Introduction:
A. The story is told about D.L. Moody, one of the most effective American evangelists of the 1800s.
1. Like all preachers, he had some supporters and some critics.
2. One day we went into the pulpit to give his sermon.
3. He looked down on the podium and noticed a note for him.
4. The note had only one word on it – “Fool.” He held the note up for all to see.
5. This note might have intimidated a lot of preachers, but not Moody.
6. He simply said, “I have known many instances where a person wrote a letter and forgot to sign their name. But this is the first case I’m aware of were someone signed their name and forgot to write the letter.”
B. Like Moody, the apostle Paul also had his critics, and as we have seen, much of 2 Corinthians is written to respond to his critics there in Corinth.
1. This letter we have been studying has three major sections.
a. The first section is chapters 1-7. In those chapters, we see Paul giving a mild defense of his apostleship, we see him defining his ministry, and we see him stressing his relationship with the Corinthians.
b. The second section is chapters 8 and 9. In those two chapters, which we have studied these past two weeks, we see Paul discussing the special collection for the poor in Judea, and the Corinthians participation in that effort.
c. Today we are entering the third and last section of the letter – the Grand Finale – chapters 10-13. In these chapters we will see Paul pulling out all the stops in a strong defense of his apostleship and ministry.
2. Another one of the interesting things we realize as we study 2 Corinthians is that these three sections of the letter that seem to be written to different groups in the church there in Corinth.
a. The first section, chapters 1-7, seem to be written to the majority of the church who have either remained faithful in their support of Paul, or who have repented and have returned to Paul.
b. The second section, chapters 8-9, seem to be written to the entire church as Paul encourages them to make good on their promise to help in the relief effort.
c. The third and final section, chapters 10-13, seem to be written to the small group in Corinth who continue to oppose Paul.
C. As we study through this last section of this letter, Paul will do his best to defend his ministry.
1. Paul may not have a lot of hope for turning his opponents around, but he knows he must attempt to do so for the sake of those his opponents have impacted.
2. Like a shepherd going after a wolf who has taken his sheep, we will see Paul grit his teeth and courageously take on the wolves in an attempt to rescue the sheep.
3. Desperate times call for desperate measures.
4. We will see Paul draw the Sword of the Spirit and wield it with great skill in his defense.
D. Today, as we study chapter 10, let’s see what we can learn about Paul, his ministry, and how to answer critics.
I. Understanding the Word
A. What we will see as we study through this chapter is a number of the accusations that were being made against Paul and his response to those accusations.
B. We notice that two of the criticisms appear in the first couple of verses.
1. Look at verses 1 and 2: By the meekness and gentleness of Christ, I appeal to you—I, Paul, who am "timid" when face to face with you, but "bold" when away! 2I beg you that when I come I may not have to be as bold as I expect to be toward some people who think that we live by the standards of this world. (2 Cor. 10:1-2)
2. The first of the criticism, which comes up a couple of times in this chapter, is the accusation that Paul is bold when absent and weak when present.
3. In contrast to Paul, these opponents must have been powerful and controlling while present there in Corinth.
4. Unfortunately, most people assume that church leadership is supposed to be like worldly leadership – large and in charge!
5. You remember how Jesus spoke against that notion and said that leadership in his kingdom would be upside down.
a. The greatest and most powerful would be the greatest servants, not those were served and who wielded the most power and control.
6. And do you remember Jesus’ great invitation from Matthew 11: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (Mt. 11:28-30)
7. Paul is just trying to be like his Lord – meek and gentle.
C. The second criticism being leveled against Paul was that he conducted himself in a worldly manner.
1. In other words, he wasn’t controlled and lead by the Spirit, because from their vantage point, he often changed his plans and didn’t keep his word.
2. Paul responded to that saying: 3For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. 4The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. 5We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. 6And we will be ready to punish every act of disobedience, once your obedience is complete. (2 Cor. 10:3-6)
3. As Paul answered his critics, he pointed out that he does not use worldly weapons, they are of no use in the spiritual battle.
4. The real battle is in the hearts and minds of people whom Satan has blinded and taken captive.
5. The enemy was effective in Paul’s day, and he continues to be effective in creating strongholds of lies in our educational system, our political system, and even in religious systems.
6. Lies that people embrace can be so damaging – think of some of Satan’s popular and powerful lies being embraced today:
a. “There is no hell or no punishment for sin”
b. “Jesus can’t be the only way to heaven.”
c. “You can live any way you want and God will still accept you.”
7. Paul’s ministry was focused on overcoming Satan’s lies, demolishing arguments and ideas that stood against God’s truths.
8. Not only will Paul oppose those lies, he is ready to punish the acts of disobedience they lead to.
9. Paul does all this through the power of the Spirit and with the sword of the Spirit.
D. Paul opponents knew that one of the most successful ways to undermine his effectiveness was to cast doubt on the genuineness of his apostleship.
1. If Paul’s converts could be persuaded that he lacked apostolic credentials, then they would cease to trust in his teachings.
2. In this chapter, Paul did not discourage the testing of credentials, but he did challenge the criteria the Corinthian opponents were using for judging.
3. Paul wrote: You are looking only on the surface of things. If anyone is confident that he belongs to Christ, he should consider again that we belong to Christ just as much as he. 8For even if I boast somewhat freely about the authority the Lord gave us for building you up rather than pulling you down, I will not be ashamed of it. (2 Cor. 10:7-8)
4. Paul’s answer to them is to look beyond the surface of things – don’t judge a book by its cover.
5. A physical description of Paul can be found in a book that dates back to about 200 A.D.
a. It is so unflattering that it may well be true.
b. It describes Paul as “a man of little stature, thin-haired upon the head, crooked in the legs, of good state of body, with eyebrows meeting, and with nose somewhat hooked…”
c. In summary, Paul was short, bald, bow-legged, unibrowed with a big, hooked nose.
d. Someone only a mother could love!
6. So Paul wasn’t very impressive on the outside – Paul says, “You are looking only on the surface of things.”
7. Then he says for them to realize that if they are Christians, then he must be one also, because he helped them become Christians.
a. If they deny him, then they are denying their own standing in Christ, because he brought them to Christ.
8. He continued to defend his ministry by boasting about the authority God gave him to build them up.
a. The legitimacy of Paul’s ministry is confirmed by his own confidence in his authority as a servant of the new covenant and minister to the Gentiles.
b. Since the Lord is the One who gave him this authority, then he will not be ashamed to invoke it.
E. But he does not want to abuse his God-given authority, so he wrote: 9I do not want to seem to be trying to frighten you with my letters. 10For some say, “His letters are weighty and forceful, but in person he is unimpressive and his speaking amounts to nothing.” 11Such people should realize that what we are in our letters when we are absent, we will be in our actions when we are present. (2 Cor. 10:9-11)
1. Paul has had to speak with them very directly in several of his letters.
2. He promises that he will be as strong with them in person as he has had to be in his letters, if there is no repentance.
F. Note the sarcasm of the next verse: We do not dare to classify or compare ourselves with some who commend themselves. When they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they are not wise. (2 Cor. 10:12)
1. Sarcastically, Paul says that he would never dream of comparing himself with those who are forever patting themselves on the back.
2. Paul challenges the Corinthians to think about the standards that were being used for judgment and commendation.
3. They appear to be comparing themselves with themselves – if four short people stand side by side, then they can convince themselves that they are really quite tall – until a really tall person comes into the room.
4. We might think of ourselves as a pretty good singer until Barbara Streisand sings standing next to us!
5. We might think of ourselves as a pretty good golfer until we play a round with Jack Nicholas.
6. These opponents of Paul can’t really stand in comparison to Paul, and no one can stand in comparison to Christ.
G. Paul concluded the chapter challenging them to confine their boasting to the right thing.
1. He wrote: 13We, however, will not boast beyond proper limits, but will confine our boasting to the field God has assigned to us, a field that reaches even to you. 14We are not going too far in our boasting, as would be the case if we had not come to you, for we did get as far as you with the gospel of Christ. 15Neither do we go beyond our limits by boasting of work done by others. Our hope is that, as your faith continues to grow, our area of activity among you will greatly expand, 16so that we can preach the gospel in the regions beyond you. For we do not want to boast about work already done in another man's territory. 17But, “Let him who boasts boast in the Lord.” 18For it is not the one who commends himself who is approved, but the one whom the Lord commends. (2 Cor. 10:13-18)
2. Unlike his opponents, Paul refused to boast of what had occurred beyond the limits of his own ministry.
3. Twice, Paul chided his opponents for priding themselves on work done by others.
a. They were likely boasting that the spiritual vitality of the Corinthians was attributed to them, in spite of Paul’s influence.
4. Paul prided himself in doing pioneer work – preaching where no one had ever preached.
5. Paul would never take credit or pride in work done by others, but that wasn’t the case for his opponents.
6. Nevertheless, the only boast any of us should have is to boast of our God and what He has accomplished through us – it is not about it, but it is all about God.
7. And in the end, the only important commendation is not the commendation of ourselves by ourselves, or by others, but the commendation that comes from God himself.
8. These opponents of Paul were writing their own press releases and then treating those press releases like they were fact, and the Corinthians were buying into the hype.
9. Paul said that the only “well done” he wanted to hear was the one that would come from God.
II. Applying the Word
A. So what lessons can we apply to our lives from this chapter of 2 Corinthians?
B. First, We must accept the fact that criticism is a part of life.
1. Everyone who has ever tried to do anything good has been criticized.
2. The greatest people who have ever lived, including Jesus himself, was criticized.
3. I have noticed that at the bottom of Jake Lougee’s recent emails has been this great quote by Theodore Roosevelt: “It is not the critic who counts, nor the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives....who spends himself in a worthy cause.”
4. Here’s a few things to keep in mind about criticism:
a. First, we can take it too seriously and allow it to stop us.
b. Second, we might not take it seriously enough, and so we don’t benefit from it.
c. We need to find the happy balance between the two that allows criticism to be constructive.
1. Even if the criticism is not intended to be constructive, we can allow it to help us.
2. Proverbs 19:20 is such a helpful verse for me: “Listen to advice and accept instruction, and in the end you will be wise.”
3. And Proverbs 12:1 is a very helpful verse that I’ve often shared and try to practice: “Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but he who hates correction is stupid.”
5. So when we are criticized, we should do the following.
a. Listen to it. Keep our mouth shut and really hear what is being said.
b. Limit your defensiveness and your desire to defend yourself. Some criticism needs to be answered, but a lot of it does not.
c. Learn from it. Evaluate who is saying it and what is being said. Sift through it and look for the kernel of truth.
d. Let it go. Don’t dwell upon it, or allow it to cause you to quit or to be bitter.
6. Thomas `a Kempis said: “Grant me prudently to avoid him that flatters me, and to endure patiently him that contradicts me.”
7. So criticism is a part of life, and we must learn to benefit from it.
C. Second, we must learn to evaluate things by the right standards.
1. It’s easy to be impressed by outward things, or to judge things by worldly standards.
2. We should always be looking for substance over style.
3. I like the story told about William Wilberforce.
a. He was responsible for freeing the slaves in the British Empire.
b. Nevertheless, in outward appearance, he was so small and so frail that it seemed that even a strong wind might blow him over.
c. On one occasion when Wilberforce was called upon to speak before an audience, one audience member gave this critique: “I saw what seemed to me a shrimp mount upon the table, but as I listened, he grew and grew until the shrimp became a whale.”
4. How often we judge people, and churches and ministries by the wrong standards.
5. With a worldly mind, we think that bigger is better, and more beautiful is better, and flashier is better.
6. Don’t get me wrong, being bigger, or flashier, or beautiful is not necessarily bad, but it is not necessarily good or better.
7. We should be looking for the things that God values – things of substance and spirituality.
8. We should be looking for faithfulness, and other fruit of God’s Spirit.
9. We should be looking for the evidence of God’s power, and a commitment to His Word.
10. These are the right standard by which to evaluate things.
D. Third, we must learn to seek God’s approval.
1. In the end, the only thing that matters is God’s approval.
2. If we tell ourselves how great we are, or others tell us how great we are – what value is there in that if God disagrees?
3. But if God is very pleased, then it doesn’t matter if others are not.
4. Here’s a good old saying: “I really cannot give you the formula for success. But I can give you the formula for failure. It's this: Try to please everyone.”
5. Paul knew the formula for success and it was try to please God.
a. In Galatians 1:10, Paul wrote: “Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ.”
b. And in 1 Thessalonians 2:4, Paul wrote: “On the contrary, we speak as men approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel. We are not trying to please men but God, who tests our hearts.”
E. Let’s review one last time the lessons we have focused on today:
1. We must accept the fact that criticism is a part of life – we must learn to benefit from it.
2. We must learn to evaluate things by the right standards – by God’s standards and values.
3. We must learn to seek God’s approval above all else – Pleasing God is what matters most.
F. When I stand before God on Judgment Day, I want to hear Him say, “Well Done, my good and faithful servant, come enjoy your Master’s happiness.”
Resources:
Paul for Everyone, 2 Corinthians, Tom Wright, Westminster John Knox Press, 2003
2 Corinthians, The NIV Application Commentary, Scott J. Hafemann, Zondervan, 2000
2 Corinthians, John MacArthur, Nelson Impact, 2007
The Letters to the Corinthians, William Barclay, The Westminster Press, 1975
Be Encouraged, The Bible Exposition Commentary, Warren Wiersbe, Victor Books, 1989
The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, Murray J. Harris, Edited by Frank E. Gaebelein, Zondervan, 1976
“Defense and Weapons” Sermon by Greg Nance, SermonCentral.com
“The Real Spiritual Power” Sermon by Tom Fuller, SermonCentral.com
“Handling Criticism with Class” Sermon by Marc Axelrod, SermonCentral.com
“Handling Criticism” Sermon by Marc Axelrod, SermonCentral.com
