Day 18 – 2 Corinthians 11:16-33

Again I say, let no one think me foolish; but if you do, receive me even as foolish, so that I also may boast a little. What I am saying, I am not saying as the Lord would, but as in foolishness, in this confidence of boasting. Since many boast according to the flesh, I will boast also. For you, being so wise, tolerate the foolish gladly. For you tolerate it if anyone enslaves you, anyone devours you, anyone takes advantage of you, anyone exalts himself, anyone hits you in the face. To my shame I must say that we have been weak by comparison. But in whatever respect anyone else is bold—I speak in foolishness—I am just as bold myself. Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they descendants of Abraham? So am I. Are they servants of Christ?—I speak as if insane—I more so; in far more labors, in far more imprisonments, beaten times without number, often in danger of death. Five times I received from the Jews thirty-nine lashes. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, a night and a day I have spent in the deep. I have been on frequent journeys, in dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from my countrymen, dangers from the Gentiles, dangers in the city, dangers in the wilderness, dangers on the sea, dangers among false brethren; I have been in labor and hardship, through many sleepless nights, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. Apart from such external things, there is the daily pressure on me of concern for all the churches. Who is weak without my being weak? Who is led into sin without my intense concern? If I have to boast, I will boast of what pertains to my weakness. The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, He who is blessed forever, knows that I am not lying. In Damascus the ethnarch under Aretas the king was guarding the city of the Damascenes in order to seize me, and I was let down in a basket through a window in the wall, and so escaped his hands.^[1]

To boast about oneself is foolish. The Apostle Paul makes this assertion in these verses and yet he is willing to be a fool in order to respond to the comparisons the people are making between him and other leaders. To answer the challenge to his apostleship the apostle sets forth his resume. There is nothing more powerful than a historical account of what one has done. The apostle’s resume lists his pedigree, the atrocities and indignities he has suffered, as well as the compassion he had demonstrated. Though we cannot read, see or hear who or what he is being contrasted against and compared to we can surmise that there are others who are competing with him for the hearts of the people by bragging about their exploits. In the apostle’s estimation, there is none who can come close to having the testimony he has either in what he has suffered or in what he has sacrificed. Though his resume is impressive, he acknowledges that if he has to brag he would rather it be about the humiliations that make him more like Jesus.

Dear Lord, we confess our lack of humility. We brag and boast of exploits and accomplishments as though we did them in our own strength and power. Forgive us our sin and empower us to rise above the foolishness of pride. Let our boasting be of You alone. Amen.

^[1] New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update (LaHabra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995), 2 Co 11:16–33.