Defending the Faith

I wonder do you love a contest, enjoy a good argument? Relish a show down? I hope not too much. Maybe you're at the other extreme – do you fear and dread conflict and do almost anything to avoid it? Love it or hate it, conflict is a part of life, and sadly it's a part of the Christian life too, and not just conflict with outsiders, but conflict with each other inside the church. And in this letter we're stumbling into a conflict. As Dimitri said two weeks ago we're looking in on someone else's mail… and it's intensely personal – these guys have hurt each other, and hurt each other badly, and they're trying to work the relationship out…

And we might well find that a challenge in itself. Have you ever had a friendship that flared really bright for a while and then burnt out into a painful mess? You were new best buddies for a while, and it was wonderful, but then something happened and the whole thing went bad? And the fallout was just as intense as the friendship - better the friendship, the worse the break up. That's what it's been like with Paul and the Corinthians. Remember Paul brought the gospel to them and they became Christians. That doesn't seem earth shattering to us now, but it was. Paul was the first Christian they'd met, he was the only Christian they knew, their only link to the news about Jesus. And he'd said everything they knew about life was wrong. All their gods, or their morality, all their goals and hopes, everything had to go. And they'd broken with everything and everyone they'd held to up to that point to become the very first Christians their city had ever seen. They must have had some bond mustn't they? It was Paul and them against the world, Paul introducing them to this whole new life, like being born all over again. I mean they were really tight, they were really close, it was love, wonderful brotherly love.

But then Paul left and the relationship was stretched, things in the church went a bit out of control and Paul had to write harsh things to get them back on track (1 Corinthians). But they went further astray, when he came back for a visit he was shocked at how bad things were. So he'd written another letter, a letter that we don't have, but that Paul says was written in anguish and great distress, and that caused the church anguish and distress. Their relationship is hanging by a thread. Paul writes this letter to set things right. And part of the problem is that with Paul elsewhere shysters have come in and tried to take over the church. These guys look and sound far more impressive than Paul ever did. And they don't have a lot of good words for Paul, in fact they have quite a few bad words for Paul. And maybe you've been through something like this yourself – you used to be close, but things have soured, and someone new comes along and they fan the flames of discontent and they frame everything differently and suddenly you see your old friend in a whole new light and things that seemed innocent, or even good, now look pretty off… and so some of the church are starting to see Paul as the bad guy, and they read everything Paul does through a lens of suspicion. And you know how it goes when we get like that don't you – it doesn't matter what the other person is doing, we read it all in a bad light, we chose to see the worst in them, or to assume the worst about them and we can find fault with anything.

That sort of attitude poisons relationships and makes friends into enemies. Some of the Corinthians are wandering around singing 'and now you're just somebody that I used to know' and 'you give love a bad name'. And from this distance does it really matter? With all this personal stuff going on, should we even be sticking our noses in? Well the thing we need to remember, the thing that Paul is going to lay out for the church over the 13 chapters of this letter is that it really does matter how we think about Paul, because Paul isn't just somebody who they used to know, Paul is Jesus' chosen somebody, Jesus' representative, and how we treat Paul goes back to Jesus. Jesus sent Paul personally to tell the gospel, reject Paul and you reject Jesus, reject Jesus and you're cut off from God. This letter isn't just a personal matter, but a matter of salvation. And it's not just a back then thing, it's a matter of salvation that we see repeating over and over again. Today the battle ground for the church is fought on the same ground –those who recognise Paul's authority to speak on God's behalf battle to stay faithful to Jesus' instruction through Paul, while many others happily go along with the world, rejecting Paul's authority. And this morning we're looking in as Paul begins his defence of his work among the Corinthians, and the gist of it is that he did what he did out of love for them. He spells it out here in two ways:

Paul's actions and words are sincere and holy
Paul's change of plans was motivated by love

So firstly:

Paul's actions and words are sincere and holy

Verse 12-14:Now this is our boast: Our conscience testifies that we have conducted ourselves in the world, and especially in our relations with you, in the holiness and sincerity that are from God. We have done so not according to worldly wisdom but according to God's grace. For we do not write to you anything you cannot read or understand. And I hope that, as you have understood us in part, you will come to understand fully that you can boast of us just as we will boast of you in the day of the Lord Jesus.

We'll see as we go on that boasting is a big theme in 2 Corinthians. It's not something Paul likes to do, but others at Corinth are full of it. Full of it in every sense– they love to tell everyone how wonderful they are (and they don't mind mentioning how pathetic Paul is by comparison). But their boasts are empty, there's nothing to them; by comparison with Paul they have nothing to offer – theirs is a false gospel, their achievements don't amount to much and following them will only lead the Corinthians away from Jesus. So Paul meets their boasts with a few boasts of his own. But as we start here Paul doesn't boast like they do. He doesn't boast about the huge speaking fees he attracts (he'd rather spend for them than make money from them), or about his amazing success in church planting programmes across the known world (he really could), or in his friends and his networks (he's at the centre of the gospel spread worldwide, but he's not counting twitter followers) – he doesn't boast about the things that might make him look impressive, because those things aren't important to him. Rather he boasts that his conscience is clear because he has always acted in line with God's holiness and sincerity. It might not sound like much, but that is something to boast about – not before God (as if a clean conscience will save him), but in respect to the question 'who is better equipped to lead the church in Corinth?' this gets at something absolutely vital. The men talking Paul down are not honest workmen, they're hiding guilty secrets, they're in it for themselves and they're exploiting the Corinthians (as we'll see in coming weeks). They can't match this boast. Yes, Paul doesn't come across all impressive and clever and he can't compete with the show they put on – and Corinth was a city big into show; clever public speakers could make a lot of money on the speaker's circuit. Well Paul wasn't raking in the big bucks because he didn't do the fancy rhetoric. And that was deliberate – he speaks and writes simply because he's not trying to impress people, but to communicate the truth so that they can understand it and put it into practice. He doesn't write in worldly wisdom to impress, but in God's wisdom to win them over so they can read and understand – Paul's concern is to see them standing on the day that the Lord Jesus returns.

Paul's conscience is clear because from day one he's been concerned for them, not for himself. He has no great reputation because he's abandoned the flourishes and the preening that might draw attention to himself so that they can look past him to see Jesus. We might make a comparison with the great public speakers of our age: The men who are trying to lever Paul out the door are a bit like stand up comedians. They're smart, funny, likable – they draw a crowd and they can work the crowd. They can lift the spirits, take you on a journey, make you laugh out loud, make you cry. And you could listen to them for hours. People pay to hear them, and when they finish say 'wasn't he brilliant?' And we rate them on how they make us feel. They might say profound and enlightening things. But the point is entertainment. But Paul is playing a completely different game. He's not cracking gags because his agenda isn't to make us feel good, he's doing something completely different all together.

Just think with me – how disastrous would it be if we were to come to church for a break, for a laugh, for a bit of light entertainment. That's not God's agenda for us, we come together to hear from God. But the Corinthians were being dazzled by the show and the proud boasts and the snide criticisms. They were heading that way. Paul says I'm not playing that game, I'm going to talk about something that really matters – not how impressive I look or sound, but how true my message is, and how sincerely I lived that our before you and how clearly I told it to you so you could understand. That's how you judge a good preacher – not by the show, not by how he makes you feel, but how holy, sincere, direct and even simple he is so that everyone can understand the message. So think a bit more with me – is it possible that we can get a bit sucked in to the same way of thinking. Maybe you're not looking for Russell Brand or Russell Howard to preach the sermon (maybe you are – you're in the wrong place, sorry?!) But we can easily slip into a mode that says I'll listen if the sermon is engaging, and switch off if it's not. Or I'll listen in order to critique, but I'll keep it at arm's length cause I'm not going to change my life. A more subtle version might be thinking that the point is to make me feel – so I feel better after an uplifting sermon, I feel sad over sin, I delight in God… but stopping at feeling and not actually doing anything about it – I might feel bad about sin, but not so much that I repent and change my ways; or I delight in God, but not so much that I pursue him in prayer and bible reading and godly living, instead of pursuing leisure and comfort… Do you need a dose of that sincerity and holiness that Paul spoke about? Do need to repent of seeking entertainment and learn to pursue God instead?

So there's Paul's first point – his actions and words were sincere and holy, however simple and unimpressive they seemed. Paul goes on defending himself by explaining that his change of plans was motivated by love.

Paul's change of plans was motivated by love

 Verse 15:Because I was confident of this, I planned to visit you first so that you might benefit twice. 16 I planned to visit you on my way to Macedonia and to come back to you from Macedonia, and then to have you send me on my way to Judea. 17 When I planned this, did I do it lightly? Or do I make my plans in a worldly manner so that in the same breath I say, "Yes, yes" and "No, no"?

Do you see the issue here? Paul had planned on making two visits, but had changed his mind. As a result people in Corinth are saying that Paul is a bit flighty – he planned it lightly, but didn't think it through, and then couldn't do what he said he would. Or worse - he's not exactly truthful – he says 'yes, yes' to them, but he's got his hands crossed behind his back, in his head he's saying 'no, no'; he only said he'd come back, really he had no intention of making two visits.
Could Paul just let this go perhaps? What's the big deal? Well have a look at verse 18:

But as surely as God is faithful, our message to you is not "Yes" and "No". For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by me and Silas and Timothy, was not "Yes" and "No", but in him it has always been "Yes." For no matter how many promises God has made, they are "Yes" in Christ. And so through him the "Amen" is spoken by us to the glory of God.

There's two big issues here. First if Paul is flighty or worse, if he's not truthful, who can believe his message? He's not just putting on a show, his message needs to have integrity, he's claiming to speak truth, he needs to be truthful, and he's worked hard, before God, to be truthful. If his reputation is trashed then it calls his message into question.The second issue is closely related – he's not just any old preacher, he's the apostle, he's been sent by Jesus to represent Jesus; he speaks Jesus' message and he represents Jesus in all he does. If Paul is double minded, flighty or deceptive, that would reflect back onto Jesus. But Jesus is the truth. Not only that, Jesus is the demonstration that God is faithful – all the promises of God find their fulfilment in him, he is the fulfilment of all God's promises. God's faithfulness if established by Jesus - how disastrous if his representatives don't speak the truth.See, in the end it's not just Paul who's under attack, it's his message, his gospel – it's Jesus, God's yes to all his OT promises. And if Paul's wrong about the gospel that calls the very church into question – But the church is not in question, look at verse 21

Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.God put his seal on the church after Paul preached. Both Paul and the Corinthians have been baptised in the Holy Spirit, the mark of God's approval, God's acceptance of them. Paul's ministry is the real deal, God has given put his seal of approval on it. In keeping with God's Spirit with in him and his role as ambassador of Jesus Paul doesn't make promises with his fingers crossed, his yes means yes, his no means no.

So then why didn't he come back and visit them? Look at verse 23:

I call God as my witness that it was in order to spare you that I did not return to Corinth. Not that we lord it over your faith, but we work with you for your joy, because it is by faith you stand firm . So I made up my mind that I would not make another painful visit to you. For if I grieve you, who is left to make me glad but you whom I have grieved? So I wrote as I did so that when I came I should not be distressed by those who ought to make me rejoice. I had confidence in all of you, that you would all share my joy. For I wrote to you out of great distress and anguish of heart and with many tears, not to grieve you but to let you know the depth of my love for you.

What Paul saw when he went back to Corinth was so bad that he had to write and get it sorted before he could make another visit. Why? If he came back when they were in full scale revolt there would certainly have been a scene. Paul would have been forced to take strong action to establish his authority there. It wouldn't have been pretty (If I grieve you, who is left to make me glad?) and it could have gone very sour. So Paul wrote a very strongly worded letter. He didn't do that lightly, it was the product of tears and anguish, not to hurt them, but in love to bring them back to the truth. Any parent here will know how this goes. Sometimes things get so out of hand that children need something drastic to bring them back to their senses. In our house it's the naughty step, some time out to stop and think about consequences, and to give time to cool down.

Paul's letter was evidently quite firm, even hurtful in places. But it wasn't violence by pen, he wasn't just lashing out to hurt them; it was surgical – not designed to make a wound, but to remove a cancer, to repair deep seated damage. Sarah Piper is in the hospital at the moment, she' got a very badly broken ankle. When she arrived her leg was in a mess, so the doctor took hold of her foot and yanked it around, twice. It was excruciating, but her leg needed to be set into a better position, or the consequences could have been very serious. That's what Paul's letter was – the painful intervention that prevents worse from coming. Paul wrote in confidence that straight talking would bring them back to the truth. And we'll see later in the letter that it worked, the letter led them to repentance. But the intervention still hurt, and there's still some people who can't see the value in it, all they can feel is the pain and they are not grateful that Paul inflicted it. Did you notice Paul's repeated reference to Joy? Paul works with them for their joy. Paul wants them to make him rejoice and has confidence that they would share his joy. There's more going on here than just a nice feeling. Paul's focus here isn't short term, but long term. His sights are fixed on the day of the Lord Jesus (as in verse 14). He wants them to share his joy on that day, when he will boast in them and they in him. When they will stand before the Lord Jesus and be welcomed into his presence. Paul wants them to know that joy, and so he lovingly administers even strong discipline in order to keep them in the Lord Jesus.

Do you see how this is significance for us? First and foremost we need to listen to God's apostles, today that means we need to listen to God's word they have passed on to us in the bible. We can't pick and choose the bits we like, we have to listen to all of it, even the uncomfortable bits – especially the uncomfortable bits.
And second, when we go astray from the truth we might not appreciate it being pointed out to us… but that's what Love does – it will graciously lead us away from error and back to the truth. And so it must be for us – Christians are called to love one another. And that means being kind and gracious and thoughtful of one another. When someone's ill we comfort them, visit the hospital with flowers, whatever else is needed … and it also means that we call one another out if we need to, that we face the pain of conflict if it's needed in order to preserve the truth, and we work to help one another when we're tempted to go astray.

And finally we need to contend for the gospel when it's being opposed. Like Paul we might shy away from conflict, but when God is being denied and bad mouthed in the world, we need to speak for him, graciously, but without fear.

Not easy, so let's pray…