2 Corinthians 11:16-21a says...
Today's verses are 2 Corinthians 11:16-21a, which read,
v.16-18 - Again I say, let no one think me foolish; but if you do, receive me even as foolish, so that I also may boast a little. What I am saying, I am not saying as the Lord would, but as in foolishness, in this confidence of boasting. Since many boast according to the flesh, I will boast also.
The false teaching from the false teachers was laced with boasting. It was a boasting that pointed to them and not to God. Paul is going to play along with this method in a sarcastic way. He lets the Christians in Corinth know that what he is going to say is not the way the Lord would say it but since they are good at receiving foolish boasting, he will do the same but with a twist. It may look like he is boasting of himself, which seems to be an attraction for the Corinthians, but Paul will use the boasting to point to Christ.
v.19-21a - For you, being so wise, tolerate it if anyone enslaves you, anyone devours you, anyone takes advantage of you, anyone exalts himself, anyone hits you in the face. To my shame I must say that we have been weak by comparison.
Paul is in full sarcastic mode. "Being so wise" is the flip to what it means. The Corinthians have been enslaved by the teaching of the false teachers; they have been preyed upon probably for money for them; they have been deceived with the false teacher's agenda; they have been lorded over by the false teachers' enforced authority; and they have belittled like a slap of the face. They are looking at this treatment from the false teachers as "wise."
What Paul brought was nothing compared to that. It was weak by comparison. Paul came talking about a freedom in Christ; he came supplying his own needs; he came under the Holy Spirit's agenda and not his own; he put himself in the place of a servant to them; and he spoke in terms of being a mother or father to them. Paul could not compare to these false teachers that were deemed so wise. Do you see and feel the sarcasm of Paul that he uses to get their attention?
He is going to say something that the false teachers will not be able to touch because the false teachers will not see the devotion to others because their focus is devotion to self. What Paul is going to speak of next would not even be on the radar of the false teachers. They would not do this and they would deem it unwise but Paul is trying desperately to reach the Corinthians with a turning from the unwisely wise of the false teachers.
I think the goal here is to see that when you compare Paul and his companions to the false teachers you are not comparing apples to apples but apples to oranges. They are not the same thing. They are completely different. They should not be said in the same sentence. Maybe this is similar to when people say all religions are the same and Christianity is lumped into that statement. All the religious leaders are the same and Jesus Christ is lumped into that statement. All paths lead to heaven and the cross of Christ is lumped into that statement.
When it comes to Christianity and the cross and to Jesus Christ, He can not be lumped in with all the other religions of the world. When you seriously look at Christ, you will see that we are comparing apples to oranges to anything else the world creates. No other religion has a leader that compares to Christ. But as the Corinthians did and we do today, we call it wise to follow something that is so inferior to gospel of Jesus Christ.
"Lord, when I have the opportunity, may I express to others how different You are. May I have the boldness to say that there are clear differences that put You in a whole other category than the religions of the world. May my words and actions show that I am following the beat of a different drummer because the other band doesn't even have a drummer and never will have. You are the only Savior of the world. Amen."
Pastor Adam
v.16-18 - Again I say, let no one think me foolish; but if you do, receive me even as foolish, so that I also may boast a little. What I am saying, I am not saying as the Lord would, but as in foolishness, in this confidence of boasting. Since many boast according to the flesh, I will boast also.
The false teaching from the false teachers was laced with boasting. It was a boasting that pointed to them and not to God. Paul is going to play along with this method in a sarcastic way. He lets the Christians in Corinth know that what he is going to say is not the way the Lord would say it but since they are good at receiving foolish boasting, he will do the same but with a twist. It may look like he is boasting of himself, which seems to be an attraction for the Corinthians, but Paul will use the boasting to point to Christ.
v.19-21a - For you, being so wise, tolerate it if anyone enslaves you, anyone devours you, anyone takes advantage of you, anyone exalts himself, anyone hits you in the face. To my shame I must say that we have been weak by comparison.
Paul is in full sarcastic mode. "Being so wise" is the flip to what it means. The Corinthians have been enslaved by the teaching of the false teachers; they have been preyed upon probably for money for them; they have been deceived with the false teacher's agenda; they have been lorded over by the false teachers' enforced authority; and they have belittled like a slap of the face. They are looking at this treatment from the false teachers as "wise."
What Paul brought was nothing compared to that. It was weak by comparison. Paul came talking about a freedom in Christ; he came supplying his own needs; he came under the Holy Spirit's agenda and not his own; he put himself in the place of a servant to them; and he spoke in terms of being a mother or father to them. Paul could not compare to these false teachers that were deemed so wise. Do you see and feel the sarcasm of Paul that he uses to get their attention?
He is going to say something that the false teachers will not be able to touch because the false teachers will not see the devotion to others because their focus is devotion to self. What Paul is going to speak of next would not even be on the radar of the false teachers. They would not do this and they would deem it unwise but Paul is trying desperately to reach the Corinthians with a turning from the unwisely wise of the false teachers.
I think the goal here is to see that when you compare Paul and his companions to the false teachers you are not comparing apples to apples but apples to oranges. They are not the same thing. They are completely different. They should not be said in the same sentence. Maybe this is similar to when people say all religions are the same and Christianity is lumped into that statement. All the religious leaders are the same and Jesus Christ is lumped into that statement. All paths lead to heaven and the cross of Christ is lumped into that statement.
When it comes to Christianity and the cross and to Jesus Christ, He can not be lumped in with all the other religions of the world. When you seriously look at Christ, you will see that we are comparing apples to oranges to anything else the world creates. No other religion has a leader that compares to Christ. But as the Corinthians did and we do today, we call it wise to follow something that is so inferior to gospel of Jesus Christ.
"Lord, when I have the opportunity, may I express to others how different You are. May I have the boldness to say that there are clear differences that put You in a whole other category than the religions of the world. May my words and actions show that I am following the beat of a different drummer because the other band doesn't even have a drummer and never will have. You are the only Savior of the world. Amen."
Pastor Adam
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