2 Corinthians 10
We destroy every proud obstacle that keeps people from knowing God. We capture their rebellious thoughts and teach them to obey Christ. – 2 Corinthians 10:5 NLT
Paul was under attack. There were those in Corinth who were questioning the legitimacy of his apostleship and causing others in the church to reject his authority. For Paul, this meant war. Not because he was prideful and in need of their praise and respect. He wasn't upset because people were talking about him or even because they disliked him. It was all about his God-given authority and the integrity of the Gospel. Paul had been commissioned by Jesus Christ Himself as he lay by the side of the road to Damascus, having lost his sight due to the glory of the risen Lord. Jesus had told Paul that day, "The God of our ancestors has chosen you to know his will and to see the Righteous One and hear him speak. For you are to be his witness, telling everyone what you have seen and heard. What are you waiting for? Get up and be baptized. Have your sins washed away by calling on the name of the Lord" (Acts 22:14-16 NLT).
Ever since that day, Paul had been on a mission to fulfill his commission. The church in Corinth existed because Paul had obeyed God's call on his life. He had told them about the life-changing, sin-cancelling, grace-giving salvation available through Jesus Christ. Paul had told them all that he had seen and heard. He had been a faithful, unfailing spokesman for God, and now his authority was being questioned. These new believers in Christ were being led to doubt Paul's word and to reject his teachings as authoritative. Paul could have cared less about what they thought about him as a person, but when they stopped accepting his words as coming from God, he was forced to go on the offensive. He viewed this as a battle for the spiritual lives of the believers in Corinth. "We are human, but we don't wage war as humans do. We use God's mighty weapons, not worldly weapons, to knock down the strongholds of human reasoning and to destroy false arguments" (2 Corinthians 10:3-4 NLT). Paul was going to do everything in his power to tear down the false teachings and human presuppositions that were wreaking havoc on the church in Corinth. They may have been well-meaning, but their efforts had been destructive. By questioning Paul's authority, they had led others to reject the very word of God. Paul knew that his authority had been given to him by God. He had been sent to Corinth by God. Everything he had taught them had been in keeping with the message given to him by Christ Himself. Paul had never strayed outside the boundaries of his God-given authority.
Paul had had to address some fairly difficult issues in his letters to the Corinthians. He had tackled some tough topics that probably offended many in the church there. He had dealt with moral and ethical issues. He had exposed areas of sin that they would have preferred had remained hidden. In his "severe letter" written some time between 1st and 2nd Corinthians, he had evidently addressed some topics that were difficult for the Corinthians to accept. But he had done it all as part of his authority as an apostle of Jesus Christ. His ministry had never been a popularity contest. He wasn't out to win friends and influence enemies. He was a messenger of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and he had been faithful to his calling. He had a right and responsibility to speak honestly and boldly, proclaiming not only the Good News of Jesus Christ, but the bad news regarding sin and its impact on the lives of men. Paul didn't just preach salvation. He proclaimed sanctification. He made it painfully clear that a new life in Christ required a new way of living. Eternal life was to have temporal ramifications. An encounter with the Savior was to result in a change in behavior. Paul preached a message of sanctification or being set apart. He called the people of Corinth to live lives of distinctiveness, modeling what it means to be transformed by the power of God. And that was a message that was no less popular then as it is today. But Paul was willing to do battle over it. If the Gospel doesn't transform lives here and now, it has no power. If it can't make us new creations in this life, it doesn't have the power to provide us with eternal life. That was a message Paul was willing to fight and die for. So should we.
Father, we sometimes shy away from saying those things we fear might come across as negative or unacceptable. We play it way too safe, mincing our words and lowering our expectations out of a fear of man. Give us the boldness and faithfulness of Paul. May we recognize that we too have been commissioned by God to deliver His message to a lost and dying world. Not only are we to call the lost to salvation, but the saved to sanctification. We are to call Your people to a life of distinctiveness. We have a God-given authority and responsibility to call one another to daily life change through the power of the Holy Spirit. Help us to live up to our calling, boldly and unapologetically. Amen.