Daily Scripture Reading 2Corinthians 10:8 - 11:9
I am sure you have heard the expression that first impressions are important. That is a true statement, and we should be cognizant of the first impression we make on people.
What we will learn in today’s passage is that Paul often did not give a good first impression. Apparently, he was not an impressive public speaker. However, his appearance of weakness was not correct, and it was necessary for the Corinthians to put aside their impression of Paul so that they would give him the respect he deserved as an apostle. This reminds us that we need to guard against coming to wrong conclusions about people based on first impressions.
Yesterday, we read that Paul admitted to being humble when face-to-face with the Corinthians, but bold in his letters. He begged that the believers in Corinth would do as he asked in his letters so that he would not have to be courageous when he visited them.
2Cor. 10:8 For even if I boast somewhat further about our authority, which the Lord gave for building you up and not for tearing you down, I will not be put to shame,
2Cor. 10:9 for I do not wish to seem as if I would terrify you by my letters.
Paul was an apostle, which means he spoke on behalf of God and had authority to give orders to the Corinthians.
Look at the contrast in verse 8 between building up and tearing down. The immediate meaning is that Paul’s authority as an apostle was intended to build people up, not tear them down. This is similar to what it means to speak the truth in love. Many Christians believe speaking the truth in love refers to how you say something, and that speaking in love means always being polite, never harsh, and never offending anyone.
The truth is that speaking the truth in love refers to why you speak the truth. If you speak the truth to correct and eventually build someone up, then you are speaking the truth in love. Sometimes speaking the truth in love means saying hard things that people don’t want to hear, or raising your voice to get your point across.
On the other hand, if you speak the truth to tear someone down and make yourself feel better or more important then them, then you are not speaking the truth in love, no matter how gentle you say what you say.
2Cor. 10:10 For they say, “His letters are weighty and strong, but his personal presence is weak and his words contemptible.”
Yesterday we read a verse in which Paul admitted being humble when face-to-face, but bold in his letters. That caused some in Corinth to say what is recorded in this verse.
Look at the word “contemptible”. Some in Corinth despised Paul for his personal presence.
2Cor. 10:11 Let such a person consider this, that what we are in word by letters when absent, such persons we are also in deed when present.
Look at the word “deed”. Paul acknowledged that his personal presence could appear as weakness, but he assured them his actions were anything but weak.
We live in an age full of images and we give a lot of credence to appearances. If someone appears to be strong or wealthy, we credit them with such. If someone appears to be weak, we assume they are. However, just as Paul’s deeds were stronger than his appearance, so too we should not be deceived by appearances into drawing wrong conclusions.
It is true that first impressions matter, but as Christians who are seeking the truth, we should be willing and desirous to look beyond first impressions and seek the truth about a person.
2Cor. 10:12 ¶ For we do not dare to classify or compare ourselves with some of those who commend themselves, but when they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they are without understanding.
Notice the last phrase “they are without understanding”. Those who refuse to evaluate themselves based on Biblical standards, but instead assume they are fine as they are, are without understanding.
Humans naturally do not want to live by Biblical standards. We are also prone to be self-centered, which means, among other things, we tend to assume our that our natural inclination of right and wrong is perfect. As Christians we need to resist that temptation and evaluate our behavior against the Bible’s standards of right and wrong.
2Cor. 10:13 But we will not boast beyond our measure, but within the measure of the area of influence which God apportioned to us as a measure, to reach even as far as you.
2Cor. 10:14 For we are not overextending ourselves, as if we did not reach you, (for we were the first to come even as far as you in the gospel of Christ),
2Cor. 10:15 not boasting beyond our measure in other men’s labors, but having the hope—that as your faith grows—to be enlarged even more by you within our area of influence,
2Cor. 10:16 so as to proclaim the gospel even to the regions beyond you, and not to boast in what has been accomplished in the area of influence of another.
2Cor. 10:17 But HE WHO BOASTS IS TO BOAST IN THE LORD.
2Cor. 10:18 For it is not the one who commends himself that is approved, but the one whom the Lord commends.
Ultimately, it is the Lord’s commendation that matters, not our own or that of another person.
2Cor. 11:1 ¶ I wish that you would bear with me in a little foolishness, but indeed you are bearing with me.
2Cor. 11:2 For I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy, for I betrothed you to one husband, so that I might present you as a pure virgin to Christ.
2Cor. 11:3 But I fear that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be corrupted from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ.
2Cor. 11:4 For if one comes and preaches another Jesus whom we did not preach, or you receive a different spirit which you did not receive, or a different gospel which you did not accept, you bear this beautifully.
2Cor. 11:5 For I consider myself in no way inferior to the most-eminent apostles.
2Cor. 11:6 But even if I am unskilled in word, yet I am not so in knowledge; in fact, in every way we have made this evident to you in all things.
Again, Paul was acknowledging that he was not a skillful speaker and did not appear to be an apostle. He appeared to be inferior to the other apostles. However, that was not the case. Paul was a true apostle and the Corinthians needed to treat him as such.
2Cor. 11:7 ¶ Or did I commit a sin in humbling myself so that you might be exalted, because I proclaimed the gospel of God to you without charge?
2Cor. 11:8 I robbed other churches by taking wages from them to minister to you.
2Cor. 11:9 And when I was present with you and was in need, I was not a burden to anyone; for when the brothers came from Macedonia they fully supplied my need, and in everything I kept and will keep myself from being a burden to you.
Acts 18 tells us when Paul first arrived in Corinth, he engaged in tent-making, but after Silas and Timothy arrived from Macedonia, Paul devoted himself completely to ministry. Apparently, Silas and Timothy were among the brothers from Macedonia mentioned in 2Cor 11:9.
Perhaps one reason the Corinthians treated Paul as an inferior apostle was because he was self-supporting and did not ask for financial support; therefore, he did not appear to be a real apostle.
First impressions are very powerful, and it is wise for us to always try and make a good first impression. However, first impressions can be wrong. As Christians who are seeking truth, we should be willing and desirous to put aside first impressions when the evidence indicates a first impression was wrong.
What is an example from your life of a first impression being wrong?
What do you need to change about your opinion of a person in light of learning that your first impression was wrong?
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“Scripture quotations taken from the (LSB®) Legacy Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2021 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Managed in partnership with Three Sixteen Publishing Inc. LSBible.org and 316publishing.com.”