2 Corinthians 11:7-11 says...
Today's verses are 2 Corinthians 11:7-11, which read,
v.7 - Or did I commit a sin in humbling myself so that you might be exalted, because I preached the gospel of God to you without charge?
Paul was the spiritual father of the Christians in the Corinthian church, the bride, that was presented with the gospel of Jesus Christ, the groom. Paul was more eloquent in his letters than he was in person and this became an attack of the false teachers against him. Another attack was that he didn't charge a fee to tell them about the gospel and also he worked as a tent maker to support himself while he was sharing the gospel with them. The false teachers were pointing out than any apostle worth his salt would have commanded a fee for services and definitely would not be doing the lowly service of mending tents for others.
Paul asks them if it is a sin that he didn't charge for his sharing and if it was a sin to work so he could bring the gospel at no charge. Previously Paul spent a lot of time talking about how the church is to support its spiritual teachers and I wondered why he didn't follow that pattern himself in this situation with the Corinthians. Now I see that it was another way in this situation to show the difference between himself and the practices of the false teachers.
v.8, 9 - I robbed other churches by taking wages from them to serve you; and when I was present with you and was in need, I was not a burden to anyone; for when the brethren came from Macedonia they fully supplied my need, and in everything I kept myself from being a burden to you, and will continue to do so.
Paul and his companions were supported by the church, it was just churches from other areas that supported them to reach out to the Corinthians in this way. It is interesting that the churches that were supporting Paul were in regions that were much more improvised than the city of Corinth that had much wealth. I am sure that if Paul would have come in and charged a fee for his speaking and demanded resources of the Corinthians instead of working that the false teachers would have found fault with that too.
Paul looked over the situation that he was going into and made a plan to operate this way with the gospel in mind. He was supported by others in this missionary effort but also worked with his hands to support the need. I am sure that Paul used those tent making skills in the marketplace to tell more about the gospel just as he did with those soldiers guarding him in prison.
v.10, 11 - As the truth of Christ is in me, this boasting of mine will not be stopped in the regions of Achaia. Why? Because I do not love you? God knows I do!
If it is boasting to spread the gospel message without a fee and working with his hands to support the effort in Corinth and the regions of Achaia then Paul will continue to boast. Somehow the false teachers have painted the picture that Paul's actions were not a sign of his love for the people of Corinth. They had twisted Paul's actions to be opposite of what they were.
Paul gets very blunt with his language here to refute the claims of the false teachers and this will bleed over into our next study. Paul is doing all of this out of love for them and also because of his love for Christ and will continue this practice. It would have been easy to stop when opposition came but Paul pressed on instead.
What is the best way to reach people in this region with the gospel message of Jesus Christ? It will most likely take resources from the Christianity community to support something that they will not get a monetary return in any way or end up with some brick and mortar structure to point to. What the church will end up with is pointing to souls who heard the gospel because the church loved them so much to provide the best way possible for them to hear it to believe it. It will probably not look like the current business model of our time that you are to follow to be deemed successful even as a church with numbers and programs. It will mean sacrifice that could have no earthly temporal returns but heavenly eternal rewards later. Paul was strategic in his presentation of the gospel to the Corinthians. Are we strategic in presenting the gospel in our town? Are we presenting the gospel?
"Lord, the fact that Paul was being persecuted by false teachers over the fact of how he was conducting himself is evidence that he was doing the right thing to draw attention back to the gospel after explaining his actions. When we all look the same, what explanation is needed? You call us to be unique and a peculiar people who at times need to explain why we do what we do and say what we say so that we can point them to the love of our lives, You. Amen."
Pastor Adam
v.7 - Or did I commit a sin in humbling myself so that you might be exalted, because I preached the gospel of God to you without charge?
Paul was the spiritual father of the Christians in the Corinthian church, the bride, that was presented with the gospel of Jesus Christ, the groom. Paul was more eloquent in his letters than he was in person and this became an attack of the false teachers against him. Another attack was that he didn't charge a fee to tell them about the gospel and also he worked as a tent maker to support himself while he was sharing the gospel with them. The false teachers were pointing out than any apostle worth his salt would have commanded a fee for services and definitely would not be doing the lowly service of mending tents for others.
Paul asks them if it is a sin that he didn't charge for his sharing and if it was a sin to work so he could bring the gospel at no charge. Previously Paul spent a lot of time talking about how the church is to support its spiritual teachers and I wondered why he didn't follow that pattern himself in this situation with the Corinthians. Now I see that it was another way in this situation to show the difference between himself and the practices of the false teachers.
v.8, 9 - I robbed other churches by taking wages from them to serve you; and when I was present with you and was in need, I was not a burden to anyone; for when the brethren came from Macedonia they fully supplied my need, and in everything I kept myself from being a burden to you, and will continue to do so.
Paul and his companions were supported by the church, it was just churches from other areas that supported them to reach out to the Corinthians in this way. It is interesting that the churches that were supporting Paul were in regions that were much more improvised than the city of Corinth that had much wealth. I am sure that if Paul would have come in and charged a fee for his speaking and demanded resources of the Corinthians instead of working that the false teachers would have found fault with that too.
Paul looked over the situation that he was going into and made a plan to operate this way with the gospel in mind. He was supported by others in this missionary effort but also worked with his hands to support the need. I am sure that Paul used those tent making skills in the marketplace to tell more about the gospel just as he did with those soldiers guarding him in prison.
v.10, 11 - As the truth of Christ is in me, this boasting of mine will not be stopped in the regions of Achaia. Why? Because I do not love you? God knows I do!
If it is boasting to spread the gospel message without a fee and working with his hands to support the effort in Corinth and the regions of Achaia then Paul will continue to boast. Somehow the false teachers have painted the picture that Paul's actions were not a sign of his love for the people of Corinth. They had twisted Paul's actions to be opposite of what they were.
Paul gets very blunt with his language here to refute the claims of the false teachers and this will bleed over into our next study. Paul is doing all of this out of love for them and also because of his love for Christ and will continue this practice. It would have been easy to stop when opposition came but Paul pressed on instead.
What is the best way to reach people in this region with the gospel message of Jesus Christ? It will most likely take resources from the Christianity community to support something that they will not get a monetary return in any way or end up with some brick and mortar structure to point to. What the church will end up with is pointing to souls who heard the gospel because the church loved them so much to provide the best way possible for them to hear it to believe it. It will probably not look like the current business model of our time that you are to follow to be deemed successful even as a church with numbers and programs. It will mean sacrifice that could have no earthly temporal returns but heavenly eternal rewards later. Paul was strategic in his presentation of the gospel to the Corinthians. Are we strategic in presenting the gospel in our town? Are we presenting the gospel?
"Lord, the fact that Paul was being persecuted by false teachers over the fact of how he was conducting himself is evidence that he was doing the right thing to draw attention back to the gospel after explaining his actions. When we all look the same, what explanation is needed? You call us to be unique and a peculiar people who at times need to explain why we do what we do and say what we say so that we can point them to the love of our lives, You. Amen."
Pastor Adam
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