2 Corinthians 10

Bible Passage:  2 Corinthians 10

True Apostleship

Today’s chapter is the prelude to a strong defense of Paul’s apostleship. Many believers in Corinth somehow regarded Paul as inferior to the other apostles or even inferior to outside teachers and philosophers because he did not take any money from them.

In their eyes, Paul did not fit the mold of an ancient Greek teacher because if something was taught for free, it was worth nothing. A different aspect of Greek thought suggested that no “upper class” citizen, especially a philosopher, should be doing manual labor. But Paul had lived on tent making during his stay in Corinth. In fact, he did not take their money because he did not want to be a burden to the believers in Corinth (2 Cor 12:13; 1 Cor 9:3-18).

Now, Paul starts to defend his apostleship, although he would not need to do so. For he knows that “not he who commends himself is approved, but whom the Lord commends” (2 Cor 10:18). Yet he does it for the sake of the Corinthians, for false apostles were trying to deceive them. In a way, Paul had no other choice than to defend his apostleship so that the believers could see what true apostleship is and so that they would follow the true apostles.

So what is true apostleship?

The Greek word for the English “apostle,” refers to a messenger or delegate; someone who is sent with orders. We know that the apostles were all sent by God to preach the gospel. In addition, Paul also mentions in 2 Cor 10:8 that his authority was given to him by the Lord Jesus Christ. Today, each and every believer is sent to preach the gospel through the authority of the Holy Spirit (cf. Mk 16:15; Acts 1:8). Since we are sent by the power of the Holy Spirit, we do not need to commend ourselves; instead, we should glory in the Lord.

In other words, as true apostles of Jesus Christ, we do not rely on our knowledge, wisdom, skills, social status or financial resource to work for Christ. Instead, we rely on the power of God, which is found in His word and through His Spirit.

There was a brother in the mountain areas of Taiwan who was not musically gifted; he was known for always going off tune when he sang hymns. When all the members who could play the piano gradually left his hometown due to their work or studies, this brother began to pray to God for wisdom because he really wanted to learn piano so that he could help play in church. Eventually, God listened to his prayers, and enabled the brother to play the piano at church without ever going off tune.

That’s the beauty and wonder of being a true apostle of Christ—everyone can serve God as long as we have a willing heart because it is God who empowers us.