Thousands of books are written on the subject of leadership. I have ten in my office library, and more that I’ve read, but haven’t found important enough to keep. But out of all the books I’ve read, all the ones that I have heard synopsis of, and all the different leadership classes and trainings I’ve had over the years, it’s from a picture that I think sums up the whole idea of Christian leadership.
The picture shows two scenes. The top scene shows three people pulling a box over logs, with the word “mission” across it. On top of the box is a person sitting in a chair behind a desk pointing ahead of the men pulling the box, and the word “boss” written next to the person, with an arrow pointing towards them.
Underneath the first scene is the second. The second scene is similar in that there are three people pulling a box over logs, with the word “mission” across it. But there is no person sitting behind a desk on top of the box. Instead there is a fourth person at the front of the rope, pulling the box; the person is pointing forward, while looking back at the others. The word “leader” is written with an arrow pointing to this person.
This is what true leadership is, the first in front, down in the work that the leader is helping others accomplish, while not adding to their burden.
And it’s this burdensome leadership that brings us back to 2nd Corinthians, where we’ll be picking it back up in chapter 11, starting in verse 1. And as we do, let’s look at where we are in our summer series.
Last week we began the third section of 2nd Corinthians, as Paul begins to deal with the false teachers that have entered into the congregation. Section one laid the ground work for what we saw at the beginning of section three. Paul wants people who read his letters to understand that he writes from a place that seeks to be both humble in correcting people, and bold enough to deal with the hard situations. In the accusations that are hurled against Paul, people look at his letters as bold, while when he physically shows up, he is meek, which they interpret as cowardly. But if we understand Paul’s writings as he intended them, then we would see a humble boldness within his letters, that he carries on with in person. And so we are called to a bold humbleness where we wield Christ’s authority, and apply it wisely.
It’s from this humble boldness that Paul continues to address the false teachers. Now from chapter 11 verse 1 to the end of chapter 12, we have one large thought of Paul in how he deals with these false teachers. We can see this connective thought, because Paul uses the idea of “foolishness” to connect it all together. But because the thought is so big, we’re going to break it down into smaller thoughts and see how he connects them together. This is the same thing we did for Paul’s thought on giving.
So let’s read together the first of Paul’s connective thoughts on the false teachers.
1 I wish you would bear with me in a little foolishness. Do bear with me! 2 For I feel a divine jealousy for you, since I betrothed you to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ. 3 But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ.
4 For if someone comes and proclaims another Jesus than the one we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or if you accept a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it readily enough. 5 Indeed, I consider that I am not in the least inferior to these super-apostles. 6 Even if I am unskilled in speaking, I am not so in knowledge; indeed, in every way we have made this plain to you in all things.
7 Or did I commit a sin in humbling myself so that you might be exalted, because I preached God's gospel to you free of charge? 8 I robbed other churches by accepting support from them in order to serve you. 9 And when I was with you and was in need, I did not burden anyone, for the brothers who came from Macedonia supplied my need. So I refrained and will refrain from burdening you in any way. 10 As the truth of Christ is in me, this boasting of mine will not be silenced in the regions of Achaia. 11 And why? Because I do not love you? God knows I do!
12 And what I am doing I will continue to do, in order to undermine the claim of those who would like to claim that in their boasted mission they work on the same terms as we do. 13 For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. 14 And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. 15 So it is no surprise if his servants, also, disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Their end will correspond to their deeds.
v.1-3
Paul wants to delve into a little foolish talk for a moment, and what he means by that is a little recklessness of thought in dealing with the situation. So Paul is going to use imagery, hyperbole, and sarcasm to get his point across. Paul begins by associating himself with a man who had introduced their friend to a future spouse, and now is jealous or concerned for that friend as their marriage falls apart. So as we read through Paul’s words, we’re seeing that guy who desperately wants his friend to have a healthy marriage.
It’s here that Paul draws from Genesis 3 and the fall of humanity. The Corinthians are beings deceived in a parallel way as Eve was. Just as the serpent drew Eve away from God, these false teachers are doing the same thing. It’s why, at the end of our reading, that Paul connects them to Satan directly as his servants. So the jealously that Paul is feeling towards the Corinthians is a divine jealously, because Paul knows where the deception leads.
v.4-5
So it’s from this jealously of desiring that the Corinthians keep away from these false teachers that Paul writes about it. And he writes something that is extremely important for the Church in general. There will be other Jesus’ who are proclaimed. There will be other spirits that can be received. There will be other gospels that can be accepted. And those who will present these other Jesus’, spirits, and gospels, are super-apostles. The word translated as “super” is hyper, meaning these types of apostles consider themselves beyond the work of the first apostles. They are better than the twelve, and better than Paul. Super-apostles will denigrate the work of the first apostles to puff themselves up.
We see this today. We see it in the Progressive movement, where the words of the apostles are seen as misogynistic and outdated. It’s in the Prosperity movement, where the hard times, poverty, and death of the apostles are seen as separate from the will of God. It’s in the cult movements that make Jesus into a created being, and add on to his finished work through extra work on our part. It’s in the religion of Islam, who nullifies Jesus’ sacrifice and who disregards the apostles’ glorification of Jesus.
All around us, there are other Jesus’ proclaimed, other spirits who desire to be received, and other gospels that call to be accepted.
v.6-12
But Paul gives us a few ways to see through these super-apostles. First, in verse 6, we see that super-apostles try to make things more complicated. They add rules, and do’s and don’ts that are not in the Scriptures. They use the big words without teaching what they mean, so that people feel stupid. A teacher of God’s word should be trying to make it less complicated for us to understand, not more complicated. A teacher should help us be able to understand God, so that we rely on the Holy Spirit for direction and not them. But false teachers do the opposite. They want us to rely on them, so that they take the place of God in our lives.
Next, in verses 7-11, we see that false teachers seek to rob the Church. They seek bigger incomes than what is needed. They seek more lavish titles, even when Jesus teaches against them such titles (Matthew 23). They seek to burden the people of God, instead of humbling themselves and taking the heaviest load to reduce burden. Paul uses hyperbole to say he robbed the other churches as to not be a burden on the Corinthians. What he means is, he didn’t take anything from the Corinthians, even though he would have been justified in doing so, but instead wanted them to understand, it wasn’t their wealth that he was after, but their salvation. In our modern context, we see this in televangelists who fly around in private jets; who wear thousand dollar suits and stay in luxury hotels, while asking for more money, as they spend it unwisely. On a smaller scale, these false teachers heap hardships onto volunteers; making them do the work they are paid to do.
v.13-15
And we might think, they speak well, they’re people persons, they say all the right things, but so does Satan. False teachers, super-apostles, look good in public, but behind the scenes they are working for their own good and not for the good of the Church. This is a tight rope that is given to teachers and leaders in the Church. We are given enormous reasonability, and we can easily fall to self-deception, where we end up misusing that authority. There are stories after stories about people who sound good, who have a great multi-site, international ministry, who turn and fall, because their lives behind the scenes are corrupt. But it’s not just the big names that fall, it’s any leader who seeks their own will and desire apart from God.
All of us have our struggles with sin, that’s not what we’re talking about. We’re talking about seeking the work of God above all else. We’re talking about unburdening people, not adding to their burdens. We’re talking about going the extra mile in serving, not requiring others to serve us. We’re talking about speaking plainly, and not over people’s heads.
And no matter where we are, whether we serve as a volunteer over children, or the Lead Pastor of a congregation, or the president of a denomination, all of us have to be on our guard that we are serving, as the Lord intends for us to serve.
From Paul’s letter to the Philippians, we’re told, “1 So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, 2 complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. 3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. 4 Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. 5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. (v.2:1-8)”
We are to be humbly serving each other to the point where we would die for each other. Jesus said this in John 15:12-14, “12 This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command you.” We are not greater than Jesus; he laid down his life for us, and we are to lay our lives down for each other.
God desires us to both keep on the look out for false teachers, these “super-apostles,” and to make sure we do not fall into the same trap. We avoid the trap by seeking ever greater service. We carry the burden the extra mile, we give the coat and the shirt. As followers of Jesus, we look to him on how we serve, so what did he hold back in his service to us? Jesus’ service took him to the cross, what’s that mean of our service to each other?
Paul’s foolishness is that he served the Corinthians so that they would see Jesus on full display, God is calling us to such a foolishness as well.
My challenge for you this week is that you seek such a foolishness in your life. Take an inventory of all the people in your life that God has called you to serve, and ask the question, “How far am I willing to serve them?” Then ask the followup question, “Jesus, how far are you calling me to serve them?” Then finally, the request, “Empower me to serve them as you serve me.”
God serves us. From the heights above creation he stoops down to wash our feet. In comparison, we have a smaller stoop to serve. Let us be a people of service, so that we might avoid the falseness that comes from exalting ourselves.
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