2 Corinthians 10:1-18
Sometimes we suffer from an identity crisis. Usually what happens is people respond to us in a way that is unexpected or not to our liking and we begin to question what it is that we are supposed to do and even who we are in the program of God. Paul does not seem to be affected by this condition. He is well aware of who he is in Christ and knows exactly what God has called him to do. He knows that he has limitations but does not use these limitations as an excuse for doing that which God had called him to do. May we be given the grace to follow in his footsteps.
PAUL WAS EMPOWERED BY GOD TO CORRECT THE DISOBEDIENCE OF SAINTS: God had given Paul the privilege of starting many churches and he had a special relationship with the believers who met in these places. However, he recognized that God wanted him to do more than simply start the church and leave it to grow or flounder on its own. Paul knew that he had a responsibility to continue to follow the church, encourage the church, teach the church and especially correct the church when it had gone astray. Apparently the church in Corinth had certain outside leaders who had come into the church and were spreading false teachings and permitting sinful practices. These men seem to be very influential and very eloquent and convincing in their speech for they made even Paul look weak in his speech. Paul was not intimidated by these men, he stood up to them in his letters and was prepared to stand up to them in person if necessary in order to call the church and its members back to a life of obedience to Christ. This is not an easy job and was certainly not as "fun" as planting a new church, but it was what God had for Paul to do and he would not shirk his responsibility.
PAUL WAS EMPLOYED BY GOD TO CARRY DELIVERANCE TO SINNERS: Despite Paul's responsibility to the churches he had already planted, he recognized that his main job as a missionary was to take the Gospel to new places and in so doing deliver men trapped in slavery from their sin. Paul had no intention of becoming distracted from this task and he wanted make it clear that he expected the churches he had planted previously to participate in this process. I believe that one of Satan's sharpest tools is that of distraction. He will often seek to distract us from God's priorities with the pleasures of sin, but he also uses things like power, position and prestige. When ministers begin to get their sense of identity from the power and influence they have over a group of people and begin to enjoy the perks of this position, they can easily become distracted from the task of taking the Gospel to other places and their focus becomes one of expanding their power in their current location. This is, by definition, an identity crisis. God has not called us to set up our own kingdoms, He has called us to expand His kingdom. Paul was clearly committed to the task of taking the message of hope and forgiveness through Christ to those who had never heard. May we be faithful to follow the trail he has blazed.
PAUL WAS EMPOWERED BY GOD TO CORRECT THE DISOBEDIENCE OF SAINTS: God had given Paul the privilege of starting many churches and he had a special relationship with the believers who met in these places. However, he recognized that God wanted him to do more than simply start the church and leave it to grow or flounder on its own. Paul knew that he had a responsibility to continue to follow the church, encourage the church, teach the church and especially correct the church when it had gone astray. Apparently the church in Corinth had certain outside leaders who had come into the church and were spreading false teachings and permitting sinful practices. These men seem to be very influential and very eloquent and convincing in their speech for they made even Paul look weak in his speech. Paul was not intimidated by these men, he stood up to them in his letters and was prepared to stand up to them in person if necessary in order to call the church and its members back to a life of obedience to Christ. This is not an easy job and was certainly not as "fun" as planting a new church, but it was what God had for Paul to do and he would not shirk his responsibility.
PAUL WAS EMPLOYED BY GOD TO CARRY DELIVERANCE TO SINNERS: Despite Paul's responsibility to the churches he had already planted, he recognized that his main job as a missionary was to take the Gospel to new places and in so doing deliver men trapped in slavery from their sin. Paul had no intention of becoming distracted from this task and he wanted make it clear that he expected the churches he had planted previously to participate in this process. I believe that one of Satan's sharpest tools is that of distraction. He will often seek to distract us from God's priorities with the pleasures of sin, but he also uses things like power, position and prestige. When ministers begin to get their sense of identity from the power and influence they have over a group of people and begin to enjoy the perks of this position, they can easily become distracted from the task of taking the Gospel to other places and their focus becomes one of expanding their power in their current location. This is, by definition, an identity crisis. God has not called us to set up our own kingdoms, He has called us to expand His kingdom. Paul was clearly committed to the task of taking the message of hope and forgiveness through Christ to those who had never heard. May we be faithful to follow the trail he has blazed.
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