2 Corinthians, Day 8
Anything You Can Do, I Can Do Better
2 Corinthians 10 – 11
“Like most people, the Corinthians were slow to absorb the truth that divine standards differ radically from those of the world” (David K. Lowery, The Bible Knowledge Commentary, Page 579).
Paul was having a tough time with the Corinthian church. He had written to them four letters: a first Corinthians, then 1 Corinthians (which is actually the second Corinthian letter), then a third Corinthian letter, then 2 Corinthians (which is actually the fourth Corinthian letter). This church needed a LOT of straightening-out.
The main problem addressed in (what we know as) 2 Corinthians is that many in the church were being influenced by phony-baloney “apostles” who were undermining Paul’s authority. Paul desired to visit the Corinthians, but wanted to first warn them that if they didn’t return to a heart of obedience, he would have to deal with them in a harsh way, which was against his nature.
The false apostles were, in many ways, accusing Paul of being shallow, hypocritical, unreliable, uncaring, undesirable, and unloving. They had taken the church members and spiritually seduced them with flagrant but false credentials. The worldly Corinthians fell for the religiously macho “super-apostles,” who kicked sand in the true apostle’s face. Ergo, Paul was forced to boast about his work as an apostle, a chore that had the same effect on him as eating a live squid.
But was he really boasting about himself? He was really bragging about what the Lord had done through his weakness. Paul was happy to be the 98-pound weakling if it meant glorifying the Holy Spirit as his Charles Atlas. In the same letter, Paul wrote, “For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Corinthians 12:10). Through his “foolish” boasting, Paul proved that, through the power of Christ, anything the false apostles could do, he could do better.
I’m at a stage where simple, familiar words play hide-and-seek in my brain in normal conversation, and I occasionally do habitual tasks out-of-sequence. Yet, when I teach or preach, I feel myself entering the “flow.” Although still not perfect, I sense the Holy Spirit taking control of my weak tongue and working through me.
Let us not be led astray by “super-apostles” who are eloquent but empty, famous but phony, or showy but shallow. “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world” (1 John 4:1). And give your weaknesses to God so He can use you in spite of yourself! Remember, anything you can do on your own, God can do better through you.
In His strength,
Alan Allegra