2 Corinthians 10

Whenever I receive a critical letter from a reader or a radio listener, I usually set it aside in a special file until I feel I am really ready to answer it. On a few occasions, I have replied to letters too quickly, and I have regretted it. By waiting, I give myself time to think and pray, to read between the lines, and to prepare a reply that would do the most good and the least damage.

The Spirit led Paul to use a wise approach as he wrote to the Corinthians. He was writing to a divided church (1 Cor. 1:11ff.), a church that was resisting his authority, and a church that was being seduced by false teachers. So, first he explained his ministry so that they would no longer doubt his sincerity. He then encouraged them to share in the offering, for he knew that this challenge would help them grow in their spiritual lives. Grace giving and grace living go together.

Now, in the last section of the letter, Paul challenged the rebels in the church—including the false teachers—and enforced his apostolic ministry. As you read 2 Corinthians 10—13, you will find Paul referring directly to his accusers (2 Cor. 10:7, 10–12; 11:4, 20–23, for example) and answering their false charges. He does not hide the fact that the Judaizers in the church are ministers of Satan who want to destroy the work of God (2 Cor. 11:12–15).

Paul used one word twenty times in 2 Corinthians 10—13, the word translated “boast” or “glory.” When you first read these chapters, you get the impression that Paul was bragging about himself; but such was not the case. Paul “gloried in Jesus Christ” and not in himself or his achievements (Rom. 5:11; Gal. 6:14; Phil. 3:3). He boasted to others about the Corinthians, but it seemed that his boasting might be in vain (2 Cor. 7:4, 14; 8:24).

Keep in mind that Paul was not defending himself personally; he was defending his ministry and his apostolic authority. He was not involved in a “personality contest” with other ministers. His enemies did not hesitate to accuse him falsely, nor did they hesitate to promote themselves (2 Cor. 11:12). It was the worldly attitude of the Corinthians that forced Paul to defend himself by reminding them of his life and ministry. Paul never hesitated to talk about Jesus Christ, but he did refuse to talk about himself, unless there was good reason to do so.

Finally, when Paul did boast, he limited himself to the ministry God had given him (2 Cor. 10:13), and then he emphasized his sufferings, not his successes. When this letter was read in the Corinthian assembly, it must have brought shame to the hearts of those who had criticized Paul—and it must have made the Judaizers look foolish.

Paul’s first step in enforcing his ministry was to correct the misunderstandings that existed in the minds of the people with reference to his work. They did not understand three important areas of ministry.

The accusation (vv. 1–2). This is not difficult to find. The rebels in the church (led by the Judaizers) said that Paul was very courageous when he wrote letters from a distance, but very timid and even weak when he was present with the Corinthians (see also 2 Cor. 10:9–11). The Judaizers, of course, were consistently overbearing in their attitudes—and the people loved them (2 Cor. 11:20). Paul’s “inconsistent” manner of life paralleled his “yes and no” approach to making promises (2 Cor. 1:15–20).

When Paul founded the church at Corinth, his purpose was to exalt Christ and not himself (1 Cor. 2:1–5). Christians usually grow the way they are born. If they are born in an atmosphere of dictatorial leadership, they grow up depending on man’s wisdom and strength. If they are born in an atmosphere of humility and love, they learn to depend on the Lord. Paul wanted his converts to trust the Lord, and not the servant; so he deliberately “played down” his own authority and ability.

How ignorant the Corinthians were, even after all that Paul had taught them. They failed to realize that true spiritual power is in “meekness and gentleness” (2 Cor. 10:1), not in “throwing weight around.” Paul’s very attitude in these opening verses disarmed his opponents. (In fact, his use of his own name is significant; for Paul means “little.”) If Paul was a weakling, then so was Jesus Christ; for Jesus exhibited meekness and gentleness (Matt. 11:29). However, our Lord could also be stern and even angry when the occasion demanded it (see Matt. 15:1–2; 23:13–33; Mark 11:15–17; John 2:13–16). Paul was warning them in a loving way, “Please don’t force me to come and show how bold I can be!”

The answer (vv. 3–6). This reveals what spiritual warfare is all about. Because the Corinthians (led by the false teachers) judged Paul’s ministry by the outward appearance, they completely missed the power that was there. They were evaluating things “according to the flesh” (2 Cor. 10:2) and not according to the Spirit. The Judaizers, like some “great” religious personalities today, impressed the people with their overpowering abilities, their oratorical powers, and their “commendations” from church leaders.

Paul took a different approach; for, though he was as human as anyone else, he did not depend on the human but on the divine, the spiritual weapons provided by the Lord. His warfare was not according to the flesh, because he was not fighting against flesh and blood (see Eph. 6:10ff.). You cannot fight spiritual battles with carnal weapons.

The word warfare in 2 Corinthians 10: means “campaign.” Paul was not simply fighting a little skirmish in Corinth; the attack of the enemy there was part of a large satanic campaign. The powers of hell are still trying to destroy the work of God (Matt. 16:18), and it is important that we not yield any ground to the enemy, not even one church!

There are walls of resistance in the minds of people, and these walls (like the walls of Jericho) must be pulled down. What are these “mental walls”? Reasonings that are opposed to the truth of God’s Word. Pride of intelligence that exalts itself. Paul was not attacking intelligence, but intellectualism, the high-minded attitude that makes people think they know more than they really do (Rom. 12:16). Paul had faced this “wisdom of men” when he founded the church (1 Cor. 1:18ff.), and it had surfaced again with the coming of the Judaizers.

Paul’s attitude of humility was actually one of his strongest weapons, for pride plays right into the hands of Satan. The meek Son of God had far more power than Pilate (see John 19:11), and He proved it. Paul used spiritual weapons to tear down the opposition— prayer, the Word of God, love, the power of the Spirit at work in his life. He did not depend on personality, human abilities, or even the authority he had as an apostle. However, he was ready to punish the offenders, if necessary, once the congregation had submitted to the Lord.

Many believers today do not realize that the church is involved in warfare, and those who do understand the seriousness of the Christian battle do not always know how to fight the battle. They try to use human methods to defeat demonic forces, and these methods are doomed to fail. When Joshua and his army marched around Jericho for a week, the spectators thought they were mad. When the Jews trusted God and obeyed orders, they brought down the high walls and conquered the enemy (Josh. 6:1–20).

When I was pastoring in Chicago, I met weekly with three pastor friends, and together we united in “warfare praying.” We claimed God’s promise to cast down the wrong thinking that was keeping people from surrendering to God; and God did great things in the lives of many people for whom we interceded. Once the walls in the mind have been torn down, the door to the heart can be opened.

One of the most difficult lessons Christ’s disciples had to learn was that, in the kingdom of God, position and power were no evidence of authority. Jesus warned His followers not to pattern their leadership after that of the Gentiles who loved to “lord it over” others and to act important (see Mark 10:35–45). The example we must follow is that of Jesus Christ, who came as a servant and ministered to others. Paul followed that example.

But the Corinthians were not spiritually minded enough to discern what Paul was doing. They contrasted his meekness with the “personality power” of the Judaizers, and they concluded that Paul had no authority at all. To be sure, he wrote powerful letters; but his physical appearance was weak, and his speech “unimpressive.” They were judging by the outward appearance and were not exercising spiritual discernment.

Some friends and I once listened to a man preach whose entire sermon was made up of impressive “big” words, an occasional quotation from the Bible (usually taken out of context), and many references to world events and the “signs of the times.” As we left the meeting, one of my friends said, “First Kings 19: describes that performance perfectly: ‘The Lord was not in the wind.’” Yet people around us were saying that it was “the most wonderful sermon” they had ever heard. I seriously doubt that ten minutes later they were able to recall one concrete thing that the preacher had said.

Paul did not deny that he had authority, but he did refuse to exercise that authority in an unspiritual manner. The purpose for his authority was to build them up, not tear them down; and it requires much more skill to build than to destroy. Furthermore, it takes love to build up (1 Cor. 8:1); and the Corinthians interpreted Paul’s love and meekness as a sign of weakness.

The difference between Paul and the Judaizers was this: Paul used his authority to build up the church, while the Judaizers used the church to build up their authority.

In my many years of pastoral and itinerant ministry, I have never ceased to be amazed at how some local churches treat their pastors. If a man shows love and true humility, they resist his leadership and break his heart. The next pastor will be a “dictator” who “runs the church”—and he gets just what he wants. And the people love him and brag about him! Our Lord was treated the same way, so perhaps we should not be surprised.

The opponents in the church were accusing Paul of not being a true apostle; for, if he were a true apostle, he would show it by using his authority. On the other hand, if Paul had thrown his weight around, they would have found fault with that. No matter what course Paul took, they were bound to condemn him. This is what always happens when church members are not spiritually minded, but evaluate ministry from a worldly viewpoint.

But their accusation backfired. If Paul was not an apostle, then he was a counterfeit and not even a believer. But if that were true, then the church at Corinth was not a true church. Paul had already made it clear that nobody could separate his ministry and his personal life (2 Cor. 1:12–14). If he were a deceiver, then the Corinthians were the deceived!

Paul also pointed out that there was no contradiction between his preaching and his writing. He was bold in his letters because that was what was needed at the time. How much more would he have enjoyed being able to write with gentleness. But it would not have achieved the desired purpose. And, even when he wrote “weighty and powerful” letters, he wrote from a heart of love. “You had better prepare for my next visit,” he was saying, “because if it is necessary, I will show you how powerful I can be.”

How a Christian uses authority is an evidence of his spiritual maturity and character. An immature person swells as he uses his authority, but a mature person grows in the use of authority, and others grow with him. The wise pastor, like the wise parent, knows when to wait in loving patience and when to act with determined power. It takes more power to wait than to strike. A mature person does not use authority to demand respect, but to command respect. Mature leaders suffer while they wait to act, while immature leaders act impetuously and make others suffer.

The false teachers depended on “letters of recommendation” for their authority, but Paul had a divine commission from heaven. The life that he lived and the work that he did were “credentials” enough, for it was evident that the hand of God was on his life. Paul could dare to write, “From henceforth let no man trouble me; for I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus” (Gal. 6:17).

When my wife and I have ministered in England, we have always tried to arrange our schedule so that we might visit in London. We especially enjoy shopping in Selfridge’s and Harrod’s, London’s two leading department stores. H. Gordon Selfridge, who built the great store that bears his name, always claimed that he was a success because he was a leader and not a “boss.” The leader says, “Let’s go!” while the boss says, “Go!” The boss knows how it is done, but the leader shows how it is done. The boss inspires fear; the leader inspires enthusiasm based on respect and goodwill. The boss fixes the blame for the breakdown, while the true leader fixes the breakdown. The boss keeps saying, “I,” while the leader says, “We.” Mr. Selfridge’s philosophy of management would certainly agree with the apostle Paul’s philosophy of leadership.

I suppose more problems have been caused by people “measuring the ministry” than by any other activity in the church. If the work of the church is the work of God, and if the work of God is a miracle, how do we go about measuring a miracle? In His personal examination of the seven churches named in Revelation 2 and 3, the Lord Jesus measured them far differently than they measured themselves. The church that thought it was poor, He considered to be rich; and the church that boasted of its wealth, He declared to be poor (Rev. 2:8–11; 3:14–22).

Some people measure ministry only by statistics. While it is true that the early church did take note of numbers (Acts 2:41; 4:4), it is also true that uniting with the church at that time was a much more difficult (and dangerous) thing (see Acts 5:13). Some years ago, one of America’s large denominations had as its theme, “A Million More in ’64, and Every One a Tither!” I heard one of their leading preachers comment, “If we get a million more like the last million, God help us!” Quantity is no guarantee of quality.

False measurement (v. 12). The Judaizers were great on measuring their ministry, because a religion of external activities is much easier to measure than one of internal transformation. The legalist can measure what he does and what he does not do, but the Lord is the only One who can see spiritual growth in a believer’s heart. Sometimes those who are growing the most feel like they are less than the least.

In a sense, the Judaizers belonged to a “mutual admiration society” that set up its own standards and measured everybody by them. Of course, those inside the group were successful; those outside were failures. Paul was one of the outsiders, so he was considered a failure. Unfortunately, they did not measure themselves by Jesus Christ (see Eph. 4:12–16). If they had, it would have made a difference.

True measurement (vv. 13–18). Paul suggests three questions we may ask ourselves as we seek to measure our ministries by the will of God.

Am I where God wants me to be (vv. 13–14)? God “assigned a field” in which Paul was to work: he was the apostle to the Gentiles (Acts 9:15; 22:21; Eph. 3). He was also to go where no other apostle had ministered; he was to be a “pioneer preacher” to the Gentiles.

Paul used a bit of sanctified sarcasm in his defense. “The area God assigned to me included even you Corinthians!” (see 2 Cor. 10:13). It was not the Judaizers who had come to Corinth with the gospel. They, like the cultists today, arrived on the scene only after the church had already been established (see Rom. 15:15–22).

Churches and ministers are not competing with each other; they are competing with themselves. God is not going to measure us on the basis of the gifts and opportunities that He gave to Charles Spurgeon or Billy Sunday. He will measure my work by what He assigned to me. God requires faithfulness above everything else (1 Cor. 4:2).

There is something intimidating about attending a pastors’ conference or a denominational convention, because the people on the program are usually the “front-runners” with the best records. Young pastors and older men in narrow places often go home carrying feelings of guilt because their faithful work does not seem to produce as much fruit. Some of these discouraged men then try all kinds of programs and promotions, only to have more disappointment; and then they contemplate leaving the ministry. If only they would realize that God measures their ministries on the basis of where He has put them, and not on the basis of what is going on in some other city, it would encourage them to stay on the job and keep being faithful.

Is God glorified by my ministry (vv. 15–17)? This is another jibe at the Judaizers, who stole other men’s converts and claimed them as their own. Paul would not boast about another man’s work, nor would he invade another man’s territory. Whatever work he did, God did through him, and God alone should receive the glory.

I once listened to a man give a lecture on how to build a large Sunday school. Everything in the lecture was correct and certainly had worked in some of the large ministries in the United States. The only problem was, the man had never built a large Sunday school himself! He had visited many of the large ministries, interviewed the pastors and staff members, and developed his lecture. After he finished his lecture, people flocked to his side to ask questions and get autographs. I happened to be standing next to a pastor who had built one of the finest churches—and one of the largest—in America.

“Those people ought to be talking to you,” I said to him. “You’ve done it and you know more about Sunday school work than he does!”

“Let him enjoy himself,” said my friend with a kind smile. “We’re all doing the same work, and all that counts is that God is glorified.”

Paul added another bit of “holy irony” when he told the Corinthians that the only thing that had kept him from going to “the regions beyond” them was their own lack of faith. Had they been submissive to his leadership and obedient to the Word, he could have reached other lost souls; but they created so many problems for him that he had to take time from missionary evangelism to solve the problems in the church. “I would have better statistics to report,” he was saying, “but you hindered me.”

Paul quoted Jeremiah 9: in 2 Corinthians 10:17, a statement he had also quoted in 1 Corinthians 1:31. The Corinthians were prone to glory in men, especially now that the Judaizers had taken over in the church. When the Corinthians heard the “reports” of what these teachers had done, and when they saw the “letters of recommendation” that they carried, the church was quite carried away with them. As a result, Paul and his ministry looked small and unsuccessful.

But the final test is not when the reports are published for the annual meeting. The final test comes at the judgment seat of Christ, “and then shall every man have praise of God” (1 Cor. 4:5). If men get the glory, then God cannot be glorified. “I am the Lord: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another” (Isa. 42:8).

This is not to suggest that well-known ministers with flourishing works are robbing God of glory. As we grow and bear “much fruit,” we bring glory to the Father (John 15:1–8). But we must be careful that it is “fruit” that comes from spiritual life and not “results” that appear when we manipulate people and manufacture statistics.

Can the Lord commend my work (v. 18)? We may commend ourselves or be commended by others and still not deserve the commendation of God. How does God approve our work? By testing it. The word approved in 2 Corinthians 10: means “to approve by testing.” There is a future testing at the judgment seat of Christ (1 Cor. 3:10ff.), but there is also a present testing of the work that we do. God permits difficulties to come to local churches in order that the work might be tested and approved.

Over the years, I have seen ministries tested by financial losses, the invasion of false doctrine, the emergence of proud leaders who want to run the church, and the challenge of change. Some of the churches have fallen apart and almost died because the work was not spiritual. Other ministries have grown because of the trials and have become purer and stronger; and, through it all, God was glorified.

Certainly our ministries must keep records and issue reports, but we must not fall into the “snare of statistics” and think that numbers are the only measurement of ministry. Each situation is unique, and no ministry can honestly be evaluated on the basis of some other ministry. The important thing is that we are where God wants us to be, doing what He wants us to do so that He might be glorified. Motive is as much a part of God’s measurement of our work as is growth. If we are seeking to glorify and please God alone, and if we are not afraid of His evaluation of our hearts and lives, then we need not fear the estimates of men or their criticisms.

“But he that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord” (2 Cor. 10:17).