Message #7, I Am Here to Lead in Spite of no, Because of my Weaknesses:

Message #7, I Am Here to Lead in Spite of  no, Because of my Weaknesses:

 

I have a friend who is a Calvinist. I am too, at least I think I am. My friend and I share a belief in God’s sovereignty. My friend though is what I call a “squirrelly Calvinist.” You’d might use a comparison to a different animal, here, in Zambia. I call my friend squirrelly because squirrels always seem to be twitching and scurrying around. They never seem to be relaxed. I figure if you are going to be a Calvinist, you might as well enjoy it. Relax. 😊

I was on an airplane for most of a day getting here. When you are flying there really isn’t much you can do to affect the out come of the flight. If the maintenance people and the pilots do their jobs well, everything will probably be good. If not, then, not good. Either way it’s out of my hands. I try to trust the Lord’s control.

I think, though, that we all suffer a bit with my friend’s squirrelliness, don’t we? And, I think, it is in the area of how each of us views himself, my ministry, my leadership, it is at that point that I’m most likely to be squirrelly. Can God really use me where I am?

Shortly after I received the invitation to speak at this conference, I wrote to a group of friends who serve in some aspect of ministry—fellow pastors, school administrators, leading laymen in churches, missionaries, mission leaders, etc. I asked them to share a Biblical leader that they admire, and briefly tell why. (See conf. blog) Interestingly some shared about leaders who led in spite of what we would normally consider handicaps or limitations.

·       Barnabas never seemed to be the #1 guy, yet he was used greatly.

·       Gideon—remember his fleece—seemed to be unsure.

·       Peter, the responder said, “His flaws on full display.”

·       A friend who served and led in spite of horrific disabilities, spoke of Jeremiah, who had an “awful task.”

·       You might not think Paul belongs in this list, yet one of my responders said, “he put no confidence in his own credentials or in his flesh.”

The fact is, if God only used perfect people to lead, He would have to create a new batch of people, because there aren’t any perfect people in our world.

 

Turn with me to 2 Cor. 12.

“I must go on boasting. Although there is nothing to be gained, I will go on to visions and revelations from the Lord. I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven. Whether it was in the body or out of the body I do not know—God knows. And I know that this man—whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, but God knows— was caught up to paradise. He heard inexpressible things, things that man is not permitted to tell. I will boast about a man like that, but I will not boast about myself, except about my weaknesses. Even if I should choose to boast, I would not be a fool, because I would be speaking the truth. But I refrain, so no one will think more of me than is warranted by what I do or say. To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” (2 Corinthians 12:1–10, NIV84)

Keep in mind the overall flow of the Corinthian letters.

·       Paul’s authority as an Apostle was being challenged and undermined in the Corinthian Church. Paul was defending himself, not for selfish, egotistical reasons, but because his ability to speak with authority was important for the growth and protection of the Corinthian Church.

·       Paul sarcastically called those who were seeking to cut him down, “super Apostles.” (11:5 & 12:11. One way they challenged him was by criticizing his lack of rhetorical skill.
“I may not be a trained speaker, but I do have knowledge. We have made this perfectly clear to you in every way.” (11:6)
“the false apostles appealed to the Corinthians’ desires for superiority in rhetorical excellence. Paul admitted he was not an accomplished rhetorician, a trained speaker (cf. 10:10). (However, if he were, he was choosing not to use his rhetorical abilities; cf. 1 Cor. 2:1–5). His apostleship was not a matter of show but of substance. What Paul said was more important than how he said it. The Corinthians could not deny the content of his message and its transforming consequences (cf. 1 Cor. 4:15; 9:1–2). (BKC)
“Even though you have ten thousand guardians in Christ, you do not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel.” (1 Corinthians 4:15, NIV84)
“Even though I may not be an apostle to others, surely I am to you! For you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord.” (1 Corinthians 9:2, NIV84)

It is in this context that 2 Cor. 12 must be understood.
That is why the opening verses of the chapter, sound a bit like double-talk.
Paul introduced this line of reasoning back in 11:21, “What anyone else dares to boast about—I am speaking as a fool—I also dare to boast about.”

In the USA we have an old saying that talks about getting down in the mud with a pig. Generally, it is something you want to avoid, but on this occasion, for the sake of the Corinthian bellievers, Paul gets down in the mud with these “super Apostles” and uses their line of reasoning.

At the end of chap 11 he talks about what it had cost him to be the spokesman who shared the Gospel of Christ to the Gentiles. It is an impressive list. David Lowrey says in the Bible Knowledge Commentary, “Any one of the severe sufferings Paul had described in the preceding verses might kill an average person. But Paul—one man—endured them all.”^[1]

Then he goes on to the passage in chap 12 that we read a moment ago.

In essence Paul says, ‘I’m not going to tell you about what happened to me’—and then he goes on and tells what he’s not going to tell—"but if I did tell you about these things that I’m not telling you about, I would be telling the truth.”

In the midst of this—notice the end of 5—Paul says, but I’ll tell you what I really boast about, my weakness.

Then he goes on from there and talks about a thorn in the flesh.

·       We aren’t told what it is. There is some evidence in Galatians that it had to do with his eyes (Gal 4:14-16)

·       Satan was God’s instrument in bringing this affliction to Paul.

·       It was given to keep Paul from being conceited

·       Apparently, it was not a minor thing. It tormented Paul.

·       Paul prayed three times for it to be taken away. It was not.

·       Instead, God gave grace . . ..

This leads Paul, and us to one of the upside-down principles that we find in Scripture.

“But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” (2 Corinthians 12:9–10, NIV84)

The fact is the Bible is full of these examples of this upside-down principle:

·       Abraham, Isaac, Jacob (Ask class for examples of their weakness.

·       Moses, Exodus 4:10-17

·       David, What was David’s status in the family?

·       Jeremiah, Jeremiah 20

·       Zerrubbabel, Zechariah 4:6

·       The Apostles, “A rather ragged aggregate of souls.” Insert quotation from Master Plan

·       Those Paul saw as being used, 1 Cor 1:18-2:8

·       Timothy, 1 Tim 5:23, 2 Tim 1:6-2:1

·       Jesus used the most hideous means of death of his day, the horrible death which he would die, to illustrate this concept. Matt. 16:21-25
This is only one of the times that we hear Jesus articulating this principle. The cross-bearing statements of Christ make a great series.

·       Isaiah 40:28-31

We need to understand, however, what it is not, so we can better understand what it is.

·       Not laziness. Look at earlier part of 2 Cor 12

·       Not an unwillingness to stay where you are as far as ability. 2 Tim 1:6, 2:15, 4:13

·       Not fatalism. God and because. Again give homework.

I should do my best because God deserves it, not because the outcome is in my hands.

In ways that are beyond my ability to figure out, God uses what I do—fully compatible with His control to make a difference.

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^[1] Lowery, D. K. (1985). 2 Corinthians. In J. F. Walvoord & R. B. Zuck (Eds.), The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures (Vol. 2, p. 582). Victor Books.