July 10, 2011
I noted at the beginning of our reading of Paul’s Letters to the Corinthians that there is serious debate among scholars as to whether there were two letters, or were their three or possible four letters that were somehow combined into the present form. No scholar seriously debates whether these are letters written by Paul; it is just their order and content suggests some parts could have been separate letters. Such it is for the last four chapters. Some believe these chapters could be the ‘severe’ letter Paul’s referred to in 2 Cor. 7:8.
The reading of these chapters may be a bit tedious and there will appear to be quite a lot of repetition. Nevertheless, if you look closely I suspect you will gather a gem or two.
My first response to the text is that Paul seems to be going against the call for Christians to be humble, turn the other cheek, pray for our enemies, etc. But, elsewhere Paul speaks too eloquently about Christ modeling for His followers the role of a servant for Paul to go against the grain here.
In one of Paul’s letters to Timothy he refers to himself as having been poured out like a libation. That’s it. Paul loved his churches. His churches were like his children. What I see here is a mama bear protecting her cubs. Paul is not negating the virtue of humility. He is rising up the virtue of being willing to fight for the life of your church.
What does today’s reading reveal to you about God?
What does it reveal to you about yourself?
Think about what God wants you to do or remember about this passage.
Does God want you to change anything in your life?
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