Hop, hop, hop! Her right foot was damaged by a heavy round table falling on it at the church. She was embarrassed. She wanted to stay home. But returned to work the next day using crutches. The crutches added to her pain. So, next, she resorted to a wheelchair. The enemy dropped discouragement bombs on her. I did my best to encourage my wife. That is when the Holy Spirit reminded me of how the Apostle Paul boasted about his sufferings for Christ. Let’s read what Paul wrote!
“I hope you will put up with me in a little foolishness. Yes, please put up with me! I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy. I promised you to one husband, to Christ, so that I might present you as a pure virgin to him. But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ. For if someone comes to you and preaches a Jesus other than the Jesus we preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the Spirit you received, or a different Gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it easily enough.” [2]
False apostles were presenting a different kind of Jesus to people than the One who revealed Himself to Paul on the road to Damascus. The Corinthians were beginning to shift their pure devotion from Christ to self-serving imposters. Paul sought to rescue them by reminding them how a true servant of Christ leads.
“I do not think I am in the least inferior to those super-apostles. I may indeed be untrained as a speaker, but I do have knowledge. We have made this perfectly clear to you in every way. Was it a sin for me to lower myself in order to elevate you by preaching the Gospel of God to you free of charge? I robbed other churches by receiving support from them so as to serve you. And when I was with you and needed something, I was not a burden to anyone, for the brothers who came from Macedonia supplied what I needed. I have kept myself from being a burden to you in any way and will continue to do so.” [3]
Paul avoided becoming a burden to those he served. Nehemiah and Jeremiah were like that. They left good lives to selflessly serve others. Nehemiah had numerous enemies attempt to sabotage him. Jeremiah spoke faithfully for God to people who mistreated him. Christlike leaders put the well-being of others before themselves.
“As surely as the truth of Christ is in me, nobody in the regions of Achaia will stop this boasting of mine. Why? Because I do not love you? God knows I do! And I will keep on doing what I am doing in order to cut the ground from under those who want an opportunity to be considered equal with us in the things they boast about. For such people are false apostles, deceitful workers, masquerading as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. It is not surprising, then, if his servants also masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will be what their actions deserve.” [4]
What should you do when self-serving leaders are leading God’s people astray? Paul called them imposters. The sufferings that the false apostles ridiculed him for, Paul used to defend the credibility of his authenticity.
The deceitful workers boasted that they were apostles of Christ. Paul boasted about his weaknesses so people would know that the power that was coming out of him was from Christ and not from himself. A servant of Christ points people to Christ.
People need leaders who point them to God. Jeremiah asked the people of his day what wrong God had committed that they forsook Him. [5] Their desire to sin had led them from God. They wanted boundless self-indulgence not boundless salvation.
“I repeat: Let no one take me for a fool. But if you do, then tolerate me just as you would a fool, so that I may do a little boasting. In this self-confident boasting I am not talking as the Lord would, but as a fool. Since many are boasting in the way the world does, I too will boast. You gladly put up with fools since you are so wise! In fact, you even put up with anyone who enslaves you, exploits you, takes advantage of you, or puts on airs or slaps you in the face. To my shame I admit that we were too weak for that!” [6]
Paul did not want to boast, but he did want his readers to discern between imposter leaders and true servants of Christ. Imposter leaders sought to enslave, exploit, demean, and physically abuse them. Paul professed himself to be too weak to do that to them. Paul felt better about himself when he was not a burden to anyone. The imposters were foxes seeking to enter the hen house for self-serving purposes.
“Whatever anyone else dares to boast about—I am speaking as a fool—I also dare to boast about. Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they Abraham’s descendants? So am I. 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. Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. 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, 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. I have labored 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. Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches. Who is weak, and I do not feel weak? Who is led into sin, and I do not inwardly burn?” [7]
How many churches today would call Paul to be their pastor? His previous experiences included audiences who imprisoned, whipped, and beat him with rods. Paul did not take God lightly. He didn’t pamper his congregants. He called them to work. He urged them to testify for Christ.
The other day I saw a jigsaw puzzle. The words, “killing time” came to mind. Why do people spend money on items that kill time. I prayed, “Lord, please raise up laborers for the harvest.” Advancing the kingdom of God to unreached people is work. People who live for pleasure do not get the job done. Soldiers do!
Jesus Christ came down from heaven not to do His own will. He had marching orders from His Heavenly Father, and He completed His mission perfectly. He was a laborer for God working alongside others who wanted to work for God.
“If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness. The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, who is to be praised forever, knows that I am not lying. In Damascus, the governor under King Aretas had the city of the Damascenes guarded in order to arrest me. But I was lowered in a basket from a window in the wall and slipped through his hands.” [8]
Paul boasted about the difficult circumstances he had endured to advance the Gospel. I heard preachers in China boast like this. For example, Pastor Samuel Lamb boasted that he coupled train cars for twenty years in a political reeducation camp, and never lost a finger by the grace of God.
As for me, once, a co-worker representing other co-workers said to me, “We know you are of God because we see how much you suffer and yet you keep serving the Lord.” That was one of the best compliments I ever received. Glory to God!
“If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness.” May Jesus be glorified in our lives by whatever means it takes to spread His Gospel!
[1] 2 Corinthians 11:30
[2] 2 Corinthians 11:1-4
[3] 2 Corinthians 11:5-9
[4] 2 Corinthians 11:10-15
[5] Jeremiah 2:4
[6] 2 Corinthians 11:16-21
[7] 2 Corinthians 11:22-29
[8] 2 Corinthians 11:30-33
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