Once again, it’s best to share here my previous commentary on this chapter.
In the Kingdom of Heaven, a mystery is mysterious, not because those who know it keep it away from prying eyes and ears, but because it can scarcely be spoken under any circumstances. The Ultimate Truth of things is ineffable, cannot be told, only indicated by human words. It is so much greater than any of us that we wisely avoid taking ourselves seriously. Those whose spirits are dead cannot grasp any part of this. Paul says the Corinthian church acts too much like they have no spirits.
A mystical faith is self-effacing, making no claim in the person of any. So it was Paul said the most important thing any man could know of him was his service in the Realm of the Spirit. The one and only thing that matters is a desire and commitment to serve. Paul had no concern whatsoever how the Corinthians or any human court might judge him. By the same token, he didn’t trust his own judgment of himself. While his conscience was clean, that was no proof of innocence. God alone judges and God alone can say whether Paul pleased Him. So it is we who walk in Christ refrain from presuming to judge anyone, because God alone will reveal such things when He is ready.
By using himself and Apollos as examples, Paul simply offered a demonstration of the principles. No one on this earth has a call from God to lord it over anyone else in Kingdom matters. The only difference between any two believers is whatever God has done in their individual lives. No one has any gift, calling, office or anointing that they earned, so no one has any reason to boast at all. The Corinthians were so full of themselves! What marvelous things they boasted! If only it was true, Paul and the other preachers could then share in the blessings.
It seems God left out the poor apostles. Instead of big titles, accolades, power and riches, they got death sentences, public ridicule, and were a laughingstock in view of heaven and earth. They did not compare well with the boasts of the Corinthians. The apostles barely survived in a very hard life, and many had to pay their own way. But they never took it personally; they accepted every abuse as an opportunity to bless. Sorrow was something they took for granted. They knew they were called to walk the Way of the Cross.
Paul wasn’t trying to make the Corinthians feel sorry for him. Rather, he was trying to warn them. Now, a child might pass through any number of teachers and tutors, but he would only ever have one father. Paul was their spiritual father, and it was only natural that they should model themselves on him. Toward this end, Paul sent Timothy, rather like their big brother that had already begun walking in Paul’s footsteps. His very presence would remind them of Paul’s teachings, the same teachings Paul consistently shared wherever he went.
The Corinthians weren’t being short-changed. Paul had the same mission to teach everywhere he went, and the Corinthian church was hardly the only one he started. Their pity-party was unjustified, and accusations that Paul had abandoned them were silly. If God allowed, Paul would return to them shortly following this letter. He was not concerned about the rowdy talk against him. People say all kinds of things having no connection to reality. What mattered was whether God worked through them. The gospel of Christ, and His Kingdom, is not wrapped up in mere words of human language, but in the power to turn men’s hearts to eternal things.
Would they be impressed if Paul showed up with a fasces, some symbol or means of exerting human authority? Or would the Corinthians want to learn the power of God through love and gentleness? That’s how the Kingdom of Heaven operates.
