2 Corinthians 11

Ministers are supposed to love their congregations, but love is sometimes painful. When a church is rejected, it is hard for a minister not to take it personally, but he really must find a way to get himself out of the middle of a decision that is really about the worshipers of God and the God whom they worship. That is not to say that the answer for ministerial sanity and longevity is detachment from people. A tempting thought… but Paul’s language of true and intense gospel affection prohibits the keeping of our emotion distance. The real answer is two-fold. First, negatively, the minister must not feel sorry for himself. That leads to a downward spiral of me-oh-my ministry that is not profitable for anyone, and easily spreads discontentment throughout a church. Second, and positively, the minister must be jealous for Christ and His interests in the beloved disciples who worship God in the place where he has the privilege of suffering and serving as an ambassador.

This is so important, and it is the only way to stay emotionally engaged without losing perspective. We are friends of the groom. If some part of the bride seems to waver in terms of commitment to the coming marriage, we should be very concerned and very jealous, but not for ourselves; for the groom. If some part of the bride, while still committed to the groom, is finding it challenging to profit from our teaching and friendship, whether we agree with her or not, if her warmth for the groom is still there, we can probably find a way to continue to rejoice and let everyone be. We may all be better off when the Lord has finished His mysterious providential dealings with all of His beloved children and churches, though we probably will not understand these troubles any more than we do any of the other very significant trials that we suffer.

Any jealousy that we have must ultimately be for Christ’s sake, not for our own ministerial feelings, or we get dangerously close to thinking that we are the groom. We are not. We just want to see the bride presented to Christ as a pure virgin. Therefore we are on our guard when we notice serpents coming around the church with deceiving doctrines, leading people away from the Lord, the cross, and the way of holiness. We will not tolerate the proclamation of some other Jesus. We are rightly suspicious of other suitors who might steal away the bride’s affections for her King.

There have always been such false super-apostles in the church, men who serve themselves, and not the Lord Jesus Christ. The true friends and ambassadors of the bridegroom are willing to put their own needs aside as long as the wedding plans are moving along well. Paul preached the gospel free of charge in Corinth to avoid putting any stumbling block in front of those who were set apart for the Lord Jesus in that place. Even now he is not writing to them asking for monthly support but only calling upon them to stay true to the One who died for them. It was through His suffering for Christ, for the gospel, for the beloved bride in Corinth, that Paul proved his love for Christ and His church in that place. Others might claim to love the church as they attack Paul, but even Satan knows how to use a disguise. Are these false apostles willing to suffer to bring the bride of Christ safely to the One who is the true and only husband of the church? What do they really want from the church at Corinth? Are they looking for the praise of men? Are they trying to make a living? Do they want to see Paul disgraced? More to the point, do they have a different gospel?

These so-called apostles who were willing to strike people in the face in front of the congregation, and who presented themselves as more spiritual than Paul, what were they all about? One thing we do know is that they seemed to be boasting in their Jewish credentials. They were the real Hebrews, Israelites, and sons of Abraham. It does not take much imagination to guess the kind of message that they were trying to present as the real truth of Christ, a nice Pharisaic mix of Jesus and tradition. But where were their sufferings, the kind of wounds that send the hypocrite running, and show the true servant of the Lord to be faithful to Christ and His kingdom. Paul had those sufferings, and he lists some of them. Did they have any such list?

Had they given themselves for the ministry of Christ? This is a very fitting test. Remember that the Lord demonstrated Himself to be the Husband of the bride through His death on the cross for us. Doesn’t it make sense that the true ministers of His love would show the credibility of the message preached through their own lives of suffering? Not only had Paul faced many physical hardships, he remained appropriately engaged in the lives of the church members in Corinth and so many other places. This was very difficult. He loved them for the sake of Christ.

Paul’s life was not an easy one. If others claim that he is unimpressive and unspiritual, let them be lowered down in a basket from a window in the wall around the city of Damascus while soldiers of the king are looking for some Jewish rabbi to kill. The ultimate test of love is the cross itself. It is on the cross that the hypocrite is separated from the genuine Son of God. Jesus passed that and every other test for you. As His ministers, we appeal for your love, not ultimately for us as if we are the grooms in this divine drama, but as friends and ambassadors who want nothing more than to see this best of all marriages come to a most happy consummation.