Thursday 8th June
Read 2 Corinthians 11:23-29
“Are they servants of Christ? (I am out of my mind to talk like this.) I am more. I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. 24 Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. 25 Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was pelted with stones, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, 26 I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my fellow Jews, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false believers. 27 I have laboured and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. 28 Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches. 29 Who is weak, and I do not feel weak? Who is led into sin, and I do not inwardly burn?” (NIVUK)
Let the boasting begin! Paul has begun with heritage and then moves onto service, then effort. Then, ummm, hang on…that is not how the boasting script is supposed to run?! Surely he needs to list his leadership positions, where he got his degree, publication record and references, innovation and team building, churches planted, elders conferred, etc.? Random pelting with stones, sleep deprivation and torture are just completely inappropriate to boasting. If he needed a script, he could have wandered down to the town hall of any Roman town and seen how it should be done (http://classics.mit.edu/Augustus/deeds.html).
One suspects though that Paul is very deliberate in his boasts. There is simply no answer to them. They are the very opposite of what the false apostles would have listed and the Corinthians are therefore left with a choice. It is almost like an ancient version of our modern evangelistic tool: ‘Two apostles to follow’. Following Paul means choosing to boast in dishonour and weakness and suffering. The authority and honour the false apostles demand by virtue of heritage and training and speech and degrees or position is, as Paul explained to the Philippians, hollow, worthless and a little dangerous as it puffs one up with human strengths. And it is so very tempting to do things that way – to establish one’s rights and brook no challenge or criticism in defending them. Paul’s self-defence turns out to be no self-defence at all – but a catalogue of humiliating surrender. Why would he put up with this? Why would anyone?
Would you?
