2 Corinthians 11

Being Foolish for Christ

Have you ever done something foolish? I know I have. In fact, as I look back over my life, there are a few occasions that I would rather forget! Here’s another question: have you ever been foolish for Christ? Loved with abandon. Shouted His name from the rooftops. Been kind in the face of hostility. I know we’ve all had many occasions in the last couple of years to do all of these things. As we read this chapter, we will find Paul embracing the foolishness the Corinthian church has labeled him with. They meant it as a slight, but he will take it on and even go to another level. He is wholly devoted to Christ and will do whatever it takes to bring the church to the point of righteousness.

Vs 1-11 I wish you would put up with a little foolishness from me. Yes, do put up with me. For I am jealous over you with a godly jealousy, because I have promised you in marriage to one husband—to present a pure virgin to Christ. But I fear that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your minds may be seduced from a complete and pure devotion to Christ. For if a person comes and preaches another Jesus, whom we did not preach, or you receive a different spirit, which you had not received, or a different gospel, which you had not accepted, you put up with it splendidly! Now I consider myself in no way inferior to the “super-apostles.” Though untrained in public speaking, I am certainly not untrained in knowledge. Indeed, we have always made that clear to you in everything. Or did I commit a sin by humbling myself so that you might be exalted, because I preached the gospel of God to you free of charge? I robbed other churches by taking pay from them to minister to you. When I was present with you and in need, I did not burden anyone, for the brothers who came from Macedonia supplied my needs. I have kept myself, and will keep myself, from burdening you in any way. As the truth of Christ is in me, this boasting of mine will not be stopped in the regions of Achaia. Why? Because I don’t love you? God knows I do!

In today’s passage, Paul asks the Corinthian church to put up with a little foolishness from him. They considered Paul to be foolish and inferior because of his lack of speaking ability (he says he is untrained in public speaking), and his outward appearance. In spite of all this, Paul still loves this church. In fact, he considers himself a friend of the bridegroom (Jesus), and has promised the Corinthian church in marriage to Christ. But he had a fear that they are not fully devoted to Christ – they had been deceived and were following a different gospel. To understand this passage, one must understand the context from which it is taken. We start with John the Baptist in John 3:28-30. Here John is responding to questions from his disciples. He says, “No one can receive a single thing unless it’s given to him from heaven. You yourselves can testify that I said, ‘I am not the Messiah, but I’ve been sent ahead of Him.’ He who has the bride is the groom. But the groom’s friend, who stands by and listens for him, rejoices greatly at the groom’s voice. So this joy of mine is complete. He must increase, but I must decrease.” The friend of the groom stands by him and goes before him. He watches over the bride to make sure she is safe and true to her groom to be. In this culture, an engagement was a contract only to be broken by divorce. This is the reason Joseph was going to divorce Mary quietly before their official marriage. Paul considers himself the friend of Jesus, the groom, charged with keeping the bride true to Christ. So he will be foolish for their sakes if need be.

Vs 12-15 But I will continue to do what I am doing, in order to deny the opportunity of those who want an opportunity to be regarded just as our equals in what they boast about. For such people are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. And no wonder! For Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. So it is no great thing if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Their destiny will be according to their works.

One of the things Paul warns the church about is false apostles and deceitful workers. They disguise themselves as the true thing, just as Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. Their plan is to get the Corinthian church off track. They make things look good from the outside, but, once the church falls for their deceit, they find the inside is rotten. It is exactly like the fruit in the garden God warned Adam and Eve not to eat in Genesis 2:16-17, “And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree of the garden, but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for on the day you eat from it, you will certainly die.” You would think death would be a good enough warning, but we cannot underestimate the craftiness of the enemy. “Now the serpent was the most cunning of all the wild animals that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You can’t eat from any tree in the garden’?” The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit from the trees in the garden. But about the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden, God said, ‘You must not eat it or touch it, or you will die.’” “No! You will not die,” the serpent said to the woman. “In fact, God knows that when you eat it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” Then the woman saw that the tree was good for food and delightful to look at, and that it was desirable for obtaining wisdom. So she took some of its fruit and ate it; she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it,” Genesis 3:1-6. The serpent deceived them in a couple of ways here. First, he got them to disregard God’s warning about death. No! You will not die. Then he followed up with a half truth – God knows if you eat this… you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” This sounds great. It appealed to their desire to know God. Then comes the outward appearance – the fruit looked good and they desired to have more wisdom, so they ate it. This is what Paul fears for the church at Corinth. He has led them to Christ, worked with them, and taught them the truth and here they are falling for false apostles. They believe the lies and are attracted to the appealing outward appearance of these false apostles. Maybe they thought they had a “special” knowledge to teach and that Paul was “keeping something from them”.

Several years ago, I read a book called “The Frog in the Kettle” by George Barna. In it, he gives this example. If a frog is thrown into a pot of boiling water he will jump out immediately, but, if the frog is put in some nice tepid water and that water is slowly brought to a boil, the frog will end up boiling to death. The point is this: Deception is the tepid water that is slowly brought to a boil. We wouldn’t buy the whole deception at once, but if fed a little at a time, we will begin to except the untruth as truth. It becomes more and more palatable and begins to sound like truth. This happens everyday in our churches. Partial truths turn into half truths turn into outright lies over time. There are deceitful workers all around us posing as servants of righteousness. The only way to keep from being deceived is to constantly listen to what God has to say. Do not stray from the truth.

Vs 16-33 I repeat: No one should consider me a fool. But if you do, at least accept me as a fool, so I too may boast a little. What I say in this matter of boasting, I don’t speak as the Lord would, but foolishly. Since many boast in an unspiritual way, I will also boast. For you, being so wise, gladly put up with fools! In fact, you put up with it if someone enslaves you, if someone devours you, if someone captures you, if someone dominates you, or if someone hits you in the face. I say this to our shame: We have been weak. But in whatever anyone dares to boast—I am talking foolishly—I also dare: Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they the seed of Abraham? So am I. Are they servants of Christ? I’m talking like a madman—I’m a better one: with far more labors, many more imprisonments, far worse beatings, near death many times. Five times I received 39 lashes from Jews. Three times I was beaten with rods by the Romans. Once I was stoned by my enemies. Three times I was shipwrecked. I have spent a night and a day in the open sea. On frequent journeys, I faced dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from my own people, dangers from the Gentiles, dangers in the city, dangers in the open country, dangers on the sea, and dangers among false brothers; labor and hardship, many sleepless nights, hunger and thirst, often without food, cold, and lacking clothing. Not to mention other things, there is the daily pressure on me: my care for all the churches. Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is made to stumble, and I do not burn with indignation? If boasting is necessary, I will boast about my weaknesses. The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, who is praised forever, knows I am not lying. In Damascus, the governor under King Aretas guarded the city of the Damascenes in order to arrest me, so I was let down in a basket through a window in the wall and escaped his hands.

Paul says – no one should consider me a fool, but, if you are going to do so, Paul was going to boast in it. The church at Corinth put up with real fools. They believed some of the false apostles. They bought into the foolishness of their message. So Paul goes toe to toe with them to show the church how foolish they are being. They saw Paul as weak, so he says, “I will boast about my weakness.” You want to hear bout weaknesses? I give them to you. For the sake of Christ I put up with more hardships then most – and the list is long. It involves beatings, shipwrecks, sleepless nights, hunger and thirst, pressures as he cares for the churches… All of these seem foolish in the eyes of the Corinthian church because they had been led to believe hardships equaled a lack. This is not a new lie – even Jesus dealt with this one with his disciples when they encountered a man in need of healing. “As He was passing by, He saw a man blind from birth. His disciples questioned Him: “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” “Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” Jesus answered. “This came about so that God’s works might be displayed in him. We must do the works of Him who sent Me while it is day. Night is coming when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” John 9:1-5. For as long as bad things have been happening, man has believed that those bad things are punishment for something the person has done wrong. If you really think about it, the Corinthian church saw Paul’s difficulties as weakness, yet they followed Christ who went to the cross and died for us. They followed Christ who was beaten and bruised for our transgressions. So Paul says – I will glory in my weakness. I will shout my weaknesses from the rooftops if need be.

This world is getting crazier and crazier. There are more and more mixed messages out there and it can be difficult to dissect which ones are truth and which ones are false. How do we discern truth from lies? 1 Thessalonians 5:19-22 says, “Don’t stifle the Spirit. Don’t despise prophecies, but test all things. Hold on to what is good. Stay away from every kind of evil.” We are not to stile the Spirit, nor are we to despise prophecies (words of truth) but we are to test all things. Don’t just take what I say, or what others say at face value, but test them against God’s word. Does the message line up with scripture? If not, discount it. If the message is filled with compromises and lacks in righteousness and holiness, changes are it is filled with deceit. Does the message lack true love and true compassion? I say true because love and compassion have to also be filled with the righteousness and holiness of God. Sometimes, true love and compassion for someone means we have confront them with sin in their lives – just as Paul is doing here with the church at Corinth. If it is not true love and compassion it will often just be judgment or compromise. Both are equally wrong. Judgment without love is a clanging gong and compromise isn’t love at all. It is a lack of mercy for others as we don’t care that they are walking in the wrong direction. What this world needs right now is a few foolish believers. Those willing to be bold with their love and mercy for the world. Those willing to look the fool in order to get message of Christ out to a world.