perspective 2 – Paul’s team

  

Continuing the theme of perspective (point of view), let’s examine how we “see” ourselves, God, and other people in the world.  If you “see” people the way God sees them, it can make a huge difference in the way you interact with others and the world.  Here I want us to take a close look at the way Paul and his ministry team “saw” the world – their point of view.

Most of this article is excerpted from a letter Paul wrote to a church he started in Corinth.  He has been away for a while, and new preachers are making false claims about themselves and Paul and his team.  So when Paul wrote the church, he was explaining his team’s view of things – and also trying to make them an example for the church to follow.  So when you read this, be aware that the “we” in this section isn't his way of saying “all us Christians,” but rather – this “we” refers to Paul and his team as opposed to the other guys or the church in general.  So in that sense, this is a model for the way “we” who are determined, deliberate servants of God ought to view ourselves and the world. 

The section of the letter is here for your review.  Read it over first, and then I’ll repeat the same text, but insert some comments of my own that will hopefully help you understand it better.  This is like the three column thing, except I’m going to help you with the first two columns. 

For we know that if the earthly tent (which is our house) is torn down, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For indeed in this house we groan, longing to be clothed with our dwelling from heaven, inasmuch as we, having put it on, will not be found naked. For indeed while we are in this tent, we groan, being burdened, because we do not want to be unclothed but to be clothed, so that what is mortal will be swallowed up by life. Now He who prepared us for this very purpose is God, who gave to us the Spirit as a pledge.

Therefore, being always of good courage, and knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord (for we walk by faith, not by sight) we are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord.

Therefore we also have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to Him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.

Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade men (but we are made manifest to God); and I hope that we are made manifest also in your consciences. We are not again commending ourselves to you but giving you an occasion to be proud of us, so that you will have an answer for those who take pride in appearance and not in heart. For if we are beside ourselves, it is for God; if we are of sound mind, it is for you.

For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died; and he died for all, so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for him who died and rose again on their behalf.

Therefore from now on we recognize no one according to the flesh (even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know him in this way no longer).

Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he’s a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. Now all things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation.

Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. 

(2 Corinthians 5:1-21)

Commentary

Now I’ll try to explain some of this.  Even if you already understand some of it, please stick with me here and see if you can understand this passage so well that you can then start trying to make it real in your life.  Stop and pray occasionally, and ask God to speak to YOU through this study, so that you’re really understanding what God wants you to know as a result of Paul’s letter. 

We know that if the earthly tent (which is our house) is torn down, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For indeed in this house we groan, longing to be clothed with our dwelling from heaven, inasmuch as we, having put it on, will not be found naked. For indeed while we are in this tent, we groan, being burdened, because we do not want to be unclothed but to be clothed, so that what is mortal will be swallowed up by life.

Remember the “we” is Paul and his team. 

The “earthly house” or “tent” he is referring to is his physical body.  Paul is saying that as long as he’s alive in this body on earth, he’s really only naked – exposed – to danger and cold.  But when he dies and is raised in his new body in heaven, he’ll be in a permanent, eternal body that will never hurt, never be destroyed.  But as long as he’s on this earth (like we are all now), he is groaning, feeling burdened, and he wants to go to eternity.

In other words, Paul wishes he were dead.  Not because he hates his life, but because he knows there’s a better one in the next world.  His moaning, burdened body isn't merely stress.  It’s not about his job or family or bills … his burden is (as we will see later) a result of his desire to rescue the lost.  His burden is to save as many as possible (1 Cor. 9.22-27).  

That’s why he can say that “what is mortal” (his current body) will be swallowed up by life!  He actually sees death as resurrection, and so he looks forward to it!

Challenge for you:

Ask yourself if you feel this way.  Do you live for eternity, or for tomorrow?  What do you most want – happiness now, relationships, money, ‘success’ now – or do you live for your mansion in paradise?  If you live for different reasons than Paul and his team … don’t be surprised that you will have different results in your ministry.  To paraphrase JFK: “ask not what God can do for you, but what you can do for His kingdom.”

Now continuing on ... 

Now He who prepared us for this very purpose is God, who gave to us the Spirit as a pledge. Therefore, being always of good courage, and knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord (for we walk by faith, not by sight) we are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord.

Here Paul says it was God who did this, for his own reasons.  He “prepared us for this purpose,” to serve God temporarily in this weird, fragile human body.  And since God knows what He is doing, Paul can always be courageous!  He knows God is with him because God gave him the Holy Spirit “as a pledge.”  This is true of all who are properly baptized – we have our sins washed away, and receive the Holy Spirit (Acts 2.38), Who comes to live inside our body (or tent, or building from God, as above).  That’s why elsewhere Paul would call our body the “temple” of the Holy Spirit, because He lives inside us:

Don’t you know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you’re not your own?  For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.”  (1 Corinthians 6:19-20)

So now Paul has made it clear that our life on this earth is just a temporary thing where we live in shabby camping tents (our body) and wander in the desert of life waiting to cross the Jordan (die) and enter the Promised Land (heaven) – just like the Israelites after they left Egypt.  But just like them, we have a purpose.  God is using us for His will … if we will submit and obey.  Because this is true, Paul wrote about why he and his team do what they do:

Therefore we also have as our ambition (whether at home or absent) to be pleasing to Him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.  

Because we are here in this condition because of God, and because we know we will be judged; we do our best.  But it’s not only “we” (Paul’s team), but it’s everyone who will be judged.  That’s why he must also do this:

Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade men, but we are made manifest to God; and I hope that we are made manifest also in your consciences. We are not again commending ourselves to you but giving you an occasion to be proud of us, so that you will have an answer for those who take pride in appearance and not in heart. For if we are beside ourselves, it is for God; if we are of sound mind, it is for you.

So his team made every effort to “persuade men.”  That is Paul’s way of seeking first the kingdom of God – his teaching and preaching and all his efforts were centered there.  But then again, remember the other preachers there in Corinth now?  They surely would make the same claim!  So then Paul says .  “Made manifest” means “revealed.”  It’s like saying God knows what’s in their hearts.  And then he also hopes the Corinth church of Christ will also be confident that Paul and his team are what they say they are. 

But then … people (even ministers) who put no confidence in this life – sometimes seem kind of crazy. 

...We don’t care so much what others think, because we care SO much about what God thinks. 

...We don’t care so much about our current body or life – because we care SO much about our eternal life. 

...We don’t cry so hard over a fellow disciple who dies, because we know he really is better off! 

This can look crazy and cold to people who are mostly invested in this world.  So Paul goes on to explain:

For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died; and he died for all, so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for him who died and rose again on their behalf.

“The love of Christ controls us” 

This expression needs some explanation, and you need to make this one of the most important things you’ll ever learn as a disciple, if you have ears to hear. 

The love of Christ … can be translated as Christ’s love for us or our love for Christ.  Commentators debate this, and usually arrive at a conclusion that’s consistent with their religious views.  I believe the answer is “both.”  I believe that Paul deliberately wrote it this way because there’s such a thing as “Christ-love.” 

“Christ-love” is a kind of love – a type of love. It’s merciful and compassionate, but it’s also urgent and forceful.  It’s warm and interventionist at the same time.  It’s wild and it’s calm – and to those who receive it, it’s eternal life. To those who are upset by it, it’s the smell of death. As Paul wrote earlier in this same letter:

Thanks be to God, who … manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place. For we are a fragrance of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing - to the one an aroma from death to death, to the other an aroma from life to life.  (2 Corinthians 2:14-16)

• It’s the kind of love that provoked God’s son to leave heaven, live, die and raise again to save us.  But it’s also the kind of love that makes us take up our cross daily to follow in Jesus’ footsteps. 
• It’s something that burns inside one’s heart when he considers how recklessly other “Christians” live, or when you contemplate someone you care about perishing in hell forever. 
• And it’s the kind of love that provokes you to care about people that you wouldn't otherwise care about at all.  If you saw video of 9/11 or the Boston bombings, you saw strangers immediately race into danger to rescue someone they didn't even know.  

This is Christ-love  

The selfish “rich man” after he died was very concerned to warn his relatives of the horror of eternal punishment:

 “I beg you, Father, that you send him to my father’s house (for I have five brothers) in order that he may warn them, so that they won’t also come to this place of torment.”  (Luke 16:27-28)

This realization came too late for the rich man.  But Paul and his team felt it every moment of every day – they understood that our days are like the days before Noah finished the ark.  Destruction is coming, and everyone who will surrender to God will be saved – but most will perish:  

 “And just as it happened in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man: they were eating, they were drinking, they were marrying, they were being given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all.
It was the same as happened in the days of Lot: they were eating, they were drinking, they were buying, they were selling, they were planting, they were building; but on the day that Lot went out from Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all.It will be just the same on the day that the Son of Man is revealed.”  (Luke 17:26-30)

That word for “control” is sometimes translated “compels” or “constrains us.”  There isn't a good English word for the Greek there.  But as you can hopefully see … there’s a sense of urgency and danger in “Christ-love” that forces us to be willing to look crazy, to be so motivated or so compelled that it’s like we’re owned by it.  It’s like being possessed.  It’s an almost involuntary compulsion.  If you believe in heaven, hell, judgment and eternity … is there anyone you despise so much you wouldn't lift a finger to rescue? 

Having been guaranteed salvation for ourselves, how can we not now feel compelled to risk our lives to save others? 

This phrase: “‘Christ-love’ compels us” is a natural thing to those who believe what Paul did.  If you live for eternity and believe everyone else is destined to be resurrected to bliss or torment – there’s really no escaping this compulsion. 

Challenge yourself with that

This article is already too long, and there’s enough for you to work on for this week.  I’ll save the rest for next week. 

I pray you’ll take this seriously and personally.  By that I mean that I hope you’ll seek to understand how this truth should affect YOU.  Not others, but you.  Spend some time in prayer and thought.

Consider how your life should be different, and then make a commitment to change (aka ‘repent’). 

Do you TRULY believe in God, His son and the bible?  You say you do, but then: How can you walk past people every day without telling them that they may be destined to perish if they don’t change? 

Or again:

If you've tried to “persuade men” and they aren't listening, have you considered changing your style, your message, your method … to be more effective? 

Or again:

If you've tried to change your methods … have you considered that maybe YOU need to change yourself?  Maybe your manner, attitude, or lifestyle is a barrier that makes it harder for others to accept your message. 

This is for sure:

If you have Paul’s attitude, and if you submit yourself, you will succeed in God’s eyes.  You will be “manifest to God.”  Noah managed to save no one but his family, and even 1/3 of his sons was awful.  But that was God’s plan. 

Paul saved many, but even some of his churches were awful in a very short time.  Our fruit isn't always clear to us.  But it’s always “made manifest to God,” so if we live to please Him … we can soon shed this frustrating skin and bones and be clothed in Christ in an eternal dwelling!