He was publicly stripped of his rank and then imprisoned.
Thus starts chapter 11 of 2 Corinthians (NLT), and this blog entry. I wanted to make sure we captured the other accusations against Paul hinted at in this chapter, even though the chapter has much more in it. So we'll both look at the further accusations and pay attention to one or two other items in the chapter. If you missed the first part of L'affaire Dreyfus and L'affaire Paulus, pick it up here.
Quickly then, Paul's opponents considered themselves superior to Paul ...
- v.5: Because Paul's inferior rhetorical abilities indicate his unfitness to teach. (Read this verse carefully. I first wrote that they simply accused Paul of inferior rhetoric. But the inference from Paul's response is that they considered him lacking in knowledge. Paul is willing to grant that his speaking skill may not match that of his opponents, or at least his rhetorical skill may not be equal, since he's unwilling to argue for argument's sake and on human terms, which he indicated in chapter 10.)
- v.7: Because of Paul's menial labor to support himself. (This latter accusation has at least two associated ideas. One would be the appeal to a class distinction -- something we've seen earlier in the the division within the Corinthian church. The other idea is that Paul was not doing what the original apostles did when commissioned by Jesus - going on their mission with nothing but the cloak on their back and depending on the hospitality of the towns they went to. <-- Anyone wanting to discuss this in the comments, have at it.)
We also learn more about Paul's accusers. They are apparently Jewish (v.22) Christians, ministers/servants/deacons of Christ (v.23), and an arrogant, domineering bunch (v.20,21). And they definitely didn't do the heavy lifting of Paul - in pioneering and suffering for Christ.
In other words, as Paul says in verse 13, they are false apostles.
Once again in the process of defending his ministry, Paul uses his words to appeal to the Corinthians to get their own act together -- to recognize his love for them; and to see that Paul considers his own weakness, strength, as they should because of how it allows the light to shine on Christ. This is so much the opposite of the way we tend to think, admiring those who demonstrate strength and eloquence, even when those skills are self-serving.
I was particularly struck by this verse while tracking down the attacks on Paul:
For such people are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. Therefore it is not surprising his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness, whose end will correspond to their actions. (2 Corinthians 11:13-15 NET)
This is by no means a new warning for us as Christians. Jesus said there would be many false messiahs, and we'll soon read similar warnings from Peter. How, then, are we to recognize them? Apparently the Corinthians weren't able to. Part of the answer lies in our own maturity. In Paul's earlier letter he said, "So, brothers and sisters, I could not speak to you as spiritual people, but instead as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ. I fed you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready. In fact, you are still not ready..." (1 Corinthians 3:1,2) Part of the answer lies in looking at their action and the results of those actions -- the tearing down instead of building up; their self-commendation; their domineering behavior instead of a servant's heart; the many things we call fruit of the Spirit.
As we read earlier in Ephesians, we should also recognize that there are spiritual forces at work against us, and they may even be clothed in light. Remember that Satan is the one who will J'accuse us. The closer we are to Jesus and the more like Him we become, the less likely it is that we will be deceived by appearance, and the better equipped we will be to stand against those accusations.
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