The Standard That Paul Set

 

I have been reading 2 Cor 12 & 13 today. There is a lot of correction for the Corinthian believers in the chapter. They had some serious issues at the church there and Paul had just spent several letters correcting them. In 12 and 13, he talks about the genuine test of faith - I have no idea what that is. However, he consistently says that the Corinthians should test themselves, and he talks about proof that He comes from God time and again. He talks for a long time on the struggles he has been through, the visions he has seen... He essentially sets a bar for the Corinthians and give them proof that they should be listening to him.

 

I negatively react to this type of preaching. If you start talking like this in a sermon, I automatically turn off, thinking you are insecure. But apparently there is a place for it in the Bible. And if there was a place for it in Paul's preaching, then there is a place for it in the preaching of today. What would that look like today?

 

Imagine if your church was planted by a humble average Joe pastor, but he left to plant another church and a younger, flashier pastor comes in and starts preaching and showing signs and wonders. Then the congregation begins thinking that the younger pastor is 1,000 times better than the founding pastor. Things are moving, ministries are starting all over the place... But there is a lot of sin in the church that isn't being dealt with. The older pastor returns for a visit and is grieved. He left a strong, small congregation. And while the congregation is larger than it was before, there are major issues with its foundations and sin abounds.

 

The congregation is surprised because they thought the older pastor would have been happy for the growth. At this point the older pastor starts reorganizing things and demonstrates that, he too, can do miracles and bring many people into the congregation; that keeping the congregation small wasn't out of weakness but out of choice for a holy and pure church.

 

This is where we would find Paul - the Corinthians thought he would be dazzled by the speaking in tongues and the many other miracles that were happening in their midst. But Paul was grieved because of the backbiting and bitterness, and lack of holiness that the church showed. He said that when he came, he would demonstrate the power of God, probably referring to miracles or speaking in tongues. And he said that he was grieved because many had lost their way.

Rough Times

God can give you all you need. He will give you more than enough. You will have everything you need for yourselves. And you will have enough left over to give when there is a need. -2 Corinthians 9:8

Sunday was a rough day. I was at a really low point and finances were really bothering me. It takes $7,000 a month to keep us running and August and September only brought in $4,200. We had a couple bills we couldn’t pay and were in ‘creative accounting’ territory with some others - delaying payment so we could pay others. I was on the verge of picking up the phone and starting to call the people I knew that may be able to help in case of emergency, thinking this may be a test of my pride. I ended up choosing to contact some people God had put on my heart to encourage instead. Carla and I had a long conversation; she hasn’t been nearly as bothered this time around.

Then breakthrough started. After multiple months of no unexpected donations, we had 3 in the same day. Tuesday was breakthrough in our website work - after much discussion we had three people pay for work and a large contract for next year finalized. God came through again in incredible ways.

In college, living by faith was cool. We got to see God’s miracles around us and he provided over and over again for mission trip and other things he was laying on our heart. Then faith was me and Carla, going to Africa with less than $200 for 9 months but full of faith. That was scarier because it was our lives at risk; we knew no one and didn’t even know where we would be staying. But it was just us.

Then the kids came along. People started freaking out when they heard what kind of situations we’d be raising our children in… They only knew a small portion of it - that’s when we started down-playing some of the issues we were facing because others would worry if they actually knew the danger we were facing.

And then we started Equip Mozambique and things got even more real and more intense. Now other people and other families were depending on me. This responsibility is a great burden on me and the thought that we may not be able to pay salaries is always a huge worry. My friend pointed out to me…

“You’ve risked a lot of Jesus. You’ve sacrificed. Are you allowing others to risk and sacrifice as well?”

Anyway, today is a day of praise - that God does generously provide, and that we are taken care of. Today is also a day of reflection - why do I still feel this heavy burden when I am certain God will provide, and how can I give that to God? This seems like my never-ending struggle; as soon as I overcome it at some level, God ups the ante and I have more staff, larger projects, or more people depending on me. Maybe what I really need is a paradigm shift.

 

Limited Bodies

We grow weary in our present bodies, and we long to put on our heavenly bodies like new clothing… While we live in these earthly bodies, we groan and sigh, but it’s not that we want to die and get rid of these bodies that clothe us…. God himself has prepared us for this, and as a guarantee he has given us his Holy Spirit.-- 2 Cor 5:2-5 NLT

If everything was already perfect, why would we be looking for new bodies and new homes? I long for the day where I don’t have pain in my back, where my foot fungus totally goes away, and when this body that has so little energy gets rejuvenated and doesn’t hold me back.

The thing that hits me as I’m reading now is the part about the guarantee being the Holy Spirit. Will our new bodies have the Holy Spirit? The way Paul is saying this - in some versions, he says a downpayment - it sounds like the Holy Spirit is a taste of our new bodies, and through it we get a glimpse of what it means to live in our new bodies.

That makes sense to me. Often it seems like the spirit in me wasn’t built for this earthly body. It doesn’t dream or have vision only of the possible, and doesn’t seem limited by the same constraints as the rest of me. The spirit sees and acts with the resources, energy and vision of heaven and I am stuck here; human, frail, limited and utterly incapable.

As Carla will tell you, I pace. I pace a lot. I wake up early in the morning, visions of what can be and what may be possible. I wake up in the middle of the night, interceding for the poor with a body that wants to go back to sleep and a spirit that thinks it can single-handedly change a country. While most people are doing their own thing waiting for God to give them orders, I am brooding how I only have 70 more years to make an impact for the kingdom. Only 70 more years to give poverty and darkness the biggest black eye I can muster.

The spirit in me doesn’t seem to understand the limitations of my body, or my bank account, or my team. It dreams. It groans. And I can fully believe it was created for another kind of body and reality - one without these paltry limitations.

 

Weakness and the Mozambique Church

What’s the circumstance or situation Paul is facing in 2 Corinthians? There are other preachers in Corinth, preachers that the church has believed are more powerful, anointed, or have new revelations. They are preaching that because they are close to God they never have issues - they are blessed and victorious every
hour. They end up giving sermons on themselves and how amazing they are. PS, oh, and God.

I am seeing this so clearly now because that’s exactly where the church in Mozambique is and what is going on. The TV evangelist message is 1000% worse in Mozambique than in the US. Why? Because most Americans have been to a church that’s not like that and they at least know not all churches are all health-wealth-1000s-of-people. Here they don’t know any better - they think the rest of the world is full of powerful, successful churches and that the bigger the church the more powerful the preacher. They end up thinking their own church is messed up and weak because it’s not a mega-church.

The Corinthians thought the same thing. Because Paul had issues and was weak, they thought he wasn’t as anointed or close to God as the other preachers. They wanted a powerful leader like Saul, not a “weak-in-words” leader who is open about his pain and suffering like Paul. They wanted strong leaders of metal.

But Paul is saying that’s not how it works: the weaker I am, the stronger Christ can be seen in me. If I was powerful, then people could think that the power was from me, but God chooses the weak and the foolish things of the world to shame the wise and strong (1 Cor 1). So we should have absolutely no shame in our weakness and issues because they are a better vessel for Christ in His power.