Honestly, we should work this out

Every day we're reading or listening to part of the Bible together and sharing thoughts with you. Today it’s Owen Lynch:

What did I like about today’s passage?

What I like about this section of the letter is the rawness of the words, and we get an insight into the man Paul. Perhaps it’s just because he has been in conflict with the Corinthians that he is anxious to make himself clear to them.

You know what it’s like when you are in conflict with someone else and they don’t seem to get your argument, you end up repeating yourself forcefully to try and make them understand.

I think that is what is happening here. Paul is being pretty vulnerable with his words, phrases like: “I hope you will put up with my foolishness” (11:1), “I may indeed be untrained as a speaker, but I do have knowledge” (11:6), “I am out of my mind to talk like this” (11:23); Paul is even sarcastic, “I do not think I am in the least inferior to those ‘super apostles’” (11:5).

Clearly, the criticism of him has touched a raw nerve, especially the comparison to these ‘super apostles’ which Paul then refutes with a long description of his sufferings for the gospel of Jesus (11:16-12:10).

This reminds me that this is a personal letter written by Paul and although it is part of the Bible, Paul suggests that this bit is him speaking not Jesus! “In this self-confident boasting I am not talking as the Lord [Jesus] would, but as a fool” (11:17).

Paul’s argument is the same as earlier in the letter, he is countering the Jewish missionaries who are insisting that the Gentiles who have given their allegiance to Jesus must also convert to Judaism. And we know that Paul is dead set against this.

As an aside, what’s also interesting to note from this part of the letter is that there were clearly other representatives of the church in Jerusalem who were spreading the gospel of Jesus amongst the Gentiles, (11:4). From our perspective twenty centuries later, it can sometimes feel like Paul was solely responsible for the spread of the gospel to the Gentiles.

What did it show me about Father God, Jesus or the Holy Spirit?

It reminds me that Paul wasn’t a Victorian/Edwardian type of person who minded his ‘p’s and ‘q’s and was always on his best behaviour! Paul is really raw, vulnerable and honest about his feelings in response to the barrage of criticism he has received from the Corinthians. He’s not always super nice and polite like many people think Christians should be. Come to think of it, I’m pretty sure that Jesus wasn’t nice and polite with his critics - look at Matthew 23 if you don’t believe me.

What am I going to do differently as a result?

I’m trying to be more honest and vulnerable as a result of my faith walking process. It’s hard to do, because it’s risky to trust other people with my vulnerabilities, but it’s so worth doing, because of the increased depth of relationship and trust that it creates.

Who am I going to share this with?

I meet weekly with two other guys involved with Severn, and I’ll share this with them.