Some of you may not know this about me, but I am in fact bi-lingual. I am fluent in English and sarcasm. And because that is true, I love the verses in 2 Corinthians 11:16-33, if you want to turn with me there this morning. We have been studying the book of 2 Corinthians together for a few months and in the second half of chapter 11 we get to see some of Paul’s sarcastic personality bubble up to the surface as he basically says in verse 16, “Imma brag a little!” And the reason he is doing this is because the false teachers, the so-called “Super Apostles” that the Corinthians were being influenced by, were using their eloquent speech to boast about all their achievements in an effort to gain influence and to level criticism against Paul and his ministry. And basically what Paul is saying in verses 16-21 is, “All right. You want to go there. Let’s go there.”
2 Corinthians 11:16-21a
“I repeat, let no one think me foolish. But even if you do, accept me as a fool, so that I too may boast a little. 17 What I am saying with this boastful confidence, I say not as the Lord would but as a fool. 18 Since many boast according to the flesh, I too will boast. 19 For you gladly bear with fools, being wise yourselves! 20 For 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. 21 To my shame, I must say, we were too weak for that!”
A few weeks ago, I provided a physical description of the Apostle Paul. Add this descriptor as well – trash talker. And the reason we know that he is sarcastically talking smack is because he says clearly that boasting in your strengths is the endeavor of fools. He uses the word “boast” six times in six verses and he uses the word “fool” or “foolish” five times in those same six verses. And he even talks a little smack to the Corinthians directly when he chides them in verses 19-20 for putting up with spiritual abuse from these false teachers because they were so enamored with their external strengths. Now, here is a fair question – if it’s foolish to boast in your strengths, then what would be the wise thing to do? The surface answer is, “To not boast at all,” Correct? To be humble.
But let me tell you why that falls short of the gospel standard. It’s because basically what you are promoting is good manners. You don’t need Jesus for that. The gospel of Jesus Christ, rightly understood, calls us to actually boast in our weaknesses. That’s the big idea I want us to gravitate toward this morning: That there is strength in our weakness. It’s actually good to brag about how weak we are! Now if that doesn’t scream counter-cultural, I don’t know what does! The culture conditions us to manage and conceal our weaknesses, but the gospel tells us to boast in them because we know that it’s through our human weaknesses that Christ’s power in us is activated. And it’s through our weaknesses, that Christ is exalted, not us. So let’s be careful today to examine WHO we are boasting in and WHAT we are boasting in lest we give in to the natural drift of our hearts to be glory thieves by shining the spotlight away from Christ onto ourselves.
In our pursuit of Jesus, here are two things we need to pay careful attention to…
1. BE CAREFUL WHERE WE FIND OUR CONFIDENCE – vs 22
Confidence is an interesting thing. Confidence is all about self-assurance and we can all see how an extremely low confidence or an extremely high confidence can be detrimental. We saw that reality play out recently in the NBA playoffs. A young player for the Grizzlies arrogantly talked trash about LeBron James. Whether you like LeBron or not, there is no denying he is one of the greatest to ever play the game. Dillon Brooks said, “I don’t respect anybody unless they score 40 points on me.” Fast forward a few games and Team LeBron (Lakers) ended up closing out the series with a win by guess how much…40 points. How ironic! I guess pride does come before a fall!
Here’s the point: Fools place a ton of confidence in themselves and in their resume; not in Christ and HIS resume. This is what the Bible means when it talks about boasting in the flesh. It’s boasting about something that you feel like you have accomplished all by yourself because of your hard work, or your charisma, or your leadership gifts, or your business savvy, or intellect, or eloquence, etc., etc. That is exactly what these Super Apostles were doing. And Paul says that this is the activity of a fool.
The word “fool” used here in the Greek is defined as a person who lacks wisdom or good sense. It can also be translated “ignorant.” And do you know what the bragging fool is ignorant of? It’s the fact that God’s grace, not our gifts, is the source of our blessings. The Bibles says in the book of James, “Every good and perfect gift comes down from the Father of lights.” And Paul leaves no doubt that boasting in the flesh is the work of fools. We know that because after indulging them with a little smack talk he says this in verse 21:“I am speaking as a fool.” But he is willing to go there to make a point. Look at verses 22-23: “Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they offspring of Abraham? So am I. 23 Are they servants of Christ? I am a better one.”
How great is that last statement? “Are they servants of Christ? I’m a better one!” “I’M him. I’m THAT guy. I serve Jesus better than any of ya’ll.” And Paul has the receipts to back it up! Let me unpack his credentials that he is listing. “I’m a Hebrew. I have Jewish ancestors. I speak Aramaic. I’m of the strictest group of Jews, the Pharisees. I obey the law really well. What’s more? I’m an Israelite. My family ancestry is made up of what the Bible calls ‘God’s chosen people.’ Yep. That’s me. Not enough? I’m from the offspring of Abraham. You know, (song) ‘father Abraham had many sons’… and I’m one of them!” And then the clincher, “I’m a better servant of Jesus than anyone else.” I think the last statement in the Greek is translated “Boo-yah!!!”
And even though the credentials Paul lists are factually true, Paul says to even bring those up is to talk like a madman. It’s the work of ignorant fools and he is only indulging them to make the point that it’s boasting in our weaknesses that unlocks God’s diving power in our lives and puts all the glory in Jesus’ lap where it rightfully belongs. Now, we can hear that and say “Amen” because we know that is the right response. But here’s a fair question: Where does your confidence come from? And let me ask the same question from a different angle – when you are challenged, when you are doubted, when you are criticized – what often comes out of your mouth in response? And remember, the Bible says, “that out of the mouth, the heart proceeds.” Let me offer up some potential sources of confidence when we are trying to prove our worth to others:
• Our last name and the reputation that is attached to it
• Our unique and high level talents
• Our academic prowess and educational achievements
• Our career accomplishments and job titles or leadership track record
• Here’s a big one – the performance of our children
• Our financial resources
• Maybe it’s who is in your contact list
• How many likes and retweets we get on social media
• Our religious activity or our level of Bible knowledge
Now, if you are listening, say Amen. To brag about or take refuge in any of these things is ignorant, in a literal sense. Remember, the word “fool” in these verses means “ignorant.” And to brag about these things reveals that we are ignorant of two spiritual realities. If we are bragging because of pride, we are ignorant that every good gift truly comes from the God who loves to give good gifts to his children. If we are bragging because we are trying to compensate for deep insecurities, then we are ignorant of the power, promises, and potential of our identity in Jesus Christ. We don’t fully understand that Jesus doesn’t save us to make a better version of us, but rather we are a brand new creation in Christ. The gospel teaches that the old us was buried with Christ in His death, so that means bragging is putting make-up on a corpse.
If we are drawing our confidence (or fake confidence that we are projecting) from anything external, then we are ignorant of our identify in Christ and we are ignorant of the reality that God’s power is directly connected to our weaknesses, not our strengths. It’s one thing to quote the gospel, it’s quite another to live out of it. And this is not the only place in the Bible, where Paul is firing off this gospel gun.
Listen to Philippians 3:4-9:“Though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also. If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: 5 circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; 6 as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless. 7 But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. 8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith.”
What Paul is saying is that our resumes don’t really matter. Our confidence in the flesh should be forsaken. Whatever we think is gain, it’s really nothing in light of knowing Jesus, being found in Jesus, and living eternally with Jesus. That’s where we should place ALL OF OUR CONFIDENCE. So, let’s be careful where we truly draw our confidence from, and let’s also…
2. BE CAREFUL WHAT WE VALUE MOST – vs 23b-29
Most of us put a high premium on two things in this life, probably more than we realize. And those two things are comfort and control. And think about it – it feels like the alternative is to be uncomfortable and out of control. Who is signing up for that? So there is nothing wrong with desiring those things. But the danger is when those things become ruling desires which becomes idolatry…which is when we come to the place where we value those things so deeply that we become convinced that our hearts will not be satisfied until we can obtain them.
And apart from Christ at work in us, actively changing the affections of our hearts, we are naturally going to drift towards the idols of comfort and control. And apart from the power of the Spirit filled life, we don’t have enough power in our sinful flesh to consistently choose to not give in to the ruling desire of comfort and control. So while there is hope for us in the power of the gospel, can we just be honest – it is really hard to not let the idols of comfort and control take root in our hearts, isn’t it? Now, let me say this for the 1,000th time. We do what we do, because our hearts want what it wants and our heart wants what it wants, because we believe what we believe. And there are lots of wrong beliefs driving the desire for comfort and control.
But for the sake of time, let me just zero in on one – we believe that we deserve it. We believe that if we do right by God, he should do right by us by providing us with comfort and control. Now everybody look up here, because here’s the tension at play. What we really want is not what we actually signed up for. Let me explain. The way many of us live, which expresses what we really value, is not the way Jesus said we would live. Let me help you remember what you signed up for. Jesus said it in John 15:18-19: “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. 19 If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.”
That doesn’t sound comfortable to me, does it you? Jesus said, “If any man desires to be my disciple, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.” That sounds like a huge loss of control to me, does it you? And the Bible also says, “All who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.” Persecution is not a synonym for comfort or control. You see, what we signed up for is a life of sacrifice and suffering. And while our suffering will be distinct from Paul’s, suffering will mark the life of a true follower of Jesus. So if your game plan is to boast in your strengths, the bad news is suffering and sacrifice will eventually beat that out of you, so the better game plan is to value boasting in our weakness.
Listen to some of Paul’s suffering and sacrifice in verses 23-29: “—with far greater labors, far more imprisonments, with countless beatings, and often near death. 24 Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. 25 Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea; 26 on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers; 27 in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. 28 And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches. 29 Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is made to fall, and I am not indignant? 30 If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness."
Paul is communicating his willingness to suffer and sacrifice, not to receive pity, but as a sign of his commitment to value Christ (and is mission) above all else.
Now, as we look briefly at Paul’s sufferings, some of them were common and some of them were unique to Paul’s commitment to value Jesus above all else.
COMMON | If you were to travel in the first century, it was somewhat common to fall into the hands of robbers. If you were traveling by boat, you weren’t traveling on a Norwegian Cruise Ship. It was most likely a makeshift boat made out of wood that you pieced together. And so you might spring a leak, or you might hit some harsh waters and capsize, or you might bump into some local enemies and have to fight or flea. You might endure some sleepless nights and if you didn’t have means, you may go hungry for a few days or have to sleep outside.
Those are some common sufferings that people faced in Paul’s day and there will be common struggles we face that comes with living in a fallen world. But, there were some unique sufferings Paul incurred solely because he was following Jesus. And what Paul does is boast in his weakness by saying that he:
• Was imprisoned and nearly beaten to death on multiple occasions.
• More specifically, he received 39 lashes on his back from the Jews for his faith in Jesus. And this didn’t only happen once, it happened 5 times.
• He was beaten with rods and stoned. And let me say that when a person was stoned, the end result was usually death. And this wasn’t a few pebbles thrown a few times.
• These were sometimes huge boulders hurled onto someone’s chest Paul experienced this personally in the book of Acts in the city of Lystra. And Paul is testifying that he was weak and powerless to stop it.
• Paul experienced shipwrecks and was in prison for the majority of his ministry, all for the sake of the gospel.
And what’s often natural is to think that our hardship is evidence that God has abandoned us. But what we see in Paul’s life, and what we will true in our life, is that while suffering and deep sacrifice are painful, there are spiritually profitable if we remain under them instead of running away in rebellion. And secondly, they give evidence that we belong to Jesus and are on mission for Him! Listen to this insight from one commentary.
“Paul’s catalog of sufferings is the greatest argument for his apostolic authority because it demonstrates his solidarity with God. Christ suffered. Paul, Christ’s apostle, suffers. As we understand our own trials and sufferings in this light, we discover that, far from disqualifying us from experiencing and proclaiming the gospel, they actually qualify us for it. God uses the hardest and most shameful experiences of our lives to soften us and bring us to fuller understanding of his surpassing benefits. In our isolation from the world’s provision, we learn that we are fully satisfied when he is our portion. He uses our sufferings to demonstrate his sufficiency. And he uses our afflictions as occasion for dispersing comfort and the deepest realities of his abiding care.”
And you have to decide that above everything else, you value Christ as treasure. Because if you value comfort and control, then you will run from Christ in angry rebellion when suffering and sacrifice beat the comfort and control out of you. But if you treasure Christ above everything, then you will take refuge in Him and experience “the deepest realities of his abiding care.” If we value Christ as treasure, then we will learn to boast in our weaknesses, because then He gets the glory, not us, because he sustained us when comfort and control eluded us.
Paul experienced suffering externally from that list we just read as well as the suffering that he experienced. Look at verse 28 again: “And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches.”
Newsflash, when you commit to loving others, you are signed up for carrying some anxiety on their behalf. Every parent who has watched a 16-year old pull out of the driveway for the first time, or has dropped off an 18-year old at college or boot camp understands this. To serve Jesus faithfully, is to love other people deeply and be on mission dangerously. There is the danger of being rejected as a gospel messenger. There is the danger of getting cancelled for preaching an exclusive gospel in an intolerant culture. There is the danger of being called a bigot, for kindly but convictionally holding to a biblical sexual ethic. There is a danger of seeking justice on behalf of others in the mob mentality of social media. There is the danger of loving people deeply and having them turn their back on you painfully. There is sacrifice and suffering in loving Jesus and others.
Yes, what our hearts naturally want are comfort and control, but what we signed up for was suffering and sacrifice. And what Paul is teaching us is that the weaknesses that accompanies that suffering and sacrifice is a gift because it puts us in a position to fully understand and experience that human weakness unlocks divine power. But the concept of deep sacrifice doesn’t sell tickets, does it? And that’s not a new reality.
J. H. Goldner wrote, “The prevailing tendency in the present-day church is to make religion too easy. It is kept within the realm of convenience and comfort. Rarely is there a call for real sacrifice. By means of suppers and sales people are tricked into giving. Through entertainments and other alluring programs an effort is made to inject a little religion into the unsuspecting. And when people have come into the church the greatest care is exercised to spare them, so that only a minimum of anything is asked of them.” You might be interested to know that J. H. Goldner wrote these words about the church in 1926.
And a good question to wrestle with, not in a morbid introspection way, but with an appropriate tension is this - what stories do we have to tell about our weaknesses and our sufferings and sacrifices in following Jesus? And we should value those more than we value comfort and control, because they give us an occasion to boast in our weaknesses, instead of trying really hard to conceal them. And if you want to learn how to do that, then come back next week and find out!
