2 Corinthians 10:7-11 (HCSB)
Look at what is obvious. If anyone is confident that he belongs to Christ, he should remind himself of this: Just as he belongs to Christ, so do we. For if I boast some more about our authority, which the Lord gave for building you up and not for tearing you down, I am not ashamed. I don’t want to seem as though I am trying to terrify you with my letters. For it is said, “His letters are weighty and powerful, but his physical presence is weak, and his public speaking is despicable.” Such a person should consider this: What we are in the words of our letters when absent, we will be in actions when present.
One of the risks Paul had taken in his ministry is that when God called him to go somewhere else to preach, and evangelize, and plant new congregations, he had to put the care of the existing congregations into the hands of others. Many of the elders in those Churches were good, strong men. But others turned out to be susceptible to false teachings and false teachers.
The Corinthians had had a succession of these teachers, and were not mature enough, not knowledgeable enough in the Scriptures, to tell when they were being led astray. So, even though he was at a distance, Paul attempted to set the record straight.
How begins with obvious facts. Even if these “super apostles” put themselves forward as better, more educated, more sophisticated than Paul, no one could doubt that Paul did indeed follow Jesus closely. The miracles that he had done and the success he had at bringing people into the kingdom and at planting churches demonstrated that incontrovertibly.
Next, Paul points the Corinthians to the care he had demonstrated to them. He had not stayed among them for personal gain. In fact, he had not taking a salary or fees from them at all, supporting himself by his own labor and through the support of other Churches he had planted (2 Corinthians 11:7-9). The only explanation for that had to be the Paul cared for the Corinthians, for themselves, not for what he could get from them.
Finally, Paul defended the strong tone he had taken in his letters. Some of the “super apostles” said the Paul was all bark and no bite. His letters sounded fierce and authoritative, but when he finally came back to Corinth, he would be timid and tentative. Paul warned the Corinthians that that wasn’t the case at all. When he came, he would be loving where that was appropriate. But he would also be stern and strong with those who needed to be disciplined.
Father, it is dangerous to pigeonhole someone based on a small sampling of their writing or their presence. Jesus himself could be gentle, but he could also be fierce when the need arose. He was not two-dimensional, and neither are His followers, those He has called to lead. Before they dismissed Paul in favor of some new teacher or teaching, the Corinthians needed to remember all that Paul had done among them and for them, often at great cost to himself. Lord, help me to show that same self-sacrificial spirit among those to whom you have called me to minister and serve. Amen.