I repeat: Let no one take me for a fool. But if you do, then tolerate me just as you would a fool, so that I may do a little boasting. In this self-confident boasting I am not talking as the Lord would, but as a fool. Since many are boasting in the way the world does, I too will boast. You gladly put up with fools since you are so wise! In fact, you even put up with anyone who enslaves you or exploits you or takes advantage of you or puts on airs or slaps you in the face. To my shame I admit that we were too weak for that!
Whatever anyone else dares to boast about—I am speaking as a fool—I also dare to boast about. Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they Abraham’s descendants? So am I. Are they servants of Christ? (I am out of my mind to talk like this.) I am more. I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again.
Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was pelted with stones, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my fellow Jews, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false believers. I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches. Who is weak, and I do not feel weak? Who is led into sin, and I do not inwardly burn?
If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness. The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, who is to be praised forever, knows that I am not lying. In Damascus the governor under King Aretas had the city of the Damascenes guarded in order to arrest me. But I was lowered in a basket from a window in the wall and slipped through his hands. (New International Version)
At this point in the Apostle Paul’s second letter to the Corinthian Church, he levels a direct and devastating attack on his proud, arrogant, and boastful opponents in the church. He points out the foolishness of their boasting, by means of playing the fool himself.
The gist of Paul’s argument was to boast of his humiliating experiences. In truth, Paul had plenty of glorious accomplishments he could have droned on about. Instead, he sought to expose the wide gulf that separated his understanding of apostolic ministry, and theirs.
With some rather hefty sarcasm behind his words, Paul offered some foolish boasting according to the human standards of his opponents. The Corinthians believed themselves to have superior strength and wisdom. Surely, they’re able to put up with these pathetic apostolic weaklings!
In reality, it is Paul’s weakness – and not humanly contrived understandings of strength – which establish his credibility and superiority as a minister of Christ’s gospel. The evidence is his hardships and trials – not his many triumphs. Paul intended for this irony to be felt by the Corinthians.
The Apostle’s litany of woes and adversities wasn’t meant to one-up the Corinthians. Rather, it was intended to be a parody of the Corinthians’ claims to superior wisdom and spiritual power.
While the church boasted of all the things that showed their strength, Paul boasted of his weaknesses – because it’s truly in weakness that the transcendent power of God is made known and manifested in this world.
Paul’s experience in Damascus not only illustrated the extreme danger he was in, but it served as an example of his weakness in contrast to the mighty strength of the Roman Empire.
In the Roman army, the soldier with the greatest strength and valor was the one who scaled the enemy wall first. The courageous ascent of the Roman soldier is viewed alongside the inglorious descent of Paul along the wall in escaping.
Christianity grew, flourished, and thrived not because of superior earthly strength, but because of humiliating weakness which allowed the power of heaven to work through it.
In light of Paul’s view of leadership and ministry, I find that many contemporary leadership theories are woefully lacking in an understanding of how people tick.
For example, some philosophies treat humans as if they were machines, and treat workers as cogs or parts in a larger mechanistic worldview, as if they could be replaceable.
Yet, leadership that relies on the factory system will inevitably demean a person’s basic humanity and see nothing of their inherent uniqueness and deserving of respect.
Instead, a more biblical, compassionate, and practical leadership style discerns that relationships are key; and that individual persons bring something special to their work, even if they are doing the same job as others.
In this understanding of leadership, every single person does their work or ministry in a way that isn’t fully reproducible by others. Our individual human uniqueness ensures that our place in the world is needed, and that what we bring to every endeavor we do is a special one-of-a-kind offering that no one else can do.
What’s more, in this view of leadership, there’s no room for boasting, at all. And no place for arrogant pride, because boasting is based upon comparison.
If every person is a unique creation of God, and everyone brings something individually special to their efforts, then comparison is a foolish waste of time, and boasting is nothing more than a fool’s game.
You can always tell the fool by how they keep talking and cannot keep their mouth shut about all of their accomplishments and everything they know. If they believe they’re right, and try and prove it with their comparative superiority to others, then you can bet that what you have in front of you is a card-carrying honest-to-goodness genuine Fool, with a capital “F.”
We can do better. And we can be better leaders and offer better leadership philosophies which are based in humility, the value of each person, sound relationships, and effective peacemaking.
Anything less than that will likely get a sarcastic comment from the Apostle Paul in heaven.
Give us, O God,
leaders whose hearts are large enough
to match the breadth of our own souls;
and give us souls strong enough
to follow leaders of vision and wisdom. Amen.
Rev. Tim Ehrhardt 