17 Honor and Dishonor—The Paradox of Ministry
(2 Corinthians 6:1–10)
And working together with Him, we also urge you not to receive the grace of God in vain—for He says, “At the acceptable time I listened to you, and on the day of salvation I helped you.” Behold, now is “the acceptable time,” behold, now is “the day of salvation”—giving no cause for offense in anything, so that the ministry will not be discredited, but in everything commending ourselves as servants of God, in much endurance, in afflictions, in hardships, in distresses, in beatings, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labors, in sleeplessness, in hunger, in purity, in knowledge, in patience, in kindness, in the Holy Spirit, in genuine love, in the word of truth, in the power of God; by the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and the left, by glory and dishonor, by evil report and good report; regarded as deceivers and yet true; as unknown yet well-known, as dying yet behold, we live; as punished yet not put to death, as sorrowful yet always rejoicing, as poor yet making many rich, as having nothing yet possessing all things. (6:1–10)
It is an ironic truth that the preacher is often one of the most loved and respected of men, yet at the same time one of the most hated and despised in his community. To those who believe the gospel he preaches, he is a revered spiritual father, mentor, and teacher. He proclaims to them the divine truth, encourages them, gives them hope, and instructs them in applying God’s Word. But to those who reject his message, his is the judgmental voice of conviction, irritation, and agitation. To them he is a troublemaker (cf. 1 Kings 18:17; Jer. 38:2–4; Amos 7:10; Luke 23:5; Acts 16:20; 24:5), disrupting the tranquility of their shameful lives and turning their sinful world upside down (Acts 17:6).
During His earthly ministry, the Lord Jesus Christ faced the expressed of being adored and despised. While some acclaimed Him as the Lord of heaven, the fulfiller of their hopes and dreams and the source of eternal forgiveness, happiness, peace, and joy, bowing before Him in worship, others despised Him as a demon-possessed charlatan, a threat to their power, a disturber of their peace, and an enemy of their religion. That rejection culminated in the cries of the people, “Away with Him, away with Him, crucify Him!” (John 19:15).
Since Jesus was treated in such diametrically opposite ways, His followers can expect no less. Affirming that expectation, in Matthew 10:24 our Lord reminded His followers that “a disciple is not above his teacher, nor a slave above his master.” In His final teaching time with the Twelve before His death, He added,
If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you, “A slave is not greater than his master.” If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you; if they kept My word, they will keep yours also. (John 15:18–20)
As ambassadors (2 Cor. 5:20), believers bring the message of reconciliation to an alienated world. Those who hear that message will either embrace the truth of it and cherish the messengers or reject both the message and those who proclaim it. Thus, Christ’s messengers “are a fragrance of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing; to the one an aroma from death to death, to the other an aroma from life to life” (2:15–16). Those who proclaim the true gospel with power and conviction cannot expect to be popular with everyone. To be honored and dishonored, respected and reviled, is their lot; to experience the most profound blessing and at the same time suffer the most severe disappointment comes usually to the most faithful and zealous evangels.
None is a better example than Paul, who was caught up in those conflicting realities when he penned this epistle. Despite their shortcomings, the Corinthians were a blessing to him. They had shared in Christian love (12:15); earlier in this epistle he wrote of “the love which [he had] especially for [them]” (2:4); later he added, “I do not speak to condemn you, for I have said before that you are in our hearts to die together and to live together” (7:3). His heart was filled with joy because many of them had believed the gospel. Yet the Corinthian congregation had also caused Paul much heartache. He had been savagely attacked by false teachers who had infiltrated their assembly. And a trip to Corinth had not gone well for Paul, turning into a painful, sorrowful visit (cf. 2:1). The apostle experienced the full range of emotions, from the heights of joy to the depths of sorrow, in his dealings with the Corinthians.
Nowhere is such tension between honor and dishonor, between joy and sorrow, better expressed than in this epistle and especially in this passage. The polarized responses to the ministry of Paul reveal his endurance, which is related to maintaining four perspectives: privilege, pleading, protection, and paradox.
PRIVILEGE
And working together with Him, (6:1a)
The noblest view of ministry is to see it as working together (from sunerge?; “to cooperate with someone”) in partnership with God. Disappointment over the difficulties in the ministry begins with a failure to understand the high privilege to which God’s servants are called. As noted in the discussion of 2:14–17 in chapter 5 of this volume, all who serve Christ should be consummately grateful for the privilege and be faithful to it—no matter how severe the difficulties. The NASB italicizes the phrase with Him, indicating it is not in the original Greek text. The translators were correct in supplying it, however, since God is the antecedent from 5:19 (“God … has committed to us the word of reconciliation”) and 20 (“we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us”). Amazingly, the God of glory condescends to work through believers to proclaim His gospel of reconciliation.
Despite the trials he faced, Paul never lost sight of that reality. Even if no one responded to his message, the high privilege of being God’s coworker was enough to sustain him. Not surprisingly, then, Paul emphasized that truth throughout his epistles. In 1 Corinthians 3:9 he stated plainly, “We are God’s fellow workers.” Later in that letter he wrote, “There are varieties of effects, but the same God who works all things in all persons. … But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually just as He wills” (1 Cor. 12:6, 11), and, “But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me did not prove vain; but I labored even more than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God with me” (1 Cor. 15:10). Paul prayed that the Ephesians would understand “what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might” (Eph. 1:19). Later he reminded them that he was “made a minister, according to the gift of God’s grace which was given to [him] according to the working of His power” (Eph. 3:7), and prayed again, “Now to Him who is able to do exceeding abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us” (v. 20; cf. John 15:4–5). He reminded the Philippians that “it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure” (Phil. 2:13; cf. Heb. 13:20–21). To the Colossians he wrote, “For this purpose also I labor, striving according to His power, which mightily works within me” (Col. 1:29). Returning to Antioch after their first missionary journey, Paul and Barnabas “gathered the church together, [and] began to report all things that God had done with them and how He had opened a door of faith to the Gentiles” (Acts 14:27; cf. 15:4).
In Mark 4:26–29 Jesus told a parable illustrating the mystery and wonder of believers’ ministering together with God:
And He was saying, “The kingdom of God is like a man who casts seed upon the soil; and he goes to bed at night and gets up by day, and the seed sprouts and grows—how, he himself does not know. The soil produces crops by itself; first the blade, then the head, then the mature grain in the head. But when the crop permits, he immediately puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.”
Those who proclaim the gospel plant the seed, but only God can generate new spiritual life and growth. As Paul wrote in his first inspired letter to the Corinthians, “I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth. So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but God who causes the growth” (1 Cor. 3:6–7). It was the greatest of honors, yet no cause for pride.
That Paul was humble, yet never lost the sense of awe he felt at the great privilege granted him as a minister of the gospel, is clear from what he wrote to Timothy:
I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me, because He considered me faithful, putting me into service, even though I was formerly a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent aggressor. Yet I was shown mercy because I acted ignorantly in unbelief; and the grace of our Lord was more than abundant, with the faith and love which are found in Christ Jesus. It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost of all. Yet for this reason I found mercy, so that in me as the foremost, Jesus Christ might demonstrate His perfect patience as an example for those who would believe in Him for eternal life. (1 Tim. 1:12–16)
Overwhelmed that God saved him and called him into the ministry though he was a wretched sinner, Paul closed his testimony with a doxology: “Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen” (1 Tim. 1:17).
PLEADING
we also urge you not to receive the grace of God in vain—for He says, “At the acceptable time I listened to you, and on the day of salvation I helped you.” Behold, now is “the acceptable time,” behold, now is “the day of salvation”— (6:1b–2)
Paul’s use of the verb parakaloumen (urge; “plead;” “beg”) in the present tense reflects his constant, passionate concern for the Corinthians (cf. 2:8; 10:1; 1 Cor. 16:15–16). God’s ambassadors are privileged pleaders, begging their hearers to respond to the truth.
Specifically, Paul was urging the Corinthians not to receive the grace of God in vain; not to turn away from the gracious opportunity to hear the gospel of forgiveness he had so faithfully preached to them. He had poured his life into the Corinthians during his long stay in their city (Acts 18:11), pleading with them for the gospel and teaching the new converts how to grow in grace. But events in Corinth caused the apostle to fear that his intense labor had been for nothing. The church was riddled with sin, as Paul’s first inspired epistle to them reveals. False teachers, those wolves in sheep’s clothing both Jesus (Matt. 7:15) and Paul warned of (Acts 20:29), were luring many in the assembly away from the truth. This passionate concern for the Corinthians was behind what he wrote later:
But I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ. For if one comes and preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted, you bear this beautifully. (2 Cor. 11:3–4)
Paul could not stand idly by and allow his diligent efforts to be undone. He could not permit his spiritual children (1 Cor. 4:15) to be deceived by a false gospel or led astray from the true path of sanctification. His duty before God, like that of all faithful ministers, was to exhort people not to receive the grace of God in vain. The apostle had given them the grace of God, as embodied in the truth of the gospel of grace, for their eternal benefit.
Paul was concerned first that the Corinthians not receive God’s grace in regard to salvation in vain. As in any church, not everyone in the Corinthian assembly was redeemed. Some had intellectual knowledge of the gospel but did not have saving faith. That is why Paul challenged them, “Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you— unless indeed you fail the test?” (2 Cor. 13:5). Those in the congregation who were not regenerate were in grave danger of being deceived by the false teachers. To follow those preaching another Jesus, another Spirit, and another gospel would lead to a waste of their privilege and to spiritual ruin. Paul was similarly concerned about the Galatians:
I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel; which is really not another; only there are some who are disturbing you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed! As we have said before, so I say again now, if any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, he is to be accursed! (Gal. 1:6–9)
The Corinthians were also in danger of receiving God’s grace in vain with regard to sanctification. The legalists sought to turn them away from living in the power of the Spirit to living in the strength of the flesh. Paul chided the Galatians, also under assault by legalism, “Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?” (Gal. 3:3). Sanctification, like justification, is a work of God. It does not come from legalistically conforming to an external set of rules but from a Spirit-generated, heartfelt love for and obedience to the Lord Jesus Christ.
Some of the unsaved Corinthians were being led astray by a false gospel of salvation by works. Others were saved, but legalistic false teaching was stunting their spiritual growth. In either case, the grace of God to them that sent Paul with the gospel was in danger of being nullified.
The corrupting influence of the false teachers hindered evangelism. That made the Corinthians’ defection all the more galling to Paul, for it was (and still is) the time for the ministry of reconciliation. To stress the urgency of this time, Paul quoted from Isaiah 49:8, where God declared, “At the acceptable time I listened to you, and on the day of salvation I helped you.”
There is a time in God’s grace when He may be sought by sinners. The Lord warned the pre-Flood world, “My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, because he also is flesh; nevertheless his days shall be one hundred and twenty years” (Gen. 6:3). Isaiah 55:6 commands, “Seek the Lord while He may be found; call upon Him while He is near.” Hosea warned that apostate Israel “will go with their flocks and herds to seek the Lord, but they will not find Him; He has withdrawn from them” (Hos. 5:6).
Repeating behold and now to emphasize his point, Paul declared that now is “the acceptable time,” “the day of salvation” when God will listen to repentant sinners. Now, when the fields are ripe for the harvest (John 4:35), is not the time to waste gospel opportunity, or to be feeble, vacillating, or deceived by false teachers. It is the time to hold fast to the truth and faithfully proclaim it. “We must work the works of Him who sent Me as long as it is day,” Jesus admonished. “Night is coming when no one can work” (John 9:4).
Knowing the urgency of the times Paul, true to the urgency of his calling, passionately pleaded with the Corinthians not to let God’s grace in their lives be in vain.
PROTECTION
giving no cause for offense in anything, so that the ministry will not be discredited, but in everything commending ourselves as servants of God, in much endurance, in afflictions, in hardships, in distresses, in beatings, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labors, in sleeplessness, in hunger, in purity, in knowledge, in patience, in kindness, in the Holy Spirit, in genuine love, in the word of truth, in the power of God; by the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and the left, (6:3–7)
Paul was a protective shepherd. He knew it was inevitable that some would reject the grace of God, and he wanted to make sure that it was not because he put a stumbling block in their path. He wanted no indictment of his life and ministry, such as the one God pronounced on Israel in Romans 2:24: “The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.” Unbelievers are blinded by Satan (2 Cor. 4:4) and unable to understand the things of God (1 Cor. 2:14). Therefore Paul was careful to give no cause for offense in anything, so that the ministry would not be discredited. He determined never to allow any stain on his virtue that would undermine the integrity of his gospel (1 Cor. 9:27). The negative adjective medemian (no) is a strong term and could be translated “no, not at all.” It is followed by another strong negative term, medeni, which means, “not anything.” Those two terms leave no room at all for an offense (proskope; “cause of stumbling”). Paul would avoid anything that would bring disgrace on Christ or cause someone to find fault with the truth and purity of the gospel. His own integrity was protection for his people.
That the church’s evangelistic outreach not be hindered was Paul’s constant concern as he expressed to Titus:
But as for you, speak the things which are fitting for sound doctrine. Older men are to be temperate, dignified, sensible, sound in faith, in love, in perseverance. Older women likewise are to be reverent in their behavior, not malicious gossips nor enslaved to much wine, teaching what is good, so that they may encourage the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, to be sensible, pure, workers at home, kind, being subject to their own husbands, so that the word of God will not be dishonored. Likewise urge the young men to be sensible; in all things show yourself to be an example of good deeds, with purity in doctrine, dignified, sound in speech which is beyond reproach, so that the opponent will be put to shame, having nothing bad to say about us. Urge bondslaves to be subject to their own masters in everything, to be well-pleasing, not argumentative, not pilfering, but showing all good faith so that they will adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in every respect. (Titus 2:1–10)
Paul knew that the church’s purity was essential if it was to effectively evangelize the island of Crete (where Titus was located). To that end it needed negatively to avoid dishonoring God’s Word (v. 5) and thereby not give unbelievers any cause to speak ill of it (v. 8). Positively its members needed to adorn (make attractive) the message of truth with their lives (v. 10).
Paul not only sought negatively to avoid putting up barriers to faith in Christ, but positively to be in everything commending himself as a servant of God. A minister is not commended by his seminary degree, theology, popularity, personality, or success. His life is the only letter of commendation that matters; the only one that people will read.
Ultimately, what commends faithful servants of God is their endurance. Hupomone (endurance) is one of the most magnificent New Testament virtues. No single English word can fully express its rich meaning, which encompasses bearing up under hard labor, surviving the shock of battle, and remaining steadfast in the face of death. The New Testament uses it in conjunction with several other words, such as “tribulation” (Rom. 5:3), “faith” (James 1:3), “hope” (1 Thess. 1:3), and “joy” (Col. 1:11). Hupomon? is also associated with the idea of future glory (Rom. 2:7; 8:25); thus, it does not describe the grim, stoic, weary acceptance of trials, but rather faith, hope, and joy in anticipation of future glory. The word might best be rendered “triumphant patience.” Hebrews 11 commends God’s Old Testament servants for their ability to endure hostility and remain faithful.
Endurance marked Paul’s life. He endured faithfully to his death despite continual temptation, threats from his enemies, and trouble in the churches, continually serving God with all his strength and providing a protective influence on the church. Earlier in this epistle Paul ex pressed his triumphant, patient endurance of suffering:
We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. For we who live are constantly being delivered over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. (2 Cor. 4:8–11)
His faith never wavered; his hope never diminished; his joy never abated. He never lost sight of the reality that “the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us” (Rom. 8:18; cf. 2 Cor. 4:16–18; Acts 20:24; Phil. 3:8).
The list that follows in 2 Corinthians 6:4–7 defines the various elements of endurance. Verses 4 and 5 discuss the negative aspects, verses 6 and 7 the positive. In emotionally charged words, Paul defines the ministry of reconciliation not as one in which we make demands on God, but one in which He makes demands on us. Ambassadors of Jesus Christ do not seek greater comfort and prosperity but greater endurance.
Both the negative and positive lists may be subdivided into three groups of three. The first three negative elements are internal results of external pressures. Afflictions translates thlipsis, which refers to spiritual, physical, or emotional suffering. Paul warned in Acts 14:22 that it is “through many tribulations [thlipsis] [that] we must enter the kingdom of God.” He also used thlipsis in Acts 20:23 to describe the “afflictions” that awaited him in Jerusalem. Hardships is a general word for the difficulties that attend life in a fallen world (cf. 1 Cor. 7:26; 1 Thess. 3:7). It has the sense of inevitability (Matt. 18:7 renders it, “inevitable”) and is sometimes translated “compulsion” (e.g., 1 Cor. 9:16; 2 Cor. 9:7; Philem. 14). Stenochōria (distresses) literally refers to being confined in a narrow space. It describes trials and difficulties from which there is no escape.
The second three elements are external threats. Beatings can re fer to blows from fists (Luke 10:30), rods (Acts 16:22–23), or whips (Luke 12:48). Paul also was no stranger to imprisonments (2 Cor. 11:23 cf. Acts 16:24; 24:23–27; 28:16, 30; 2 Tim. 1:8, 16; 2:9) nor to the tumults (riots; civil disturbances; mob violence) that constantly attended his ministry (cf. Acts 13:45; 14:19; 17:5; 18:12–17; 19:29; 21:30; 22:22–23; 23:10).
The third group involves self-inflicted trials. Kopos (labors) refers to hard work to the point of exhaustion. Not only was Paul’s ministry arduous, but he also worked with his hands to support himself and those who traveled with him (Acts 20:34; 1 Cor. 4:12; 1 Thess. 2:9; 2 Thess. 3:8). The result of that long, hard labor was often sleeplessness (cf. 2 Cor. 11:27), as Paul tirelessly ministered to the churches under his care (cf. Acts 20:31) and worked to support himself financially (2 Thess. 3:8). The demands of Paul’s ministry, especially his frequent travels, often resulted in hunger (cf. 2 Cor. 11:27; 1 Cor. 4:11; Phil. 4:12). There were no restaurants at which to get meals. The few inns that existed in Paul’s day were often little more than vermin-infested brothels. Yet the apostle gladly endured all the hardships of his ministry, summed up in these nine words, because he did “not consider [his] life of any account as dear to [himself], so that [he might] finish [his] course and the ministry which [he] received from the Lord Jesus, to testify solemnly of the gospel of the grace of God” (Acts 20:24).
Paul’s remarkable endurance also manifested itself in nine positive qualities. Purity (hagnotēs) rightly heads the list. It is a comprehensive word encompassing purity of life, thought, and motive. Paul was above reproach, as all believers (Phil. 2:15; 1 Tim. 5:7), especially church leaders (1 Tim. 3:2; Titus 1:6–7), are to be. The apostle’s knowledge of divine truth was unsurpassed, and he never wavered from a true understanding of sinful men, the strategies of Satan, false religious systems, God’s redeeming love, and the principles of effective teaching, evangelism, and discipling. “Even if I am unskilled in speech,” he said in reply to his critics, “yet I am not so in knowledge” (2 Cor. 11:6). A clear understanding of the truth that was never altered was the foundation of his endurance. Makrothumia (patience) refers particularly to tolerance for people (cf. Eph. 4:2; 2 Tim. 4:2). There were many, not least the Corinthians themselves, who sorely tested Paul’s endurance. He constantly faced wicked, ignorant, sinful, weak, unruly, judgmental, critical, even mutinous people. But whether they caused him physical or emotional suffering, the apostle patiently loved, rebuked, instructed, encouraged, and comforted them.
Paul also modeled the essential virtue of kindness, which describes goodness in action. No matter how people treated him, Paul responded by doing useful deeds for them. He expressed his credo when he exhorted the Galatians, “Let us do good to all people, and especially to those who are of the household of the faith” (Gal. 6:10). It is the Holy Spirit who empowers endurance. Paul walked in the Spirit (Gal. 5:16), was filled with the Spirit (Acts 13:9), accessed the Father through the Spirit (Eph. 2:18), was called to (Acts 13:2) and gifted for ministry by Him (1 Cor. 12:7, 11), ministered in His power (Rom. 15:19), followed His leading (Acts 16:6–7), was taught by Him (1 Cor. 2:13), prayed in the Spirit (Eph. 6:18), and worshiped in the Spirit (Phil. 3:3). He did not grieve the Spirit (Eph. 4:30), or quench Him (1 Thess. 5:19). The Spirit also produced in him the genuine (without hypocrisy; Rom. 12:9) love, which He “poured out within our hearts” (Rom. 5:5; cf. Gal. 5:22). Agap? (love) is the self-sacrificial love of the will, not the senses or emotions. Paul’s love was wide enough to encompass his friends, those in the churches he ministered to (cf. 2 Cor. 11:11; 12:15; 1 Cor. 16:24), and even his enemies (Matt. 5:44).
The word of truth is the Bible (2 Tim. 2:15; James 1:18). Specifically in this passage, Paul has in mind the gospel (Col. 1:5) message that God reconciles sinners to Himself through the substitutionary death of His Son. The apostle faithfully preached that message without wavering until the day of his death (2 Tim. 4:7–8). Believers must follow his example, for the Enemy viciously attacks the gospel. Satan knows that by sowing confusion over the doctrine of salvation he can reap a deadly harvest of damned souls. Paul preached the gospel in the power of God, not his own cleverness. The gospel “is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek” (Rom. 1:16). In 1 Corinthians 1:18 he added, “The word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” Paul did not water down, redefine, or simplify the gospel. He did not shrink from proclaiming its difficult demands, or seek to avoid making sinners feel uncomfortable. He preached the gospel clearly and unambiguously “so that,” as he wrote earlier to the Corinthians, “your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God” (1 Cor. 2:5). Paul “fought the good fight” (2 Tim. 4:7) using the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and the left. He was fully armed to take on all adversaries of the truth. The apostle described the weapons of righteousness in detail in 2 corinthians 10:3–5:
For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.
He did not battle spiritual foes (Eph. 6:12) with the powerless weapons of human ideas, wisdom, and ingenuity, but with the invincible truth of the Word of God. (For a detailed exposition of 10:3–5, see chapter 25 of this volume.)
PARADOX
by glory and dishonor, by evil report and good report; regarded as deceivers and yet true; as unknown yet well-known, as dying yet behold, we live; as punished yet not put to death, as sorrowful yet always rejoicing, as poor yet making many rich, as having nothing yet possessing all things. (6:8–10)
As noted earlier in this chapter, those who proclaim the gospel are both loved and despised. In this section, Paul expounds the paradoxical character of the ministry in a series of contrasts. The faithful preacher experiences both glory and dishonor; he is praised and despised, exalted and maligned, flattered and criticized, cherished and vilified. Consequently, some will give an evil report about him, and others a good report. Those who are faithful to the truth cannot expect all people to speak well of them (cf. Luke 6:26), and Paul was no exception. Some told the truth about him, profoundly grateful for his impact in their lives. Others assaulted his character and slandered his name, seeking to discredit his ministry. The Corinthian church reflected this dichotomy; some were devoted followers of Paul (1 Cor. 1:12; 3:4), while others savagely attacked him and brought him sorrow (2 Cor. 2:1).
Faithful ambassadors of God can also expect to be regarded as deceivers and yet true, as was the Lord Jesus Christ. John 7:12 records that “there was much grumbling among the crowds concerning Him; some were saying, ‘He is a good man’; others were saying, ‘No, on the contrary, He leads the people astray.’” Likewise Paul was accused of being a false apostle (1 Cor. 9:2), when in reality he was “not in the least inferior to the most eminent apostles” (2 Cor. 11:5). Satan, the father of lies (John 8:44), seeks to destroy the reputation of anyone who becomes a force for the truth.
Further expounding the dichotomy of the ministry, Paul continued with the enigmatic statement that he was unknown yet well-known. In his early years, he was well-known to the Jewish elite (cf. Acts 26:4–5) as one “advancing in Judaism beyond many of [his] contemporaries” (Gal. 1:14), yet personally unknown to the believers (Gal. 1:22). But after his conversion, the situation was reversed. He became unknown to his former associates, in the sense that they wanted nothing more to do with him. And he eventually became well-known to the church as the beloved Apostle to the Gentiles. He was largely unknown to the unregenerate world but well-known by person, reputation, or ministry to all Christians.
Because he was always seemingly on the brink of death, Paul described himself as dying yet behold, we live. Earlier in this epistle he wrote of the threat of death that constantly hung over him:
For we do not want you to be unaware, brethren, of our affliction which came to us in Asia, that we were burdened excessively, beyond our strength, so that we despaired even of life; indeed, we had the sentence of death within ourselves so that we would not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead; who delivered us from so great a peril of death, and will deliver us, He on whom we have set our hope. And He will yet deliver us. (2 Cor. 1:8–10)
Always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. For we who live are constantly being delivered over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. So death works in us, but life in you. (2 Cor. 4:10–12)
From the time of his conversion, Paul faced death threats from his Jewish countrymen (Acts 9:24, 29; 14:19; 20:3, 23:12; 25:3), who viewed him as a traitor to Judaism. But despite their plots, he continued to live under the Lord’s protection (2 Tim. 4:17) until God determined it was time for him to die. Until then, Paul may have been punished, yet his enemies were not able to put him to death (cf. 2 Cor. 11:23–27).
Because of Paul’s arduous, painful life, one would expect him to be sorrowful (cf. Rom. 9:2). His heart was broken over the lost, over disobedient, immature believers, and over the threats false teaching posed to the church. Not surprisingly, he was occasionally depressed (cf. 2 Cor. 7:5–6). Yet despite such sorrow, Paul was always rejoicing. He had a deep, unfailing joy because of God’s grace, power, and goodness. Therefore he could write, “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice!” (Phil. 4:4), and “Rejoice always” (1 Thess. 5:16), and frequently punctuated his letters with doxologies of praise. Life for Paul was a seeming paradox of unending sorrow mingled with continual joy.
Paul was undeniably poor in terms of this world’s possessions. Some have speculated that his family disinherited him after he became a Christian. Certainly he had no large bank account to fall back on but had to rely on financial support from the churches (Phil. 4:16) and his own hard work (1 Thess. 2:9) to support himself. Yet he made those around him who believed his message eternally rich with an eternal inheritance (2 Cor. 8:9; Eph. 1:11; 3:8; Col. 1:12; cf. 1 Peter 1:4).
Making himself poor to make others rich bothered Paul not in the least. Though he appeared to have nothing, yet in reality he possessed all the eternal things that really matter (cf. Matt. 6:19–20; Luke 12:33). In 1 Corinthians 3:21–22 he wrote, “All things belong to you, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or things present or things to come; all things belong to you.” To the Romans he added, “He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?” (Rom. 8:32).
People burn out in ministry not because of overwork, but because of unmet expectations. But those who do not have unrealistic expectations will not become frustrated when they are not met. To have proper expectations in the ministry, one must view it from the proper perspective. Understanding the privilege of ministry, maintaining its passion, carefully protecting it, and expecting paradoxical reactions to it keep one’s vision clear.