The Letters of Paul give us a great glimpse into his Pastor’s heart for the people of God. Paul certainly had his detractors in his day, and even today some people don’t like him very much. When he was alive,  he was hounded and criticized by different groups within Judaism and outside Judaism.

The Corinthian Church seemed to be especially divided in their opinion about Paul, even though he was their father in the Gospel. In 1 Cor. 4:14,15, we read these words of Paul: “I am not writing this to shame you, but to warn you, as my dear children. Even though you have ten thousand guardians in Christ, you do not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel.” There were some detractors of Paul in the Corinthian Church, but there were also many  Corinthians who loved Paul, and realized that he was sincerely and sacrificially serving the LORD.

The “Foolish” & “Weak” Apostle

The people in Corinth who criticized Paul were saying: “His letters are weighty and forceful, but in person he is unimpressive and his speaking amounts to nothing” (2 Cor. 10:10). Written accounts from church history report that the Apostle Paul was short, and that he had a hooked nose. No one was going to confuse Paul with Brad Pitt. There were a minority of professing believers in Corinth who placed an inordinate emphasis on outward appearance, and in worldly power and wisdom (1 Cor. 1,2). So they were not impressed with Paul.

It is interesting how Paul responds to these detractors. He validates the legitimacy of his apostolic ministry by appealing to his many sufferings in serving Christ. In 2 Cor. 4:8-12, we read these words of Paul:

We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. For we who are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may be revealed in our mortal body. So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you.

It seems like a minority of professing believers in Corinth were holding it against Paul that he had so many trials and tribulations in his ministry. They seemed to reason that “not only is this guy ugly in his appearance, he is getting beat up all the time and he’s always in jail.” Paul was the last person you would expect to be featured on the television program “The Rich and the Famous“.

Well, Paul totally agrees with that assessment, and he says that it proves that he is living by God’s wisdom and power, and not the world’s wisdom and power. He knows he looks “foolish” and “weak” by the world’s standards. But he has already shown how Christ’s cross looks foolish and weak by the world’s thinking: “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God” (1 Cor. 1:18).

Paul says that his sufferings for Christ proves that: “Unlike so many, we do not peddle the word of God for profit. On the contrary, in Christ we speak before God with sincerity, like men sent from God.” And the reality of God’s working in Paul’s ministry is seen in the conversion of the Corinthians themselves (2 Cor. 3:1-3) through Paul’s gospel preaching. They are living proof of the Spirit’s working through Paul.

Seeing Jesus & His Servants Clearly

In 1 Cor. 5:16, Paul concludes his argument with these words: “So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer.”  Paul is remembering here how he used to view the crucified Jesus, before his conversion. He used to think that because Jesus was crucified on the cross, it proved Jesus was not the Messiah……….the Anointed of God. He persecuted followers of Jesus Christ. But then Jesus appeared to him on the road to Damascus (Acts 9), and he was transformed from Saul the Persecutor to Paul the Missionary. He realized that the god of this age (Satan) had blinded his eyes to the glory of God revealed in the crucified and risen Christ (2 Cor. 4:4).

He now views Christ clearly, and he is asking the Corinthians to do the same. He wants his detractors, especially, to make a true assessment of the validity and authority of Paul’s ministry, as he faithfully follows in the footsteps of Christ.

In  1 Cor. 5:17-6:2, Paul wants the Corinthians to make sure that they are saved in the first place………that they are new creations in Christ, and that they are living by the standards and ways of the new life, and not by the old world, which is passing away. In 1 Cor. 6:3-10, Paul again appeals to his beatings and imprisonments as proof of his pure heart toward the Lord and the Corinthians. The people who live by the values of this present age can’t understand and appreciate Paul. But people who are truly regenerated by God’s Spirit into new creations in Christ should be opening their hearts to Paul (2 Cor. 6:11-13).

QOTD: Are you a new creation in Christ; and if so, are you living by the values of the New Adam, Jesus?