EPISODE 136 2 CORINTHIANS CHAPTER 10 "Don't Judge A Book By It's Cover"

Welcome to Share the Word, where we present the big ideas of the New Testament chapter by chapter. In this chapter, I'd like to pose a question. How would you feel if someone judges you without even knowing you? Got it? Now keep that in mind as you listen. Let's go.

Second Corinthians chapter 10. Never judge a book by its cover. One of my favorite movies is called The Karate Kid. It featured a small, meek repairman called Mr. Miyagi, who at first comes across as timid and unassuming, someone with no great power or capability. And it's obvious from the very beginning Mr.

Miyagi is judged by everyone by his appearance. In this movie, the stereotypical person of power and strength is the sensei of Cobra Kai dojo. He was loud, brash, arrogant. He taught his students that winning was everything, and with a motto of strike first, strike hard, no mercy. It wasn't surprising that the students were known for ruthless fighting techniques. I start here because when we think of powerful leaders throughout history, even of today, most were ostentatious, flashy, eccentric, ruthless, and they were all about their bottom line.

Success at the expense of everyone else was the key to their methods. They were looked at as celebrities, not much different than today. I know that not every leader fits into this category, and there are exceptions. But it's been very clear that humanity has been drawn to leaders who displayed that type of power, which ultimately is the power of the flesh. Those are the leaders humanity continued to emulate throughout history. Even Jesus's perception as a leader was, in a sense, questioned, because he was not displaying himself as the leader of that ostentatious power.

To those waiting for the Messiah, they were waiting for a mighty warrior to come and free the Jews and to destroy the Romans. He was not what they expected as a leader should be. So how does this fit into what we're discussing today? I'll get to that. I think it's important to lay a little more groundwork and paint a better picture in order to present the big idea of this chapter, and also to get a better understanding of what the Apostle Paul was dealing with. As we look back at Corinth around 51 A.D., Corinth was about 100 years old at that point and was a major commercial center in the ancient world.

Its strategic location, natural resources, and port made it a very heavily trafficked city by land and sea. It was a city filled with merchants and certainly a melting pot of different cultures. It controlled wealthy trade routes and had a reputation for luxury, ambition, and spectacle. In a sense, it was loud. Corinth was known for its sexual immorality, including prostitution, incest, homosexuality, and transgenderism. It's sounding more and more like today, isn't it?

It was influenced by pagan worship and cults to Aphrodite, Apollo, Neptune, Poseidon, which all played a huge part of their polytheistic culture. Corinthians worshipped success, pleasure, and physical appearance. Let me repeat that. Corinthians worshipped success, pleasure, and physical appearance. And in the same manner as today, leaders projected their personalities through public speaking. Impressive speech was an important part of public life, whether you were an entertainer or an official.

People were persuaded by speech, and boasting was seen as a necessary process in order to bring honor and to elevate social status. The false teachers boasted about their Jewish heritage. They inflated their status as ministers of Christ. They even claimed credit for Paul's own accomplishments. If you were a leader looking to gain followers, you did it through showy public performances, much like our influencers on social media today. With so much competition to gain an audience, you needed to have a mesmerizing, captivating presence to gain visibility, like Rome's greatest orator, Cicero.

Corinth's orators were particularly volatile and slanderous. In this loud, ostentatious, immoral place, where they were elevating displays of boldness and power, the men led through the appearance of success. But behind the scenes, they were using tactics of bullying and abuse. And the growing intolerance for bad behavior was just becoming commonplace. Okay, I'll stop. I think you get the point about the appearance of the leaders of that day and the difference of what the Apostle Paul brought to Corinth.

Paul was displaying anything but what Corinth believed should be the qualities of a successful leader. He was talking about qualities of humbleness, timidness, and meekness. In chapter 10, from the very first verse, it says, I, Paul, myself entreat you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ, I who am humble when face to face with you, but bold towards you when I am away. The perception Paul was presenting became a bullseye for the false teachers who had been undermining his ministry. Here we have the Apostle Paul who traveled from Athens to Corinth on his first missionary journey that began in the early spring of 48 A.D. He stayed in Corinth for about a year and a half, teaching and baptizing believers, and as soon as the false teachers were able, they started by spreading lies and misinformation, using what they would call strong-arm tactics to gain influence.

Once again, let me reference back to the movie, because like those members of Cobra Kai, the false teachers were being overbearing, loud, and took advantage of Paul's absence, not only wrapping themselves in the lies and challenging Paul's role as a true apostle of Jesus Christ, but also challenging his capability as a leader. They attacked his persona and how it didn't fit in Corinth. These false teachers would say that Paul was brave when he was away writing letters, but lacked confidence when face to face. Sounds like something a master manipulator would say, doesn't it? That's what they did: manipulate. Paul quotes these false teachers as saying, His letters are weighty and strong, but his bodily presence is weak and his speech is of no account.

Basically, their accusation is that a true apostle should be more impressive in person, and that the church of Corinth has absolutely nothing to worry about when it comes to Paul's letters because he wouldn't be strong enough in person to do anything about them. How's that for judging a book by its cover? And this about the man who brought them to Christ. These false teachers were even critical and demeaning of the suffering and sacrifices Paul went through. We can assume that these false teachers bringing these false accusations were probably accomplished and forceful speakers. But Paul begs the church members not to make him show his boldness.

Because although he is prepared to be surprisingly brazen with those who are accusing him of a lack of integrity, he reminds them he will not be fighting this war with physical weapons, but with spiritual ones. It was clear that the Corinthians were making a big mistake of assessing Paul's physical appearance and what they believed to be a lack of boldness and power as a lack of strength and ability. The Corinthians essentially allowed themselves to be deceived by misinformation and propaganda, and because of that, they were persuaded and manipulated by the appearance of what looked to be true from these false teachers rather than the truth itself by the Apostle Paul.

When Paul describes himself with the word meekness, at first glance we're led down a negative connotation and equate him with the aspect of being weak, which at the time was probably what the false teachers did as a way to manipulate the narrative. We see that Paul brings a meekness as a focus for the treatment of others and a humility as an attitude towards himself, restraining his own power so as to allow room for others, like Mr. Miyagi who shows restraint, even though we know his capability later in the movie. Paul is exhibiting these qualities of meekness. Humbleness and gentleness of Christ to show the Corinthians how they should live their lives and deal with one another, not like the rest of the world does. Just like all those who were blinded by the leaders in Jerusalem, manipulating the truth about Jesus.

Once again, the parents takes front and center, and the people allow themselves to be manipulated and the truth distorted. Since we're focusing on the appearance aspect, Paul reminds them that he has always used his authority to build up the Corinthians, and to show that the false teachers were using their authority for their own benefits and their own glory. It was very obvious that the false teachers were walking according to the flesh. Allow me a moment to digress. Walking according to the flesh meant that you were living a life that was self-centered, selfish, and outside of Christ. If you lived according to the flesh, you were dominated by anger, rage, slander, filthy language, sexual immorality, lust, and greed.

Those were the characteristics of your life. When you had a problem, you handled it by being loud, bold, running over others. In a sense, you were a bully, just like the students at the Cobra Kai dojo. I wanted to take a moment to explain this because I believe it's important to understand what the Apostle Paul was dealing with when it came to the mindset of the people of Corinth and their view of him. When Paul attempts to help them understand that those were not characteristics that people who followed Christ should exemplify, nor should unbelievers see those characteristics in us as followers of Christ. There are so many aspects and directions we could have gone in chapter 10, but I wanted to focus on the difficulties Paul faced as to the perception that they had of him and how it made things challenging.

Paul was viewed with a mix of respect and criticism. Although his authority and leadership came into question because of the church's internal division and the struggles with immorality, Paul continued to address the members of the church through letters like this. But as you can see, was constantly challenged because of his absence from Corinth and the inability to address the issues personally. The false teachers took full advantage of Paul's absence and continued their attempt to undermine his ministry. We see by all of the letters that Paul wrote that he had no problem being blunt, forceful, and direct. He dealt with issues of the church and answered all of their questions with the necessary emotional tone that the situation required.

He was making it known that he had no problem being bold and blunt with those who were causing all of the problems, but he didn't want to be that way with the fellow believers. He was making it clear that it wasn't the way they should act towards each other. Which is why he came in humility and meekness. He came in the same manner that Christ would have come if he came to them. Paul was very, very self-aware that he was not a great speaker. But he also was aware that he knew the Word of God, and theologically he was sound, which is why his writings were weighty and deep.

Paul was determined, committed, faithful, and he had a drive that very few had. As we look at the overall aspect of the big idea of 2 Corinthians chapter 10, while Paul might appear weak in person, his ministry, which is based on spiritual authority, was powerful. Paul was the one who was the instrument that God used to build this church, and he was not about to allow the false teachers to undermine or destroy what was built. Paul recognized that the members of the church in Corinth needed to be challenged in order to mature in their faith. Paul was not arrogant or prideful. He brought his ministry to the Gentiles, but not because it demonstrated his own strength, but because it brought glory to God.

With all the challenges he endured through his ministry, Paul held tightly to God's divine power, and despite the baiting from those who stood in opposition, he stood firm in the ways of Christ. From those who would challenge with the ways of this world in attempt to incite an emotional reaction, Paul stood firm in the ways of Christ. From those that Paul called children of God and the young believers of the church of Corinth, who would believe the falsehoods and the lies from the false teachers, Paul stood firm, yet loved them no less. We are so often judged and called to task because of how we look, how we dress, what we lack or even possess. This world would have you believe that who you are is based on what you do and how others view your performance. But it's clear that God alone determines who we are.

Open the book and don't just judge by its cover. Thanks for listening, and we hope that you continue your spiritual journey with us here at Share the Word. Share the Word is a Great Commission project, and we are crowdfunded and would appreciate your support. Visit us at sharetheword.org and click on Give. If you're new to Share the Word, please know that everything we offer is free to use and to download. We encourage you to share the episodes as well as the blog posts with friends and family.

From all of us at Share the Word, our blessings and prayers go out to all of you.