Stand Strong in the Word
Stand Strong in the Word is a weekly bible study that teaches through the Bible verse by verse in chronological order. For more information, visit www.standstrongministries.org.
Stand Strong in the Word
#291 "Living for Christ, Not for Applause" (2 Corinthians 10:7-18)
Are you living for the applause of others, or are you truly seeking to please Christ? It’s easy to get caught up in recognition, comparison, and approval—but Paul reminds us in 2 Corinthians 10:7-18 that we should not overextend ourselves, thinking we deserve all the credit. Instead, we should serve the Lord with contentment and boast only in Him.
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Are you living for the applause of others or are you truly seeking to please Christ? It's easy to get caught up in recognition, approval and comparison, but Paul reminds us in 2 Corinthians 10 that our measure of success isn't found in human praise but in God's calling. That's what we're going to be talking about in today's podcast. So I encourage you guys to grab your Bible, turn to 2 Corinthians 10, and let's get into it. Well, hey, my friends, welcome to Stand Strong in the Word. Podcast. Blessed to be with you guys, as always, studying here 2 Corinthians, chapter 10. Now, if you've missed out on any previous podcast, you can check those things out wherever you get your podcasts. Leave us a review and make sure that you guys share this podcast with those people in your sphere of influence so they too can stand strong in God's Word.
Speaker 1:Our mission here is to continue to help as many people as God, through the power of the Holy Spirit, leads us to, to help ground them in Scripture, because you and I know Christians. The vast majority of them are biblically literate. They don't know the word of God. They believe in it, they turn to it here and there, but they're not studying it, they're not being grounded in it. So if you have been blessed by this podcast, let us know. Leave a comment out there. I greatly appreciate that. So now we're transitioning you guys at the end of this chapter, in chapter 10, we just dealt with three different episodes. Of course we could have done a lot more on spiritual warfare, but take advantage of that. Share those also with your friends who are struggling. Maybe they are in battle. We're all facing battles, christians. We are all soldiers of Christ and so if they are feeling weary, if they're being attacked by the enemy, if they're not drawn near to God, if they're not holding every thought captive, if they have demonic presence in their life, use those podcasts as a way to kind of give them some ground level understanding biblically and theologically and practically, so that they could be better equipped as a Christian soldier.
Speaker 1:But now we're going to be focusing in on this applause. And let's face it, we know as human beings that we do things oftentimes and I'm just speaking to Christians that when you look at the church world, sometimes we do things to get approval, to get recognition. That pastor so-and-so can see me. Recognition. That pastor so-and-so can see me. That elder so-and-so can give me that can see me doing it, that the small group leader, whatever the case may be the director, we want people to see our worth and we want people to applaud that. Now there's times where you and I know that, naturally, that it's a good thing, where people applaud and they encourage and they uplift. But when we want that attention, when it's about us and not about Christ, that is very dangerous and that is something that we have to be aware of.
Speaker 1:So when you see the deception, if you go back and we'll see this in the next chapter, in 2 Corinthians 11, verse 3, about that Satan, through his deception and his cunningness he was able to lead, sadly, eve and then Adam astray and he wants to strip us and he wants to conquer, destroy our pure devotion to Christ. But if you go back a ways and we talk about these strongholds and you look back at the fall of Lucifer, he was not only looking to be greater than God but receive that accolade, to receive that praise and to get that applause from the angels and to get that applause from the angels. And so now he has played that into the cards and how he deals it out into society to see how we ourselves, just as he was prideful, just as he was boastful, that he wants to see us to be prideful, he wants to see us boastful. And so in this transition now the next verses here through 7, through 18, we're gonna see how Paul is gonna really redirect us and not give a footing to the enemy. Because remember, if you go back before we look at verse 7 and verse 6, notice the language that Paul uses. Here he says being ready to punish every disobedience when your obedience is complete. And then he says here look at what is before your eyes.
Speaker 1:If anyone is confident that he is Christ, let him remind himself that just as he is Christ, so also are we. For if I boast a little too much of our authority, which the Lord gave for building you up and not for destroying, literally tearing down, you know yourself, I will not be ashamed. I do not want to appear to be frightening you with my letters, for they say his letters are weighty and strong, but his bodily presence is weak and his speech of no account. Let such a person understand that what we say by letter when absent we do when present, not that we dare to classify or compare ourselves with some of those who are commending ourselves, but when they measure themselves by one another and compare themselves with one another, they are without understanding. But we will not boast beyond limits, but will boast only with regard to the area of influence God assigned to us to reach, even to you, for we are not overextending ourselves, as though we did not reach you, for we were the first to come all the way to you with the gospel of Christ. We do not boast beyond limit and labors of others, but our hope is that as your faith increases, our area of influence among you may be greatly enlarged so that we may preach the gospel and lands beyond you without boasting of work already done in another's area of influence. Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord, for it is not the one who commends himself who is here.
Speaker 1:But we see that now Paul moves into a new discussion and he tries to ensure that the Corinthians don't lose sight of their conversion. So, just like if you've ever led someone to the Lord, the last thing that you want them to do is to lose sight of what God has done in their life. So reminding them as I was just writing an article reminding people of this great salvation that we have that the writer of Hebrews expresses so dearly, so pointedly, so infallibly, right through the illumination and conviction and direction of the Holy Spirit. And so the Corinthians heard the gospel and they accepted Paul's answer to their questions as they struggled to maintain their faith and we all know in the Christian walk it's a struggle at times and we know at times there's going to be people who are going to try to lead us astray, there's going to be false doctrine, there's going to be false teachers who are going to claim things that are cause doubt. They're going to cause dissension, they're going to cause division. And what we need to do, as Paul was pointing out here, right here in verse seven, is to remind them, just as Christ has done, like who they are, what's their purpose in this world, and it's not for his gain.
Speaker 1:Paul was commissioned, as you and I know, directly by Jesus Christ, to reach the Jews and also the Gentiles and also people of high authority. To the point we see throughout Paul's ministry that he ministered to a lot of people who were wealthy, who were kings, who were diplomats, who were elected officials. If you go back to our study that we did years ago in the book of Acts, you see in Acts, chapter 9,. You see in Acts, chapter 22,. You see Acts, chapter 26,. You see Paul laying out his testimony, and so when he says, look what's before your eyes, if anyone is confident that he is Christ, let him remind himself that just as he is Christ, so also are we. And my friends, I encourage you, just as Paul saying this verse is, look around you and see the brothers and sisters that you have in the Lord.
Speaker 1:I just did the streaming recently and we were polling the people that were listening to a message that I gave on panic mode to peace of mind. And one of the polls that we had asked the audience and we had hundreds on was how confident are you in your support group? And you know, if you take the people who were very negative about it and those people who are kind of wishy-washy about it and this may not surprise some of you, but the majority of the people did not really have faith in their support group. In fact, many said they don't have any at all. You don't think that's going to affect our walk with the Lord, my friends, as you and I are standing strong in God's word as believers right now.
Speaker 1:It doesn't end there, and this is what Paul's talking about is making sure that we are receiving true validation as we live for Christ. So now, when he is boasting in his authority, again, paul is defending he's not bragging, he's defending his ministry to the Corinthians here in verses 8 and 9. Because, remember, he's confident of the authority that he has as an apostle, knowing that it's come from the Lord. In fact, if we just go back to 2 Corinthians 3, verses 5 and 6, we see that he says not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God, who has made us sufficient to be ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit, for the letter kills but the Spirit gives life, see. So what I love about this particular passage is notice Paul's like our sufficiency is not in ourselves.
Speaker 1:So if he's going to have a little boast here, it's not about how grandiose and amazing he is, but rather what God has put in front of him, and he doesn't do it. You see, that's what happens when we in ministry brag about ourselves we are destroying, we are tearing down, we are putting people to shame and we're not uplifting the Lord. So Paul's not using his position for personal gain. Here he's not taking advantage. Remember the Corinthians. No, what we see here is that Paul used his apostolic authority to edify, to build up the church rather than undermine it. You know, there's going to be different takes and different perspectives and there's going to be different success stories and there's going to be people that we're going to pour into and they're going to do far better than what we ever dreamt for ourselves. We're not to be egotistical about it. We're not to be jealous about that. We're not to be envious about that. We're not to be jealous about that. We're not to be envious about that. We're not to cause division about it. We are to trust the Lord.
Speaker 1:And as Paul says this later in this letter, in chapter 13, verse 10, he says for this reason I write these things while I'm away from you that when I come I may not have to be severe in my use of the authority that the Lord has given me for building up and not for tearing down. What a great summary. When people say, hey, jason, tell us a little bit more about your ministry, he says well, my heart for the church is to build up the church as I preach the gospel, not about myself. I don't find sufficiency in myself, but we find sufficiency in the calling that God has given us and to surround ourselves with other like-minded people, like that's what the Bible teaches. Now we don't just regurgitate that and not have any transformational power. That comes with that. We believe it and our behaviors coincide with it. That should be a natural link in our worldview perspective, and so these aren't things that we take lightly. And so Paul's saying here is that the focus here is building up, not tearing down. So when you look around in your life, are you about building up? Are you about tearing down? Notice, also, he says I do not want to appear to be frightening you, so here's what's been happening and this is what Paul's addressing. This is actually very unfortunate, but this is the reality of the scriptures.
Speaker 1:And in our modern day you know, we see with, you know social media, you see a lot of bullying, you see a lot of people who go after people, make fun of them, put them down. Well, guess what? In the first century it was no different. In the first century it was no different. You know this language that Paul's bringing up, that some say that Paul the bold, you know Paul the weighty, paul the burdensome, paul the severe, or Paul the timid, paul the contemptible, and what was happening was people were mocking Paul. They're in essence saying you know, you read his letter and you know he's got his act together. He's a great writer, of course, he's writing through the power of the Holy Spirit, and yet when you see him in person he looks pretty pathetic. And if we understand the culture of that time, remember Greeks were highly valued in the public, particularly orators.
Speaker 1:You know they had the ability to wow the crowd with their intelligence. In fact, one study Bible, the evangelical study Bible, says boys often delivered public speeches as part of their education. From the Greek perspective, the ability and skill of a speaker was demonstrated not just in what was said but in the presentation itself. An impressive personal appearance and effective delivery were regarded as foundational to effective public speaking. Paul appears to have fallen short in these areas, at least in the minds of his critics. End quote. So we know that Paul was a brilliant man. You see that again in his testimonies in Acts 22, acts 26, philippians, chapter three. But the people that were also in ministry because later he referred to these as super apostles in chapter 11, but there's also these Greeks in Corinth, obviously, in Macedonia the broader scope geographically, where Paul was ministering in many of his travels. They're not convinced.
Speaker 1:And yet what's so amazing is that Paul does not let the prestige and the pride of the Greek oration make him feel defeated or to succumb to the pressures of society. That he was called to reach for Christ, and that's important. See, he says, well, I have to become like them. Now, don't get me wrong. You know you can like the food, the clothes. You know you start talking like them, start acting like them in a good way. That is Because they're influencing you and you love the culture, you love the people. I get that. But what Paul's saying is he's not going to fall into the pressure or the bully tactics of conforming his ministry just to appease these Greek orators or saying, okay, well, this is how they present their message and that's how I have to do it as well. Now, obviously he was trained in this and so we see a lot of the argumentation of Paul being used very persuasively, very logically, compelling, as he's making a compelling case of Christianity.
Speaker 1:But this is different. This is them mocking him, saying you're not a good speaker and because you don't speak with authority. Your letters do. But then when you're in, you know when you're, when we're present among you and you're giving a delivery you're not good. I had several people through the years tell me that they have been. You know, they come with an open heart, teaching God's word, and afterwards people are like not good, are you sure you should be doing this for a living? Because they weren't quote impressed. And that's the whole issue here. They weren't impressed.
Speaker 1:If you look throughout the second letter, paul here is trying to help the Corinthians understand his intentions. If you go back to his original correspondence that he had shared with him, what was he doing? He was trying to persuade them. He's trying to reason with them with a certain tone, obviously because of their sin. If you go back to chapter two, verses three and four, he says and I wrote as I did so, that when I came I might not suffer pain from those who should have made me rejoice, for I felt sure of all of you that my joy would be the joy of you all, for I wrote to you out of much affliction and anguish of heart and with many tears, not to cause you pain but to let you know the abundant love that I have for you. See, what Paul cared the most about was making sure he was authentic, that he was conveying his true love and affection for these people. And if people mock that, like these Greek orators, so be it. They were doing it to wow the crowd, to get applause from the crowd, but he's living for Christ. He's not there for the applause of man.
Speaker 1:And you have to think about it as a role as a parent, when we oftentimes say I'm not your friend, I'm the one that's in charge. God has put you in my life and he's put me in your life. We are family and my job as your parent is to train you up in the ways of the Lord. So I'm to discipline you. And that's what Paul was doing here. Chapter seven, verse eight nine, he says for even if I made you grieve with my letter, do not regret it.
Speaker 1:Paul's whole focus here is he wants them to repent. He's like a father, he's giving instruction, he's disciplining. He's not their friend and just caving and giving into them. He has a role to play. So when he says let such a person understand that what we say by letter when absent we do when present. So he he says let such a person understand that what we say by letter when absent we do when present. So he's saying I'm not contradicting myself, I'm not making excuses.
Speaker 1:The orators may think that my physical presence and my lack of bold speaking causes me to be weak. That's not true. Paul is honest with the Corinthians, assuring them that he will not act cowardly but will be as strict as necessary upon his arrival. So when he's saying, hey look, this is what I'm committed to doing, paul did it. He says not that we dare to classify or compare ourselves with some of those who are committing themselves. So what he's doing is he's not comparing himself to these other speakers, to these other orators.
Speaker 1:Paul makes it clear that he isn't like these false teachers. They have their own standard teaching and they're constantly mocking and comparing themselves to others. He's not going to indulge in self-praise. My friends, it's easy for us to see. We're clearly seeing it here in this passage. But we got to take a pause and say Lord, am I indulging in self-praise? Paul says in Galatians 6, 14, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me and I to the world.
Speaker 1:So the Corinthians here, they would be foolish right To take Paul, who is an apostle who is being broken, whose credentials are not fake, whose standards are not of his own but are from the Lord, and to throw it all away to gain acceptance and influence from other people. That is fleeting and that's what Paul's trying to point out here. But then what he does in verse 13 is he uses this imagery of a lane that is marked out for an athlete competing in a race and, in essence, what Paul is doing is he's pointing out that these false teachers who, again, who are mocking him, putting them down, they're crossing over and they're getting into his lane. This is what this phrase beyond limits. Okay, and this is so important.
Speaker 1:If you are in ministry, if you, like me, are running a ministry, a nonprofit ministry, you're working in a church, whatever the case may be, but the focus is on spreading the gospel, to equip the saints to do the work of the ministry. My friends, we are not in the business to try to compete with one another. We are not to boast, going beyond limits and say I got more followers, I got more of this, I got more of that. That is being competitive, and Paul is saying that the false teachers who are crossing over into his lane and he clearly, if you go back to 1 Corinthians 2, verses 1 through 5, he's not promoting his name. He's not promoting a certain agenda. He is solely there to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ. We are not to delude that. Our agenda does not supersede the gospel. It's as the expository's Bible commentary puts it.
Speaker 1:Unlike his adversaries, paul refuses to boast of what has occurred beyond the limits of his own ministry as the apostle to the Gentiles. And boasting about his special field at Corinth and appealing by implication, to the existence of the Corinthian church as a vindication of his apostleship, he is not overstepping his limits Since historically, his God-ordained field included Corinth. In fact, he had been the first to reach the Corinthians with the gospel of Christ. You see this going back to 1 Corinthians 3, verse six and 10. So what are people doing Over time, like we still do to this day, is people will take credit of the work that you've done. And even that Paul points out, we have to be focused on the area of influence that God has assigned to us. And so he says God had called me to reach you, and now we have these false teachers. You have these people, these orators who are coming in. They're making fun of me, they're putting me down. They're taking credit of the work that God has called us to do and I know that can be tough when you go up against somebody who's envious or jealous.
Speaker 1:Now, this word overextended literally means here in verse 14, not to stretch beyond one's rights, and when we do that it's because we're seeking the approval of man, we're seeking for applause. In the Greek English lexicon of the New Testament it says to engage in an activity that is beyond some implied limit, whether in intensity or extent. To overextend, to stretch out beyond or overstep a limit. My friends, we're not to do that in ministry. We're not to overstep, we're not to, with intensity, stretch out borders that God has not given us, or to blow up the borders, or to remove or to extend the borders. If you look back in 2 Corinthians 10, verse 14, the word is used negatively.
Speaker 1:Paul's opponents arrogantly magnified themselves according to their own standards and they bragged and they exaggerated about the numbers. Has that ever happened in your church? We always kind of joke in the Baptist circles about revivals, like, let's say, 200 people showed up and they're like man, there's about 500 people. That's a form of overextending ourselves, and we have to be careful because if we're not in check, it can lead to other falsehoods. And so, when we're looking at this passage and we are ministers of the gospel and also those who are in a stricter judgment, who are called to teach the word of God to people we have to make sure that we're not overindulging, that our ambitions, our desires are focused on the Lord and not on ourselves, that we need to be faithful, we need to be content with what God has appointed us to accomplish and we need to focus on again, remember building up, not tearing down. We need to be people who are ministers, who are there to encourage.
Speaker 1:I always tell people when they invite me to a place of worship, to their church or, you know, conferences is being held there, as I was joined recently with several pastors hey, thank you for the privilege, thank you for entrusting me to share your word to your people. I don't take that lightly and use me. If I'm here, I'm not just going to be sitting in the back waiting to get paid. If I'm here, I'm not just going to be sitting in the back waiting to get paid. I will look for opportunities, as the Holy Spirit leads me to do to go talk to the people that he needs me to talk to. It's not just about the quote performance on stage. Real ministry happens when you get off stage and you're rubbing shoulders with people and you're talking to people and you're just a human being, just like they are. When you're on stage, oftentimes it's like you're a performer, but when you're off stage they can see you. That, just as Paul says hey, I'm a father in Christ to you, I don't want to be another guide or instructor and that's how we have to be my friends in ministry.
Speaker 1:And the last point I want to make before we close this episode out is, if you look from verses 15 to 18 and verses 15 through 16, paul, on two different occasions he chides these false teachers for taking credit of work that they did not earn themselves. And in fact, when I talk to people in ministry and there's a competitive side and they're seeing this type of tension, I remind them of Romans 15, verse 21. Paul says I make it my ambition to preach the gospel, not where Christ has already been named. At least I build on someone else's foundation. When God calls us to do work, we also have to be discerning and humble and careful not to overextend or go into someone else's territory. So yes, in fact there are areas of ministry. Now you can break it down specifically however you want, but in this point what Paul's saying is at least I build on someone else's foundation. So I want you guys to also consider that what people have built Now that's not saying the foundation of themselves.
Speaker 1:Our foundation, we know in 1 Corinthians 3, is Christ. He's our rock, matthew 7. But we are not to preach and take credit in areas that God has not called us to do. And so in the end, here, when he says let the one who boasts boast in the Lord, look like me right now. I've been privileged to do this podcast, to be around great ministers of the gospel, to write several books, whatever else. But to God be the glory.
Speaker 1:Because if you know me, you know the fact that, being someone who's dyslexic and coming from an environment where we were not highly educated people with a lot of money, it blows my mind, by the grace of God, how he's taken little petty me and to let me use my story and has gifted me in areas that I didn't think was possible.
Speaker 1:I mean, even after my wife and I got married and we started to have kids. Never did I ever think that I would become an author, and if I did, it'd be one, maybe two books, one of them just being self-published, and nobody ever buys it, except for your family, right? So when I say when we boast, let's boast in the Lord, I want to give praise to him, I want to thank him for how he's used me, and Paul here is not being conceited. He is not concerned with his own interests. He is emphasizing and this is important that his commendation comes from Christ, and it is the Lord who gives him the love and the power and the ability to serve the churches, to build them up rather than tear them down.
Speaker 1:So, my friends, I pray for you that you're not seeking the applause of man, that you're not overextending yourselves in areas that God has not called you to be in, that you're not taking credit of things that you have not accomplished, that you're not boasting in yourself, but you're boasting in the Lord. So I appreciate you guys taking time to listen to this. If you have any prayer requests or any biblical or theological or apologetic questions, you can always contact us by going to standstrongministriesorg. You can click on the contact button. Submit your questions info at standstrongministriesorg. Check out all the other resources that we have available to help you guys. Stand strong in your faith with wise thinking and bold living. Until next time, keep standing strong in the word of God. Thank you.