2nd Corinthians Chapter 10
Originally posted on Friday August 8, 2008
2nd Corinthians Chapter
10:1-10 Paul (again) Defends His Ministry
This
is the first of four chapters in which Paul revisits his position as an
apostle in preparation for his third visit to Corinth which will be
a difficult one. There is an apparent territorial struggle between
Paul and other unnamed evangelists who are also in the province of Achaia where
Corinth is located. These evangelists believe or are claiming that Paul has
overstepped his mandate by entering Achaia. This portion of the letter may
best be understood in the context of Paul's early missionary work as
the first to reach Corinth. His later referral to the Macedonian churches as
providing support for this mission indicates a time after Paul's first journey
through Macedonia as he crossed into Achaia. This
visit certainly would not be the one mentioned in 9:3-5 which follows Corinth's "repentance"
and reconciliation with Paul.
In
the minds of some Corinthians - those who seem to be opposing Paul, the
Christ-like meekness and gentleness of his public persona when among
them is quite different from that of his letters. His response is framed
as a hope. He would prefer that situations requiring him to
display such boldness of speech had not arisen in
Corinth. Unfortunately they have. There are those who question
the spiritual level of his actions, that he is "acting according to the
flesh" trying to ingratiate himself to them and to please
everyone. Although he does live "in the flesh" (as a human
being) when he comes to Corinth he will not use the standards of the flesh as
weapons against the dissenters. The "weapons of [his]
warfare" are not his alone, they have divine (spiritual)
power." The implication of invoking the Spirit as the empowering
agent by which Paul will act against his detractors is that their arguments are
not spiritually legitimate. They are of this world - of the flesh alone. Paul
will destroy all ramparts, arguments and proud obstacles raised against
him for he will be the combatant armed with the knowledge of God. Meek and
gentle though he may be, weak in their eyes as he may seem, now he is
properly armed "to 'avenge' every disobedience" when the
Corinthians realize their own obedience to Christ is inexorably linked to their
obedience to him as their spiritual father.
He
reminds those Corinthians who may question his authority that it has been
given to him by Christ to whom they profess to belong as does he. He is not
ashamed of this authority for he uses it "for building [them] up." It
is not a despotic, self serving authority based on human standards (of the
flesh). It is from Christ and for Christ on their behalf. He does not intend to
frighten them with such stern letters but he does want those who oppose him
and mistake his typical demeanor as a weakness of timidity when he is
among them, so that when he comes "what [he has said] by letter...[he]
will also do when present."
Paul
will not enter the game of comparison or measuring himself
against those who need to seek the highest honor among their
contemporaries. This he says does not "show good sense." As
for Paul, he does not boast beyond the field of opportunity God
has assigned and when he was the first to preach the Gospel
to Corinth he was within that field. Even beyond that, his hope that his
continued work in Corinth will bring an increased faith among them. His hope is
that as they grow in their faith they will become a center for an even
"greater sphere of action" and opportunities to proclaim the
Gospel "in lands beyond [them]." He is not concerned about the
"sphere of action" of other evangelists. But if they want to boast
let them "boast in the Lord whose commendation alone is what matters.
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Note:
This
chapter gives us a glimpse within the "sphere of action" in which a
number of evangelists were working. No doubt all of them felt they were obeying
the guidance of the Spirit. Each of them believed their nuanced version of the
Gospel was the authentic word of God. Achaia, the province of both Athens and
Corinth, would have been a fertile field for evangelism. Paul claimed that he
was the first to cross over from Macedonia to Achaia and then to Corinth. He
may have been but others followed. Rome already had an established church
community before Paul's missionary work began as did Cyprus. Given the fervor
and urgency that surrounded early missions there is little doubt
that others were at work in this "sphere of action" before Paul.
But Paul probably reached Corinth ahead of them. The extraordinary amount of
correspondence to and from Corinth suggests a long period of time
in Paul's development and nurture of this great city. The image of
competition among evangelists is fascinating to read. We might be amazed
that these soldiers of Christ would be more concerned about territorial
prerogatives than the larger mission of building a unified and interconnected
landscape of churches throughout this or any other province. But they
were and all of Paul's letters deal with this issue on one level or another.
Ultimately Paul would win. As he wrote in this chapter, he was using the divine
weapons of the Spirit and it appears they served him well.
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