Paul’s defense and admonition
1 ① It is I, Paul, who by the humility and kindness of Christ appeal to you, the Paul “who is timid among you and bold when far away from you!”
2Do not force me to act boldly when I come, as I am determined and will dare to act against some people who think that I act from human motives. 3Human is our condition but not our fight.
4Our weapons for this fight are not human but they have divine power to destroy strongholds – those arguments 5and haughty thoughts that oppose the knowledge of God. We compel all understanding, that they obey Christ. 6So I am prepared to punish any disobedience when you should show perfect obedience.
7See things as they really are. If someone is convinced that he belongs to Christ, let him consider that just as he is Christ’s, so am I. 8Although I may seem too confident in the authority that the Lord gave me for building you up and not for pulling you down, I will not be put to shame for saying this. 9Do not think that I can only frighten you with letters. 10“His letters are severe and strong,” some say, “but as he is, he has no presence and he is a poor speaker.” 11To such people I say, “Be careful: what my letters say from afar, is what I will do when I come.”
12How could I venture to equate or compare myself with some people who proclaim their own merits? Fools! They measure themselves with their own measure and compare themselves with themselves. 13As for me, I will not boast beyond measure, for I will not go past the limits that the God of true measure has set for me: He gave the measuring stick when he made me set foot in your place.
14It is not the same when someone goes beyond his field to where he has not been able to set foot. But I am he who first reached you with the Gospel of Christ. 15I am not making myself important where others have worked. On the contrary, we hope that as your faith increases, so too our area of ministry among you will be enlarged without going beyond our limit. 16So we shall bring the Gospel to places beyond yours without entering into the field of others, or boasting and making ourselves important where the work is already done. 17Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord. 18It is not the one who commends himself who is approved, but the one whom the Lord commends.
- 2 Cor 10,1 The tone of violence in these chapters 10-13 does not fit with the reconciliation previously expressed. They may come from the letter Paul had sent before, following the incident in which various members of the Corinthian community rebelled against him. In this extraordinary page, a few words immediately situate the discussion. Some members of the community attack Paul's authority, feeling supported by those who have not been able to set foot (v. 13). Who are these people? They have the title of apostle, that is, of founders of communities, but by chance they always arrive where others have done the work (v. 15). People compare one apostle with another and Paul who never wanted to be served, who never pretended to be a great orator, or doctor in religion appears as a man of weak personality. His letters are severe and strong, some say, but as he is, he has no presence and he is a poor speaker (10:10). Do not force me to act boldly (10:2). Paul sees himself as the apostle of the community, the one who has led them to the faith and communicated the Holy Spirit to them: no one could deny that. Paul speaks of his power and his weapons in a threatening way. Surely the power which destroys strongholds is the Word of God. The Word of God gave birth to the Christian communities and gives them the power to stay united and alive in the face of opposition. The Gospel is God's power, and when it is boldly proclaimed, the forces which oppose it collapse. In this case, however, it is also a question of Paul's spiritual power. Naturally, we think of Paul's conviction, the power of his word, the awareness of his mission, all of which made an impact on the Corinthians. It is also in the nature of apostles and prophets to threaten at times, on behalf of God who intervenes in an obvious way to show they are right. Recall the case with Ananias and Sapphira before Peter (Acts 5). Paul's firm intention is to destroy arguments and haughty thoughts which oppose the knowledge of God (10:5). One might see here nothing but a rivalry between persons, but Paul knows what bothers many of them in his leadership: he does not go along with their game of petty interests and makes them live in the truth. If they do not have the courage to continue in that way, they will be nothing more than a religious group among others: they will have lost the path of the knowledge of God. Faith is obedience (Rom 1:5): we submit to a teaching from God. That always goes together with obedience in a concrete life situation. If God has intended us to be a Church, he has necessarily wanted obedience to a hierarchy and to an established order. It is such obedience that Paul exacts. Take note: this right to be obeyed is based on the call of Christ that has made him an apostle and on what the Spirit has done through him. When we see a multitude of preachers setting out on a mission, each one for his own church, we would at times have the right to ask who has sent them. We must also remember that it is not a question of Paul reigning over this community or several of them: he has already left to evangelize further afield (15-16).
