A Fool for God’s Glory
You may have heard this quote: “It is better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak and remove all doubt.” No one is quite sure of the origin of this statement, but it makes a sharp point, and it agrees with many of Solomon’s observations in the Book of Proverbs.
No one likes to be considered a fool, much less have someone call you that to your face! Jesus Himself warned us to be careful about calling someone a fool. We want people to at least think we’re intelligent, understanding, and wise. But if we make the choice to follow Christ and to live according to the teaching of the Bible, those who don’t follow Jesus consider us fools. They see the life of a Christ-follower as dull, boring, and joyless. And God have mercy on us if we give that impression by the way we live!
In our continuing study from Second Corinthians, we come to the closing verses of chapter eleven. Here, Paul continues responding to the accusations of the false teachers in Corinth. We see his extreme discomfort as he feels forced to defend his calling and ministry. In fact, he uses the terms fool and foolishly several times in this text. Sometimes he applies it to himself and sometimes to his critics. But his conclusion seems to be that he is willing to be “A Fool for God’s Glory.” That’s the title for our study today from Second Corinthians 11:16 to 33. Here now are the God-breathed words of the apostle.
As we reflect on Paul’s words to the Corinthians, we observe the several STAGES that describe being a fool for God’s glory. These stages are applicable in our lives too.
The First STAGE (of being a fool for God’s glory) is,
Speaking as a Fool
As I said earlier, Paul acknowledges that boasting about one’s accomplishments isn’t from the Lord; it comes from the flesh. But because of the situation in Corinth and the accusations of his critics he feels compelled to “boast” of what he’s done in service for the Lord. He said, in effect, “since the false teachers are boasting according to the flesh I will do the same.” He wanted the church to understand that he was in no way inferior to these false apostles.
As we’ve seen before in this letter, Paul uses sarcasm to make some of his points. Verse 19 is clearly one of these instances. He writes, “Since you are so wise, you gladly entertain fools. You tolerate tyranny, extortion, craftiness, arrogance, violence, and insult.”
In verse 20 he specifically mentions them allowing the false teachers to “strike them in the face.” In that culture, being struck in the face was a grievous insult. Perhaps this is why the qualifications for overseers in his first letter to Timothy included “not a striker” or a violent person. Recall too how Jesus was struck in the face during his sham trial before the Sanhedrin.
Paul reminds them that they were tolerating this kind of treatment at the hands of the false teachers. He was appalled that they were allowing their leaders to abuse them physically and spiritually. Paul had never asked the church members to tolerate such behavior from him. While he had been firm in dealing with their sins, he had been gentle and meek among them. His whole ministry was about building people up, not tearing them down.
Not so the Judaizers. They were trying to enslave the Believers to the practice of the Law. This included the confiscation of their property, preying on the weak, and spiritual arrogance and insult. They were demanding, greedy, and deceptive. How unlike our Savior, the model for all ministry and leadership!
In verse 22 he lays out what we might call, his pedigree as a devout Jew. I want you to notice the arrangement of the names. Hebrew represents nationality. Paul was an ethnic Jew. Israelite represents the covenant people of God. Paul was a participant in that covenant. And the seed of Abraham represents the messianic privilege. Though Paul at first had rejected this privilege, he now wholeheartedly embraced it.
If you’re a leader like I am, we are not apostles in the sense that Paul was. But we can certainly see the kinds of leadership today that were being promoted by these false teachers. Leaders who exercise power without accountability. Leaders who use their authority to threaten those who disagree with them. Leaders who are deceitful in their dealings with people and issues that arise in the church. Leaders who use their position as cudgels to enforce submission. These kinds of behavior we must never entertain.
Like the apostle Paul, we must warn those who have fallen under the sway of false teachers. We must, in humility, remind them of our care for them and how we want for them the things that build them up rather than destroy them. And, like Christ, we must be willing to suffer abuse for our kindness and gentleness. We may be perceived as fools, even as Jesus was when He didn’t respond to the threats and abuse of His accusers with malice and vengeance.
Paul possessed every qualification claimed by the false teachers, but he is ashamed of his boasting about those qualifications. Let’s have that same hesitancy in our self-defense.
The Next STAGE (of being a fool for God’s glory) is,
Suffering as a Fool
In this next section of our text Paul moves from asserting his equality with the false teachers to asserting his superiority to them! He says, “are they servants of Christ, I speak as a crazy person, I am more!” To back up his claim, he gives a long list of things he suffered for the cause of Christ. The list isn’t exhaustive, but it is extensive. Notice his emphasis on both the quantity and severity of his troubles compared with the false teachers.
If you read over this list and take time to process what Paul is saying, it seems incredible that one man could endure so much suffering. He talks about how back-breaking labor, trouble and toil were his constant companions. He was severely beaten 5 times with 39 lashes with a leather whip and 3 times he was beaten with a rod. A beating by either of those could be fatal, yet Paul survived them 8 times combined!
Clement of Rome tells us that Paul was imprisoned seven times; we know of only five. He was frequently in danger of physical death. He was stoned and left for dead at Lystra. He was shipwrecked 3 times and was adrift on the water far from land for 24 hours. We know nothing of these because they are all prior to his shipwreck in Acts 27 which occurred much later.
He also faced a multitude of dangers from raging rivers and tribal bandits in Asia Minor. He faced danger from his own countrymen, fellow Jews who bitterly resented his embrace of Jesus as Messiah. He faced danger from Gentiles, like the mob in Ephesus that rioted in support of the silversmiths who thought their livelihood was being threatened. He faced danger in the wilderness, in the sea, and among those who pretended to be his brothers in the faith.
He experienced much weariness of the flesh and spirit, much physical pain, and many sleepless nights. Hunger and thirst were constant companions because food and water were often scarce. His times of fasting were both voluntary and involuntary. He was often cold because he lacked adequate clothing to protect him against the elements. All of this suffering, pain, and hardship must have taken their toll on his physical and mental health. But there was something even more concerning to him.
He tells us what it is in verse 28. “…besides the other things, what comes upon me daily: my deep concern for all the churches.” Our English translations don’t capture the intensity here. The word-picture is that his deep concern for the church was like of a mob of hostile rioters rushing upon him. Certainly, he knew what that was like in a physical sense, the sense of helplessness and suffocating fear. Here, he is using it in an emotional sense. We know from chapter 2, verse 4, that he suffered attacks of anxiety as he reflected on the challenges facing his people. Paul’s shepherd’s heart is on display for us in this verse.
Paul felt keenly the struggles of those whom he had led to Christ and he suffered with them. With the weak, he became as weak. When a brother or sister was made to stumble Paul was inflamed with grief. This helps us understand his intense feelings against the false teachers. He cared deeply for those under his spiritual care. And he was willing to endure all of this suffering to see Christ formed in them, to see them come to spiritual maturity.
Now, what about you and me? Are we willing to suffer as fools for Christ? Are we willing to endure even just the smallest part of the suffering Paul endured? I remind you that this letter is largely Paul’s defense of his apostolic ministry. As leaders this letter applies specifically to us.
While we may not suffer physically like Paul did, how deep is our love and concern for those God has placed under our spiritual care? Do their successes bring us joy? Do their failures bring grief to our hearts? Are we willing to stand in the gap for our people and protect them from false teachers? Are we willing to take notes and name names? Do we uphold the weak and support those who are stumbling? Are we willing to give of our time and energy to serve our people? Can we endure sleepless nights and long seasons of prayer?
To the world looking on, it seems pointless to live this way. But as Christ’s followers, we must be willing to suffer as fools for His glory.
The Final STAGE (of being a fool for God’s glory) is,
Boasting as a Fool
Paul closes this section of his letter in a unique way. When you and I are tempted to boast, what do we boast about? We magnify our strengths and minimize our weaknesses, don’t we? We highlight our skill set, our successes, or what we’ve accomplished. But Paul doesn’t go that route. He says, “If I must boast, then I will boast about the things that display my weakness.” Who wants to do that, it’s ridiculous. No wonder Paul said he was boasting like a fool.
The list of things Paul suffered seems so outlandish and foolish that he takes a solemn oath that it is completely true. Paul understood that the proof of his apostleship was in the power of Christ who sustained him through great litany of trials and suffering. It wasn’t his personal strength or his greatness that made his ministry so successful.
His opponents boasted about their position, their accomplishments, the multitude of their followers, and their financial success. To them, Paul’s sufferings made him seem contemptible. In their eyes, he was a loser. But Paul understood that the kingdom he was part of operates on different principles. We must understand that too!
In the final verses of our text, Paul mentions his humiliating experience in Damascus. Acts chapter 9 records what happened there. Remember, Paul, acting under the authority of the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem, was on his way to Damascus to destroy the followers of Jesus whom he greatly despised. He would show them who was the boss, who had the power. But what happened? He met Jesus personally and his life was transformed.
The one who envisioned entering the city in triumph with letters from the high priest ended up fleeing the city several weeks later at night, being left down by the wall in a basket. In essence, he was like the proverbial dog running away with his “tail tucked between his legs.” This experience moved Paul from the ranks of the persecutors to the ranks of the persecuted. It was an indication of the sufferings that would come to him in his service for Christ. And it is in those sufferings that Paul determined he would boast.
Are you willing, like the apostle Paul, to be a fool for God’s glory? We all want people to like us, to think well of us, to hold us in high regard, to think we’re wise. But the teaching of Jesus and the apostles makes it clear that if we follow their example, we’ll most likely be considered foolish. In fact, Paul writes in First Corinthians “that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are…”
The only way we can truly live as a fool for God’s glory is if we, like Paul, believe the Gospel and act upon the eternal rewards promised to us. If we choose the acclaim and approval of the world, we will suffer eternal loss. But if we embrace the foolishness of the cross, we will experience eternal bliss in the presence of God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Will you choose to be a fool for God’s glory?