church, but false teachers were taking credit for his work.
- Obviously, you are not going to get credit before God for work you didn’t do.
- Today, one of the ways that this shows up is when people are a part of a church that is seeing a lot happen spiritually. Perhaps the church gets a reputation (deserved or not – see point #1) for growth or powerful worship or changed lives. Some of the people who start coming to the church do so because it’s the “church of what’s happening now.” Even if the church is genuinely doing great work, they show up to sit in a pew, excited that their church is doing such great work. But they themselves never get off the pew to serve. Still, they think that somehow they’re going to get credit for accomplishments simply because it’s their church home.
4. Personally fail to grow spiritually.
- 2 Corinthians 10:15b.
- In the second half of v. 15, Paul speaks of a hope that he has. His hope relies on the Corinthians’ continued spiritual growth. If they do, Paul says that his team’s “area of activity among you will greatly expand.”
- What does that mean?
a. It may mean that as they passionately pursue Christ, Paul’s continued spiritual investment in them will bear increasing dividends.
b. It could mean that as they are mature enough to stand on their own, Paul can geographically move west. The following verses hint in this direction, speaking of Paul’s desire to move toward Rome and Spain to preach in other regions where the gospel had never been heard.
- Either of these could be accurate or it could be that Paul had both in mind. Given the following verses, it seems more likely the second options is what he was thinking.
- In that case, what’s the point? If Paul had to stay and watch over the Corinthians, he couldn’t be off telling new regions about the gospel. His concern for them going off the rails spiritually would keep him from doing new work. Put another way, their spiritual immaturity would limit his ability to expand his ministry. Their failure to grow would lead to him being a babysitter.
- Does this happen today? Without question.
- How many pastors waste a substantial portion of their time with immature believers?
- How many churches don’t pursue Kingdom goals because of deacons who are too immature to know Biblical goals?
- How many church splits arose from business meetings where most there tossed aside any semblance of Christian behavior in the interests of “winning”?
- How many pastors see only a fraction of the potential of their church’s potential realized because of the stubborn immaturity of their members?
- How many pastors waste their time doing jobs within the church that mature members would do if he had more of those?
- In sum, we often think that our lack of spiritual growth affects no one but us, but that’s short-sighted. In fact, we hurt those around us, including our spiritual leaders.
5. Don’t push forward into new territory.
- 2 Corinthians 10:16.
- As we discussed in the last point, Paul is hoping for the Corinthians to show maturity so that he can move on to places that have never heard the gospel. The “regions beyond you” are almost certainly Rome and Spain, as Paul made no secret of his desire to continue to move west across Europe preaching in unreached areas.
- The second half of v. 16 speaks to Paul’s gifts, not an aspiration for every Christian. Paul’s giftedness led him to desire to preach in that most challenging situation: to people who have never heard of Jesus before. That is certainly not a calling for everyone.
- There are others who have a calling to pastor those churches that Paul established. Others who have gifts that focus on maturing those newly converted. And many other jobs that aren’t the first person in the region.
- For us, it’s almost certainly not going to be a geographic move. And for even fewer would it be a geographic move into an area where no one has ever heard of Christ.
- Rather, for most of us, it’s a matter of continuing to push forward in the new challenges that God puts before us.
- It’s easy, especially if you are seeing some fruit, to get complacent with where you are. After all, we’re doing something.
- As we mature, God will often use us in increasingly difficult situations. He will often put us in increasingly challenging settings. Why? Because now we are mature enough to handle it. Many think that the Christian life should get easier the further we go, but the more likely scenario is that God gives us greater challenges because He knows we can handle those assignments.
- And so we need to keep obeying Christ and not get lazy with where we are. The most difficult beaches to storm in these spiritual battles require the bravest soldiers.
