There
had been a problem between the apostle Paul and the church at Corinth. However, the majority of the Corinthians had
repented and their relationship restored.
But there was still a group of self-appointed leaders who continued to
oppose Paul.
Paul will call these
opponents, ironically, ‘super-apostles’.
They looked down on him. They
despised his emphasis on weakness and suffering. For them, the Christian life was not supposed
to embrace pain and hardship. They
emphasised a victorious Christian life and triumph. Theirs was a ‘prosperity gospel’. Paul needs to take these men on. Bad theology needs to confronted. Bad theology misrepresents the holiness and
love of God. It hurts people.
Not so long ago, I was in
a Christian centre. There I saw copies
of a book on healing. I looked through one
of them and saw that it claimed that it was always God’s will to heal faithful
Christians. I was struck by an irony—not
so long ago the founder of that Christian centre had died of an illness. I want to ask the people of that place, ‘if
you believe what this book says, then who sinned—who lacked faith—your leader
or the people who prayed for them?’ The
‘health and wealth gospel’ can only offer condemnation at the funeral of a
believer.
1.
Confront like Jesus
(1-2)
I,
Paul, myself entreat you, by the meekness and gentleness of Christ—I who am
humble when face to face with you, but bold toward you when I am away—I beg of
you that when I am present I may not have to show boldness with such confidence
as I count on showing against some who suspect us of walking according to the
flesh (1-2)
Paul refers to the meekness and gentleness of Christ. Jesus describes himself as ‘Gentle and
Lowly’. Last year I read the book,
‘Gentle and Lowly’, by Dane Ortland. It’s
so good that I plan to read it again this year.
The author explains, ‘Meek.
Humble. Gentle. Jesus is not trigger-happy. Not harsh, reactionary, easily
exasperated. He is the most
understanding person in the universe.
The posture most natural to him is not a pointed finger but open arms.’ Yet Jesus’ meekness and gentleness walk
side-by-side with his courage and conviction.
Another book I really
enjoyed last year was ‘The Incomparable Christ’, by Oswald Saunders. He writes a chapter on ‘The Manliness of Christ’. He explains that chaplains in WWI found that
‘The average Tommy believed that Jesus was just and good but a trifle
soft.’ ‘They never knew that He was Lion
of Judah as well as Lamb of God.’ Jesus
could overturn the tables of the corrupt and have sharp words for religious hypocrites.
The ‘super-apostles’
accused Paul of being a hypocritical-coward.
They said that he was all softly-softly and nice when with them, but
then when at a safe distance he would write them harsh letters. Paul warns them that he is willing to challenge
them face-to-face.
I feel God is challenging
me about being afraid of conflict. I
want everyone to think well of me. I
don’t want to fall out with anyone. But
speaking the truth in love may annoy people.
We need to be full of meekness and gentleness, and loyalty to the truth.
Family members may be offended by the gospel—but we don’t want to leave
them uninformed. We should be inviting
people to address issues in our lives, without taking the hump. We may also be called to address issues in
the lives of others—seeking to be respectful, tactful and wise—and they might
not thank us for it. Having all people
speak well of you is not a measure of godliness.
2.
Build with Word and Spirit (3)
The ‘super-apostles’ accused
Paul of ‘walking according to the flesh’.
They thought that he wasn’t very spiritual. Not like them. They boasted of great spiritual experiences,
he simply preached the good news. They
were trained in all the rhetorical techniques of the day, he simply spoke
clearly. They charged fees for their
teaching, he supported himself by working with his hands.
For
though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh
(2). The New Living Translation puts it,
‘We are human, but we don’t wage war as humans do.’ He may not have had natural charisma. He may not have appeared impressive. He had come among them in weakness and with
much fear and trembling (2:1-5). But his
message had power because it is the gospel of God.
A Tweet read: ‘What if
Jesus decided to build the church in a way that only he got the credit? What if it wasn’t down to how up-to-date our
buildings are, how professional our praise band is, or how impressive our
preachers? What if we just loved people,
prayed and were clear with the truth?’
Let’s grow this church in
depth as well as numbers. Let’s pray for
lives to be transformed. Let’s ask God
for opportunities to be clear with the truth.
Let’s be Christlike in our love and concern for others. Church growth experts offer lots of
techniques to make a church great. May
we simply depend on these three: prayer, love for people and being clear with
the truth.
3.
Do
God’s work God’s way (4-6)
I don’t know why the
Christian church is so obsessed with putting on a performance. I don’t know why people are impressed by
flash and charm. I don’t know why we
fall for the strutting showman. But
while these weapons of the flesh can attract a crowd they cannot change lives
from the inside out. The good news about
Jesus, lovingly and prayerfully shared, destroys strongholds of unbelief,
overcomes arguments and objections to God and takes every thought captive to
obey Christ.
This doesn’t mean that we
win will every debate with our unbelieving friends. It does mean that our aim is to be
clear. When the opportunity comes to
speak about Jesus make sure that you tell them that without Jesus in their
lives they are lost and guilty before God and on the road to hell. Make sure that you tell them that God loves
them and wants to transform their lives.
Make sure you show them the cross, where Jesus took the punishment that
we deserve, so that everyone who turns to Him might be forgiven and clean. Then, even if they laugh at what you have
said, you can walk away knowing that you have offered them the most powerful
message the world has ever heard.
Paul takes every thought
captive being ready to punish every
disobedience, when your obedience is complete (6). Paul is so convinced of the need to do God’s
work God’s way that he is ready to take on everyone who opposes the message he
brings. God’s truth is worth fighting
for!
Conclusion
I want each of you to
give your life to Christ, then get baptised and then become a member of the
church, where you can submit to the church’s discipline and contribute to its
mission.
Before you become a
member, you will attend a membership class.
In that membership class you will be told about a family called the Stockils. They were a key family in our church for many
years.
They became Christians
because in the early 1900s their son contracted an infectious disease and was
quarantined in hospital. The only
minister who would visit them was the Baptist pastor. He would visit the bog and his family each
week, and bring a bag of sweets. He
would take time each time he visited to pray with the family for the boy’s
recovery. The boy’s father was intrigued
that the pastor would risk his own life in this way.
‘Why would you do
this?’
‘Because of God’s love’,
the pastor replied.
‘But what about you own
life?’
‘Live or die my life is
in God’s hands.’
‘Well,’ said the father,
‘if that is your faith, I am my family will be coming to your church.’
Our predecessors in this
church summed up their mission like this: ‘We place great importance on the
preaching of the gospel of Christ, the communion of believers and the
furtherance of the Lord’s cause here’.
God’s work done God’s
way!
What are the three
ingredients? Prayer, love people and be
clear with the truth.
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