“I hope you will put up with a little more of my foolishness. Please bear with me. For I am jealous for you with the jealousy of God himself. I promised you as a pure bride to one husband—Christ. But I fear that somehow your pure and undivided devotion to Christ will be corrupted, just as Eve was deceived by the cunning ways of the serpent. You happily put up with whatever anyone tells you, even if they preach a different Jesus than the one we preach, or a different kind of Spirit than the one you received, or a different kind of gospel than the one you believed. But I don’t consider myself inferior in any way to these “super apostles” who teach such things. I may be unskilled as a speaker, but I’m not lacking in knowledge. We have made this clear to you in every possible way.”
2 Corinthians 11:1-6 NLT
This passage represents a tonal shift in the second letter to the Corinthian church. Here we can begin to see his frustration and his knowledge of logic and rhetoric play out as he begins to dismantle the claims against his “humble” work. The plain fact is that how work in Corinth was being maligned by others who were using the terms of the gospel to create a different narrative. This new gospel was a gospel of works that wasn’t characterized by humbleness and boldness toward God’s design, but sanctimonious pride toward those wielded it. Indeed, Christ wasn’t the focus of it, but rather these so called “super apostles.” It is important to recognize that Paulis rebuking Corinth. In this rebuke, he examines their claims in a non sterile way. This is to say that his attack against the logic of the church is emotional and heartfelt. It uses a mixture of “reductio ad absurdum” with unabashed mockery. This, seen in today’s socially sensitive churches, would be considered mean and uncalled for. History proves that it was the work of the spirit in its call for confession and repentance from Corinth. The purpose of admonishment will often be the illumination of the follies of human thoughts. We must be willing to be honest when we love, and sometimes that means ridiculing that which is ridiculous.
JOSH McGARY. COM 