How often do we take a text of Scripture and apply that truth in a personal manner in our lives but once understood in its biblical context we discover an even greater reality? That’s exactly what happened to me this week. Since I had never studied 2 Corinthians before in my undergraduate, graduate nor post graduate courses, nor had ever taught or preached from 2 Corinthians, except a few isolated texts, I was startled by a text that I assumed I understood in my times of reading it, or from others who had suggested the essential meaning if it.
For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.[i]
I simply took this to mean that we needed to submit our thoughts that were contrary to the word of God and make them obedient to Christ. It seemed to me that spiritual warfare was primarily in our minds. It is certainly true that the battle we fight is primarily a spiritual battle happening in our minds, but understanding exactly what Paul meant from these texts in their context extends far beyond that premise.
In 2 Corinthians, Paul is defending himself against the criticisms directed at him regarding his life and ministry because of a distorted understanding of the gospel. This distortion, led by a group of outsiders, affected a minority group in the church who were being led astray.
Two questions come to mind. First, what were these false ideas that needed to be corrected? Secondly, when and how should we defend ourselves to others who are verbally attacking and criticizing us regarding our understanding of the gospel? How does this idea fit into Jesus’ remarks on the Sermon on the Mount regarding “turning the other cheek”?
But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also.[ii]
Is Jesus telling us here that we are not to protect ourselves or defend ourselves? Or is He speaking of the issue of retaliation and allowing God to vindicate us? Is there ever a time that we need to stand up and speak against evil? Someone might argue that Jesus is speaking about not defending ourselves, but we know that Jesus certainly attacked the teaching and the hypocrisy in the lives of many of the religious leaders in his day.
However, in 2 Corinthians, Paul is dealing with personal attacks in the form of criticism that was personally directed at him to undermine his credibility and ministry among the Corinthians. So, one of the issues that we need to understand during times of criticism is what is at stake. Paul is defending himself and his ministry because the very essence and nature of the gospel is being attacked and distorted. Outsiders are trying to discredit both Paul, as God’s messenger, and his message. How does what was transpiring in that hour affect what is happening today? Are there still false messages distorting the gospel and leading people away from the truth?
Kent Hughes explains how our understanding of the gospel is critical in helping us not to go to extremes that are currently happening in our own time.
As Christians, we live in both the now and the not yet of the kingdom. Christ’s death, resurrection, ascension, and exaltation have introduced the kingdom. Those of us who trust in Christ as the messianic King are in him and are members of the kingdom. Being in Christ, we are seated with God ‘in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus’ (Ephesians 2:6). And God has ‘blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places’ (Ephesians 1:3). Both the seating and blessing are now, in the present, though the full realization will happen at Christ’s return.
This creates an ongoing tension in the now of today. As Christians we presently have eternal life, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, forgiveness of sins, fellowship in the Body of Christ, and the blessed hope of Christ’s return. At the same time, we do not have all the blessings that will come. We do not have new bodies or a new heaven or a new earth. We have not seen the face of God. Perfect love and holiness and fellowship are not ours. We still experience sin, pain, and death. As God’s children we are called to balance the realities of now and not yet.
Overemphasis on the not yet of the future kingdom can lead to a speculative mind-set, date-setting eschatology, and a minimizing of the graces that we already have. On the other hand, an overemphasis on the now of the kingdom can lead to a loss of focus on Christ’s return and the delusion that promises reserved for future fulfillment are ours in the present.[iii]
What does all this mean? Simply, that we have two distinctly different aspects of the gospel, which are a counterbalance. Paul describes it this way in his letter to the Philippians.
I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it.[iv]
Paul describes the mystery of the spiritual life as being one that has spiritual power and may be suffering real challenges in this life, not because they do not have enough faith, but often because of their faith. So, how do we handle those who focus wrongly on either side of this counterbalance? Often, those who are immature criticize those they see are not experiencing, in their minds, all that God has promised in the gospel, even though some of that aspect of the kingdom will not be fully realized until Jesus comes back.
We will look at two ways we can determine what our response should be toward the criticism of our lives and ministries.
FIRST, DETERMINE IF WE SHOULD ANSWER OUR CRITICS BY UNDERSTANDING WHAT IS AT STAKE
The issue is if we should say anything and if so, what should we say? It reminds me of two proverbs that seem contradictory until examined a little closer. “Do not answer a fool according to his folly, or you yourself will be just like him. Answer a fool according to his folly, or he will be wise in his own eyes” (26:4–5). Proverbs reveal that time, context, and circumstance determine which approach is fitting or appropriate. It takes wisdom and discernment to know how to respond. Tremper Longman uses these two proverbs to teach the nature of Proverbs as a literary form.
Proverbs are not universally true laws but circumstantially relevant principles. . . .The wise person must assess whether this is a fool who will simply drain one’s energy with no positive results or whether an answer will prove fruitful to the fool or perhaps to those who overhear. The wise not only know the proverb but also can read the circumstance and the people with whom they dialogue.[v]
The context determines if we should respond, not just how to respond.
A. Paul’s Appeal.
By the humility and gentleness of Christ, I appeal to you—I, Paul, who am ‘timid’ when face to face with you, but ‘bold’ toward you when away! I beg you that when I come I may not have to be as bold as I expect to be toward some people who think that we live by the standards of this world.[vi]
Paul’s critics were pointing out what they considered to be Paul’s inconsistencies. When he is absent, he is bold and direct; but when he was among them, he was gentle and feeble. Paul’s response is simply that he was acting consistently with the nature and Spirit of Jesus. His desire, as he explains, is to simply, gently, and graciously bring them back to God. However, seeing that some of them had been seduced by the teaching of these false teachers, Paul becomes more direct and forceful in his letter. Paul is still trusting that they will repent and turn to God and move away from their inconsistent and sinful ways. Yet not all were convinced. Some embraced the messaging from the self-promoters rather than understanding the humility that is found in Christ. Paul is going to address this false understanding of the nature of the gospel.
At present a small unrepentant minority of such detractors and interlopers opposed Paul in Corinth. Guided by their inverted values, they judged Paul’s ministry to be fleshly. His unimpressive persona, his lack of rhetorical skills, his meek and humble demeanor, his poverty, his working with his hands, the absence of ecstatic experiences and visions, his incessant trials and difficulties (rather than ‘success’) were, to his opponents, incontrovertible evidence that his ministry was of the flesh and not of the Spirit.
…Paul’s enemies obviously suffered from a values deficit because they regarded humility not as a grace but as a weakness. Apparently, they were influenced by the classical Greek tradition that regarded great men as anything but humble. In fact, classic literature couples meekness and humility with servility, which stands opposite to nobility and dignity.[vii]
In Western civilization, humility was only understood as a grace and virtue because of the Christian faith.
D. A. Carson in his book A Model of Christian Maturity: An Exposition of 2 Corinthians 10-13, writes regarding the nature of the issues that Paul was faced with in Corinth.
Doubtless the intruders think of themselves as gifted and spiritual; but their criteria for assessing both themselves and Paul have received their imprint from Judaizing Christianity, from Hellenistic standards of rhetoric and leadership, and from visionary enthusiasm. Paul responds by insisting in effect that when these perspectives dominate, the resulting judgments are sub-Christian. Judaizers will seek to prove their spiritual superiority by making much of their racial and covenantal pedigree (2 Cor. 11:21a–22); sophists will judge a person’s right to lead by the competence or otherwise of his rhetoric (v. 6) and by his ability to command a considerable income (v. 7); and visionary enthusiasts will judge a potential leader by the number and vividness of his alleged spiritual experiences (12:1–10). But all such criteria, Paul perceives, depreciate Christ. If an essential element of true spirituality is race, then it is not Christ’s cross-work and our consequent relationship to him that are determinative; if standards of rhetoric and the ability to command a purse are prime conditions for leadership in the church, then a servant mentality is depreciated (even though Christ himself displayed just such an attitude), and culturally bound standards of oratory usurp the place of unchanging and culture-transcendent truth; and if a display of the visionary’s enthusiasm is the sine qua non for advanced leadership, not only is the church vulnerable to fraudulent claims, but the claimants themselves are likely to glory more and more in the esoteric, and not in the sufficiency of the grace of Christ.
The heart of the intruders’ criteria is triumphalism; and in each case the criterion is grounded on something neither good nor evil in itself, but that is fundamentally evil when it serves to display Christ or camouflage the true characteristics of spiritual leadership. In this sense, the criteria of evaluation proposed by the intruders were essentially non-Christian. Principally, they were pagan. The clash between Paul and the intruders was a clash of worldviews. Paul’s worldview was shaped by the gospel; theirs took its form from what was praised in the segments of society whose honor they cherished. Ironically, they were charging Paul with living according to worldly standards that were not up to their own level of spiritual worth, whereas in reality they had so misunderstood the gospel that their own values were truly worldly, according to the ‘flesh’ in the customary Pauline sense—egocentric, sinful, rebellious against God and the revelation he had graciously provided.[viii]
- Paul’s Defense and Spiritual Authority.
For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. And we will be ready to punish every act of disobedience, once your obedience is complete.[ix]
While I earlier stated that we can understand this in a singular sense, what Paul is saying here is that the message of the gospel transforms lives. The context is speaking to a contrast between what Paul is preaching and what these false apostles are propagating as the gospel.
Kent Hughes makes the distinction between Paul and these false teachers.
Conventional warfare, as conducted by the false apostles, would be fought with dazzling flourishes of rhetoric voiced by imposing men whose esoteric preaching was laced with personal accounts of their visions and ecstatic experiences and spiritual exploits. The intended effect would be to overwhelm their listeners with their confident, charismatic, strutting carriage as supposed great men.
But Paul’s method of warfare was utterly unconventional, ‘not … according to the flesh.’ This Paul had made memorably clear in his first letter to the Corinthians. …But passages in 2 Corinthians suggest that the weapon Paul employed was the proclamation of the gospel. ‘For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake.’[x]
On the other hand, Paul’s powerful messaging of the gospel brought about a transformation in the lives of the hearers.
When he tells us that his weapons demolish arguments, therefore, he does not simply mean that he can out-debate any opponent and drive him shamefaced from the stage. He means something far more: his weapons destroy the way people think, demolish their sinful thought patterns, the mental structures by which they live their lives in rebellion against God. In his own words, his spiritual weapons tear down ‘every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God.’ (v. 5).
…The astonishing thing about Paul’s preaching of the gospel in the first century is that although his message was a stumbling block to Jews and nonsense to Gentiles, both Jews and Gentiles were being converted. The gospel may be a scandal to some and folly to others, but it is powerful enough to capture representatives of this proud and unregenerate race. Many who cherish their ‘freedom’ and dismiss the crucified Christ with scorn come in time to embrace his lordship, cherish his cross, abandon self-promotion, and exchange it for self-denial and obedience.[xi]
SECONDLY, WE ANSWER OUR CRITICS BY OUR ACTIONS
Rather than remain solely in a war of words, Paul moves to show from his activities where the real biblical model of leadership comes from. It is not mere words, but the result of laboring among the people.
- We cannot judge by mere words.
You are judging by appearances. If anyone is confident that they belong to Christ, they should consider again that we belong to Christ just as much as they do. So even if I boast somewhat freely about the authority the Lord gave us for building you up rather than tearing you down, I will not be ashamed of it. I do not want to seem to be trying to frighten you with my letters. For some say, ‘His letters are weighty and forceful, but in person he is unimpressive and his speaking amounts to nothing.’ Such people should realize that what we are in our letters when we are absent, we will be in our actions when we are present.[xii]
We notice that Paul used his authority to build up rather than tear people down. This is not mere flattery which often leaves people unchanged and living a life of self-destruction. The corrective words of Paul were designed to help people grow and develop in their faith. We need to remember the words of Jesus in identifying false messengers.
‘Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.’ ‘Not everyone who says to me, “Lord, Lord,” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, “Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?”’ Then I will tell them plainly, “I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!”’[xiii]
Jesus is identifying the true from the false by the results in a person’s life. The true state of a person is seen by what they ultimately produce, though often there is outward pretense of spirituality, the effects of one’s life is seen in how they live and the impact their lives have on others.
- Making comparison is not wise.
We do not dare to classify or compare ourselves with some who commend themselves. When they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they are not wise.[xiv]
We see that we are not to measure our lives by others. We all have different abilities, gifts, and assignments. We need to be faithful to fulfill God’s will in our lives.
- Make proper assessments of our lives based on the work that God has given us to do.
We, however, will not boast beyond proper limits, but will confine our boasting to the sphere of service God himself has assigned to us, a sphere that also includes you. We are not going too far in our boasting, as would be the case if we had not come to you, for we did get as far as you with the gospel of Christ. Neither do we go beyond our limits by boasting of work done by others. Our hope is that, as your faith continues to grow, our sphere of activity among you will greatly expand, so that we can preach the gospel in the regions beyond you. For we do not want to boast about work already done in someone else’s territory.[xv]
We need to know God’s will and be content in the assignment God has given us. If God has not called us to be where we should be, it will cause great grief in our lives and negatively impact others.
- Let us boast of our Lord.
But, ‘Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.’ For it is not the one who commends himself who is approved, but the one whom the Lord commends.[xvi]
Let us not be so concerned about what others think but be more concerned about what God thinks. We all need to be reminded from time to time that all boasting is self-directed. We cheer each other on, encourage others in what they are doing but the reality is that all that we are and ever hope to be, we owe it all to Christ. There will be no boasting in heaven, except to worship the One who is worthy. I want to close with casting our eyes on the only One who is worthy. The book of Revelation is about Jesus, and tragically, we often make it about knowing the future. Let us pray that we gain a renewed glimpse of the only One who is worthy. (Revelation 4:11—5:14)
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[i] 2 Corinthians 10:3-5, The New International Version of the Bible, Zondervan, 2011.
[ii] Matthew 5:39
[iii] Kent Hughes, 2 Corinthians: Power in Weakness, (Crossway Books, 2006), 178-79.
[iv] Philippians 3:10-13.
[v] Tremper Longman, Proverbs, Baker Commentary on the Old Testament Wisdom and Psalms (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2006), 464.
[vi] 2 Corinthians 10:1-2.
[vii] Kent Hughes, 2 Corinthians: Power in Weakness, 180-81.
[viii] D. A. Carson, “A Model of Christian Maturity: An Exposition of 2 Corinthians 10-13. (Baker Books, 2007), 48-49.
[ix] 2 Corinthians 10:3-6.
[x] Kent Hughes, 2 Corinthians: Power in Weakness, 182.
[xi] D. A. Carson, “A Model of Christian Maturity: An Exposition of 2 Corinthians 10-13, 56, 60.
[xii] 2 Corinthians 10:7-11.
[xiii] Matthew 7:15-23.
[xiv] 2 Corinthians 10:12.
[xv] 2 Corinthians 10:13-16.
[xvi] 2 Corinthians 10:17-18.
