Day 11 – 2 Corinthians 7:1-16

Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. Make room for us in your hearts; we wronged no one, we corrupted no one, we took advantage of no one. 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. Great is my confidence in you; great is my boasting on your behalf. I am filled with comfort; I am overflowing with joy in all our affliction. For even when we came into Macedonia our flesh had no rest, but we were afflicted on every side: conflicts without, fears within. But God, who comforts the depressed, comforted us by the coming of Titus; and not only by his coming, but also by the comfort with which he was comforted in you, as he reported to us your longing, your mourning, your zeal for me; so that I rejoiced even more. For though I caused you sorrow by my letter, I do not regret it; though I did regret it—for I see that that letter caused you sorrow, though only for a while—I now rejoice, not that you were made sorrowful, but that you were made sorrowful to the point of repentance; for you were made sorrowful according to the will of God, so that you might not suffer loss in anything through us. For the sorrow that is according to the will of God produces a repentance without regret, leading to salvation, but the sorrow of the world produces death. For behold what earnestness this very thing, this godly sorrow, has produced in you: what vindication of yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what longing, what zeal, what avenging of wrong! In everything you demonstrated yourselves to be innocent in the matter. So although I wrote to you, it was not for the sake of the offender nor for the sake of the one offended, but that your earnestness on our behalf might be made known to you in the sight of God. For this reason we have been comforted. And besides our comfort, we rejoiced even much more for the joy of Titus, because his spirit has been refreshed by you all. For if in anything I have boasted to him about you, I was not put to shame; but as we spoke all things to you in truth, so also our boasting before Titus proved to be the truth. His affection abounds all the more toward you, as he remembers the obedience of you all, how you received him with fear and trembling. I rejoice that in everything I have confidence in you.^[1]

This Christian life is not all a bed of roses. One of the unfortunate deficits of the Church today is its emphasis on only that which brings blessing. We want to joy, but not the sorrow; the victory, but not the battle; and, the testimony, but not the test. We want to be affirmed but not confronted. We want the benefit of a dedicated life, but we do not want to do the work it requires. Paul wrote a letter to the church in Corinth that, apparently, disturbed it greatly. This letter brought about no little anxiety and in fact, the church was wounded by it. Like a committed parent Paul grieved that he had to write the letter, and then worried about how things would turn out after he wrote it. He is then overjoyed to discover that the letter has produced in the church Godly sorrow, which in turn produced true repentance.

What is wrong with the church and its leadership that we have grown so soft. Rather than being concerned for souls we are concerned about how our relationships with members affects our bottom line. We often do not say the things people need to hear because we are afraid they will take offence and stop giving or leave altogether. We are more concerned about what people think than we about about God. Now I am no more suggesting that leaders become callous and coarse as they deal with the cares and concerns of those to whom they minister, than I am suggesting that Paul was insensitive and uncaring. But I am saying that we should subscribe anew to that which is the chief end of humanity, “to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.” Doing so will invariable change the trajectory of our entire ministry.

Dear Lord, forgive me for being weak. Forgive me for confusing love, kindness and meekness with weakness. Forgive me for fearing that saying the things that need to be said will cause people to walk away. Forgive me for counting souls rather than walking in unconditional obedience. Teach me to boldly say the things You would have me to say and to do the things You would have me to do. Amen.

^[1] New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update (LaHabra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995), 2 Co 7:1–16.