This week's Bible study will be the 2nd half of 2nd Corinthians chapter 11

Putting Up With Suffering

[2^nd Corinthians chapter 11, verses 16-33]

Today we will be finishing up 2^nd Corinthians chapter 11 as we continue with the apostle Paul's train of thought regarding those individuals who were in positions of leadership within the early Church for what Paul contended were all the wrong reasons. Each overseer (as they were called back then) of these various congregations was apparently bragging about how their church was the most spiritual, or the most generous, or the least sinful, etc. More often than not there was considerable time devoted on each Sabbath to preaching against something another church was teaching about its particular view of Christianity. It probably seemed at times as if each church was competing against the others for membership as if they were businesses competing for customers. Sound familiar, anyone? The very same thing continues to occur with disheartening regularity in the modern churches of today. And then they wonder why their congregations are not growing. Well, duh!

I'm so glad that God continues to inspire me to make sure this online church is not like those mainstream churches, and never will be. Those of you who have been visiting this website or reading my blogs must have noticed by now that I never write or post about denominational stuff, and I seldom comment on the teaching of any particular church, with the notable exception of the so-called “prosperity gospel”. That is not by accident, and it's because I'm only interested in teaching about the truth – which is the word of God that is not only devoutly believed in, but which must be acted upon through the adoption of Christianity as a lifestyle and not a mere set of human beliefs. It was Paul who wrote, “Faith without works is dead”, and that's just as true now as when it was first written 2,000 years ago. Having established these facts, let me now start today's study beginning at verse 16.

“I repeat: let no one take me for a fool. But if you do, receive me just as you would a fool, so that I may do a little boasting. In this self-confidant boasting I am not talking as the Lord would, but as a fool. Since many are boasting in the way the world does, I too will boast. You gladly put up with fools since you are so wise! In fact, you even put up with anyone who enslaves you or exploits you or takes advantage of you or pushes himself forward or slaps you in the face. To my shame I admit we were too weak for that!” (2 Corinthians 11, verses 16-21, NIV)

So we see that Paul is still on the subject of certain boasting or bragging that was going on between different churches, to the detriment of the spreading of the Gospel. Much the same continues to occur daily in many of today's churches as well. But there is much more below the surface here. It looks to me like Paul is telling the Corinthian church that boasting or bragging in church is completely improper and showed a lack of maturity and Spiritual sensitivity among some of that congregation, and they were obviously not the only ones. Not surprisingly, Paul condemns the actions of these congregations, calling them “foolish” – although I suspect the original wording in Hebrew (the original language of the Bible) may have been far more blunt and direct, only to be sanitized centuries later by Emperor Constantine and what would grow into the Catholic church. Paul continues as he writes, “You gladly put up with fools since you are so wise! In fact, you even put up with anyone who enslaves you or exploits you or takes advantage of you or pushes himself forward or slaps you in the face.” Now what does that look like to you? Paul writes of congregations being enslaved, exploited, taken advantage of, and even physically attacked. There must have been no small number of self-styled preachers and self-appointed teachers who were doing so for profit instead of the advancement of the true Gospel, and some were evidently using intimidation to spread their message like a Christian Mafia (if such a thing were possible). It created divisions within the churches, and there was apparently at least one incident where somebody slapped someone in the face for some long-forgotten reason. It is clear from these verses that profiteers and the power-mad have been in churches for as long as houses of worship have been in existence – dating back to at least the time of Christ (remember the money changers in the Temple in Jerusalem?) or before.

But I wish to take this to another level so that it applies to governments as well as churches. We Americans put up with the fools in Washington who are supposed to be running our country, but instead they similarly enslave us economically and exploit us for profit, “pushing themselves forward” by rigging elections. And then they “slap (us) in the face” by poisoning our food, our water supply, our air above, and the ground below. I think Paul is absolutely right – so long as we “gladly put up with fools”, we will get whatever we deserve. As Benjamin Franklin once famously said, “Those citizens who refuse to get involved in their country's politics deserve whatever leaders they get”. The same applies to churches! Bearing that in mind, let's continue now at verse 21.

“What anyone else dares to boast about – I am speaking as a fool – I also dare to boast about. Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they Abraham's descendants? So am I. Are they servants of Christ? (I am out of my mind to talk like this.) I am more. I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and have been exposed to death again and again. Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my own countrymen, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false brothers. I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of all my concern for the churches. Who is weak, and I do not feel weak? Who is led into sin, and I do not inwardly burn? If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness. The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, who is to be praised forever, knows that I am not lying. In Damascus the governor under the King Aretas had the city of Damascenes guarded in order to arrest me. But I was lowered in a basket from a window in the wall and slipped through his hands.” (2 Corinthians 11, verses 22-33, NIV)

As you can see, the apostle Paul is called a saint because of what he went through in the course of his preaching of the Gospel and the founding of churches throughout what is now much of the Middle East, southwest Asia, southeastern Europe and Italy. He put up with all kinds of hardship and inconvenience, abuse and mistreatment, plus was in great physical danger for much of the time, nearly getting killed at least eight times over the course of his ministry before finally being beheaded in Rome. He also wrote about his empathy for the churches and for the unsaved, writing “Who is weak, and I do not feel weak? Who is led into sin, and I do not inwardly burn? If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness.” How many Christians are living this quality of life in the churches today, particularly in the developed world? There is an important lesson to be learned here; if the apostle Paul was willing to put up with all this just so he could spread the Gospel, then we should all examine ourselves as to how totally dedicated we are to the Lord. Is our Christian faith genuine, or have we become plastic Christians who are just going through the motions? When religious persecution of Christians breaks out on the North American continent, and it surely will based on Biblical prophecy (see Revelation chapter 13, verses 5-10), we had better ask ourselves where we would stand in such an event. Christian missionaries of all faiths put up with exactly this kind of risk each and every day as they work overseas. It is a fact that there have been more people martyred for their Christianity in the last 100 years than there were in the previous 1900 years combined. What would you do if the Antichrist came to power tomorrow, or next month, or next year, and who then will say we must all either take the mark of the beast or be killed? As we are indeed getting close to the end of all things as we have known them, it is imperative that we stand up for Christ. After all, He loved us and died on our behalf first. The time has come for all of us to get as serious about our faith as the apostle Paul was, because where we spend eternity will depend upon it. We are rapidly running out of time.