|
|
Pathways Through Paul
Daily Devotional
October 12
Click on verses for Full Scripture
|
previous - - - - - - - - - -
next
|
Today's Pathway:
|
Paul has been defending himself against the accusations of some in the Corinthian church who said that he could not be trusted because he had changed his travel plans concerning visiting them. In today's passage he gives a reason why he changed his plans. He states that he didn't go to Corinth as planned because he wanted to spare them. He tells them that God knows his heart, and that God knows that this is the truth. There had been many problems in the church, and Paul was bothered by what was taking place there. However, he wanted to give them an opportunity to repent and change without him having to castigate them face to face. He is trying to be lenient with them, and not have to deal with them harshly as he did in I Corinthians, which was filled with rebuke and correction. William Barclay made these observations and applications:
"Paul used severity and rebuke very unwillingly. He used them only when he was driven to use them and there was nothing else left to do. There are some people whose eyes are always focused to find fault, whose tongues are always tuned to criticize, in whose voice there is always a rasp and an edge. Paul was not like that. In this he was wise. If we are constantly critical and fault-finding, if we are habitually angry and harsh, if we rebuke far more than we praise, the plain fact is that even our severity loses its effect. The more seldom a man rebukes, the more effective it is when he does. The eyes of a truly Christian man seek ever for things to praise and not for things to condemn. When Paul did rebuke, he did it in love. He never rebuked to cause pain; he always rebuked to restore joy."
This would be a good lesson for many of us to learn!
In verse 24 Paul makes it clear that he is not the lord ("dominion") over their faith. What he is teaching them is truth, but they need to believe it for themselves, and not just practice it because he is forcing them to do so. Peter reminded other pastors of this principle in I Peter 5:2-3, where he writes,
"Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind; Neither as being lords over God's heritage, but being ensamples to the flock."
Believers belong to God, and the church belongs to God, and He is the Lord of both. So what purpose does the pastor or evangelist serve? According to our text Paul claimed to be a "helper of their joy". "Joy" is a fruit of the Spirit, and is produced by the Holy Spirit in those believers who are walking in the truth and are thus allowing Him to do His work. It has been defined as "the deep-down sense of well-being that abides in the heart of the person who knows all is well between himself and the Lord." True joy can exist even in the most difficult circumstances. Paul wrote in I Thessalonians 1:6,
"And ye became followers of us, and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Ghost."
So Paul's desire is to assist the Corinthians in having the joy of the Lord, and he hopes to accomplish this by teaching them sound doctrine and practice. But they were going to have to stand in their own faith, not in his. His role was simply to help them believe. He wrote in I Corinthians 3:5,
"Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed"
Paul's goal was not to "beat" Christianity into them, but to help them to have the joy of the Lord by teaching them what the Word of God said. As a pastor myself, this is a lesson that I need to put into practice.
Pastor Mark J Montgomery
|
|
You Are Here: 
