WEBVTT 00:00:00.460 --> 00:00:05.200 Again, let me say welcome to those of you who are joining us, who are here every week, 00:00:05.259 --> 00:00:07.540 those of you who are new, I especially want to welcome you. 00:00:08.240 --> 00:00:14.640 Some of you are in town for the wedding of Claire and Andy, which happened yesterday. 00:00:14.820 --> 00:00:15.860 We're very thankful for that. 00:00:15.939 --> 00:00:19.440 We're celebrating that and still excited about it. 00:00:20.059 --> 00:00:23.859 And also this morning, we're having a shortened worship service. 00:00:24.019 --> 00:00:28.660 Some of you may say this is shorter, but yes, it's a shortened worship service, and that's 00:00:28.660 --> 00:00:32.780 because we have a members meeting immediately following this service. 00:00:33.299 --> 00:00:37.640 And so this morning, as we look at God's Word, we're going to be orienting ourselves a little 00:00:37.640 --> 00:00:39.340 bit in the direction of our members meeting. 00:00:39.460 --> 00:00:40.679 We're going to be talking about the church. 00:00:42.719 --> 00:00:46.719 I think it's fair to say, and I think most of you would agree, that if we look at the 00:00:46.719 --> 00:00:50.299 church right now in the United States, it's a bit of a mess. 00:00:51.519 --> 00:00:52.579 It's a bit of a mess. 00:00:53.000 --> 00:00:55.379 Some might even say that the church is in crisis. 00:00:55.380 --> 00:01:01.620 Things have become highly politicized, especially over the last several years. 00:01:02.120 --> 00:01:04.000 Many churches have divided. 00:01:04.140 --> 00:01:11.579 They've split into two or three or more pieces over issues like Donald Trump or COVID or masks 00:01:11.579 --> 00:01:14.560 or vaccines or race or justice. 00:01:15.480 --> 00:01:21.740 And then because of the pandemic, many churches have been forced to close their doors permanently 00:01:21.739 --> 00:01:27.859 as we continue to grapple with fears over meeting and gathering together in person. 00:01:28.419 --> 00:01:32.500 Many denominations are reporting declining numbers in attendance and membership. 00:01:33.019 --> 00:01:39.159 And then there are numerous scandals involving prominent church leaders and abuse cover-ups. 00:01:39.719 --> 00:01:43.560 And so you sort of look at the landscape of the church in the U.S. and you say, yeah, 00:01:43.640 --> 00:01:45.299 things are kind of a mess right now. 00:01:45.299 --> 00:01:50.479 And for those of us who are Christians, we look at this and we say, well, how do we respond 00:01:50.479 --> 00:01:51.840 to all of this faithfully? 00:01:51.920 --> 00:01:53.719 What does this mean for us? 00:01:55.159 --> 00:01:57.659 What hope do we have for the future of the church? 00:01:58.159 --> 00:02:03.859 That's a question that's on my mind a lot as I read the news and I look around at our society. 00:02:04.079 --> 00:02:09.800 And then for those who are here who are not Christians, those who are looking on, I think 00:02:09.800 --> 00:02:15.340 it's a very legitimate question to ask, why should I consider the claims of Christ if His church 00:02:15.340 --> 00:02:16.939 is such a wreck? 00:02:18.300 --> 00:02:21.300 Is there anything there worth my time and attention? 00:02:22.320 --> 00:02:26.640 And because we're asking these questions, we've been in a series looking at 2 Corinthians. 00:02:26.820 --> 00:02:31.800 And I love what Jeff said earlier in this series, Pastor Jeff said, that when you read 00:02:31.800 --> 00:02:38.660 2 Corinthians, it's kind of like taking a peek into a pastor's inbox, which I wouldn't recommend 00:02:38.659 --> 00:02:40.259 as a normal practice. 00:02:40.439 --> 00:02:46.000 But this is a sort of glimpse into a very intimate and very complicated relationship that exists 00:02:46.000 --> 00:02:49.680 between the Corinthians and their founding pastor, the Apostle Paul. 00:02:49.879 --> 00:02:52.180 So we've been looking at this series in 2 Corinthians. 00:02:52.840 --> 00:02:55.120 The church in Corinth was also a total mess. 00:02:56.199 --> 00:02:59.699 Even though this church existed 2,000 years ago, guess what? 00:03:00.000 --> 00:03:01.620 People are people. 00:03:02.519 --> 00:03:07.120 And so a lot of the issues that existed in Corinth actually continue to plague the church today. 00:03:07.120 --> 00:03:09.500 So this morning, we're near the end. 00:03:09.599 --> 00:03:12.480 We're looking at chapter 12, verses 11 to 21. 00:03:12.780 --> 00:03:19.020 This is essentially Paul's final attempt to defend the legitimacy of his ministry and 00:03:19.020 --> 00:03:20.640 to try to win these people back. 00:03:21.039 --> 00:03:25.719 This is his last attempt to try to win these people back, to kind of break through to the 00:03:25.719 --> 00:03:29.520 people who once loved him but who have since rejected him. 00:03:30.400 --> 00:03:32.420 So we're going to look at this and we're going to see three things. 00:03:32.419 --> 00:03:36.359 We're going to see first the state of the church in Corinth, and then we're going to 00:03:36.359 --> 00:03:40.000 look at the parallels that exist with the church today, including our church. 00:03:40.619 --> 00:03:44.319 And then finally, we're going to look at Paul's response and what we might be able to learn 00:03:44.319 --> 00:03:44.759 from it. 00:03:45.319 --> 00:03:46.060 So let's pray. 00:03:47.339 --> 00:03:48.819 Lord, we thank You for Your Word. 00:03:48.819 --> 00:03:53.639 And we thank You that every week as we gather, we can come with all kinds of distractions, 00:03:53.959 --> 00:03:59.739 priorities, agendas, fears, uncertainties, doubts, and that somehow through Your Spirit, 00:04:00.459 --> 00:04:06.019 you're able to take these written words and elevate them, empower them, enliven them. 00:04:06.840 --> 00:04:08.959 They become flesh and bone and sinew. 00:04:10.180 --> 00:04:14.799 And somehow, Lord, every week you're able to use this written Word to enable us to come 00:04:14.799 --> 00:04:17.139 face to face with the living Word, Jesus Christ. 00:04:17.139 --> 00:04:21.099 And that's what we really need, whether we know it or not. 00:04:21.500 --> 00:04:22.159 We need Him. 00:04:23.259 --> 00:04:26.139 We need to see Him and know Him and hear Him. 00:04:26.500 --> 00:04:27.959 We pray this in Your holy name. 00:04:28.419 --> 00:04:28.680 Amen. 00:04:30.159 --> 00:04:32.979 So first of all, the state of the church in Corinth. 00:04:33.839 --> 00:04:38.379 As I said a moment ago, Paul had started the church in Corinth a few years earlier. 00:04:38.680 --> 00:04:39.919 They had shown great promise. 00:04:40.039 --> 00:04:41.659 They started out on the right foot. 00:04:41.959 --> 00:04:44.259 But then after Paul left, other teachers came in. 00:04:44.259 --> 00:04:52.560 And Paul sardonically refers to these other teachers as super apostles, hoopermen, as the 00:04:52.560 --> 00:04:55.060 Greek would say, super apostles. 00:04:55.680 --> 00:05:01.560 And in verse 11, Paul references the fact that the Corinthians saw Paul as being inferior to 00:05:01.560 --> 00:05:02.879 the super apostles. 00:05:03.019 --> 00:05:05.060 You say, why would they think that? 00:05:05.439 --> 00:05:06.959 Well, there's a few reasons for this. 00:05:06.959 --> 00:05:11.599 First of all, these super apostles had a superior style to Paul. 00:05:12.439 --> 00:05:14.939 They were simply more impressive in every way. 00:05:15.379 --> 00:05:16.979 They looked successful. 00:05:17.099 --> 00:05:18.539 They acted successful. 00:05:18.639 --> 00:05:24.039 You can imagine them as being tall, good-looking, five o'clock shadow, slight tan, athletic build. 00:05:24.599 --> 00:05:27.439 They spoke like trained orators. 00:05:27.759 --> 00:05:31.219 They boasted about their mystical experiences of God. 00:05:31.220 --> 00:05:36.380 You can imagine them sitting near the gate of the city, holding court, just talking about 00:05:36.380 --> 00:05:41.820 their most recent ecstatic experience of being taken up into the third heaven as people gathered 00:05:41.820 --> 00:05:44.040 round to listen in awe, mouths agape. 00:05:44.820 --> 00:05:47.400 So first of all, they were stylistically impressive. 00:05:47.700 --> 00:05:49.140 Paul, by contrast, was poor. 00:05:49.440 --> 00:05:50.260 He was weak. 00:05:50.540 --> 00:05:52.660 He was unimpressive as a public speaker. 00:05:52.920 --> 00:05:56.420 He looked largely unsuccessful because he had suffered so much. 00:05:56.420 --> 00:06:02.660 Second reason that they thought Paul was inferior is because these false apostles preached a 00:06:02.660 --> 00:06:04.020 more appealing message. 00:06:04.199 --> 00:06:11.600 They had refashioned the gospel into a more palatable, more appealing, more attractive message 00:06:11.600 --> 00:06:16.560 that really focused on victory and success and overcoming and health and wealth and prosperity. 00:06:17.840 --> 00:06:22.879 And so then they heard Paul's gospel about following Christ in suffering and a willingness 00:06:22.879 --> 00:06:27.659 to be weak so that the power of Christ can be displayed in our lives. 00:06:27.779 --> 00:06:30.319 And they said, yeah, I would rather go to this other church. 00:06:30.420 --> 00:06:32.379 I feel better at the end of those sermons. 00:06:32.540 --> 00:06:34.719 And so they began to reject Paul's teaching. 00:06:35.480 --> 00:06:41.019 And then in verse 12, we see that they rejected Paul's apostleship despite the fact that, as he 00:06:41.019 --> 00:06:44.139 says, the signs of a true apostle were performed among you. 00:06:44.439 --> 00:06:49.500 Without most patience, with signs and wonders and mighty works, Paul had been able to cast 00:06:49.500 --> 00:06:50.019 out demons. 00:06:50.199 --> 00:06:51.379 He had been able to heal people. 00:06:51.379 --> 00:06:53.339 Read about some of that in the book of Acts. 00:06:54.399 --> 00:06:58.899 But the most impressive credential, the most impressive evidence of the legitimacy of Paul's 00:06:58.899 --> 00:07:01.180 ministry is the Corinthians themselves. 00:07:01.379 --> 00:07:04.579 Most of them had become Christians through Paul's preaching. 00:07:05.800 --> 00:07:09.399 And so what Paul's essentially saying here is this, listen, look at your own life. 00:07:09.519 --> 00:07:14.040 Look at all the ways that your life has changed as a result of coming to faith as you heard the 00:07:14.040 --> 00:07:15.300 gospel that I brought to you. 00:07:15.800 --> 00:07:17.480 You should be commending me. 00:07:17.600 --> 00:07:18.939 You should be defending me. 00:07:18.939 --> 00:07:22.819 You should be speaking up when people revile me. 00:07:23.379 --> 00:07:24.339 And yet you're not. 00:07:24.459 --> 00:07:27.519 And you can see a note of personal pain here. 00:07:28.420 --> 00:07:32.319 He says in verse 11, you should be standing up for me, vouching for me, but instead you've 00:07:32.319 --> 00:07:33.279 rejected me. 00:07:33.360 --> 00:07:37.779 I mean, don't ever think that pastoral ministry is not very personal. 00:07:38.579 --> 00:07:38.699 Right? 00:07:38.779 --> 00:07:40.579 Paul is taking this very hard. 00:07:40.800 --> 00:07:43.120 He feels very personally rejected by them. 00:07:43.120 --> 00:07:49.500 So, Paul laments, number one, if we kind of, you know, what's he really lamenting here? 00:07:49.759 --> 00:07:52.660 Number one, he's lamenting their total lack of discernment. 00:07:53.500 --> 00:07:54.920 There's a total lack of discernment. 00:07:55.100 --> 00:08:01.360 In other words, they can't tell the difference between the true gospel and a false rebranded 00:08:01.360 --> 00:08:01.740 gospel. 00:08:01.939 --> 00:08:05.899 They can't tell the difference between a true apostle and false apostles. 00:08:06.600 --> 00:08:08.040 There's a lack of discernment. 00:08:08.040 --> 00:08:13.360 And then number two, he's lamenting the fact that they clearly prefer style over substance. 00:08:13.560 --> 00:08:17.420 They would rather be entertained than hear the truth. 00:08:18.520 --> 00:08:22.879 And then in verses 13 to 18, the majority of this passage, he addresses another issue 00:08:22.879 --> 00:08:25.600 that caused tension between him and the Corinthians. 00:08:26.560 --> 00:08:27.640 Little context here. 00:08:27.780 --> 00:08:30.939 Normally, churches would support their pastors financially. 00:08:31.060 --> 00:08:34.159 That's something that Paul himself had written about in a number of places. 00:08:34.159 --> 00:08:35.480 So, that was the norm. 00:08:35.860 --> 00:08:40.000 But when Paul came to Corinth, he insisted on paying his own way. 00:08:40.179 --> 00:08:41.419 He said, you don't need to support me. 00:08:41.459 --> 00:08:42.219 I'll support myself. 00:08:42.559 --> 00:08:46.879 And in fact, we see in chapter 11, verse 8, that Paul had actually relied on support from 00:08:46.879 --> 00:08:51.719 other churches to make sure that he didn't have to accept a penny from the Corinthians. 00:08:53.259 --> 00:08:57.360 And commentators suggest that the reason that Paul did this is because he knew the Corinthians 00:08:57.360 --> 00:08:59.699 were fairly spiritually immature. 00:08:59.700 --> 00:09:08.080 And money can easily become a stumbling block for spiritually immature Christians. 00:09:08.259 --> 00:09:12.680 Paul says, listen, I don't want money to become an issue here, so I'm not even going to accept 00:09:12.680 --> 00:09:13.540 any support from them. 00:09:13.560 --> 00:09:15.379 I just want to go in and I want to minister to them. 00:09:15.440 --> 00:09:16.220 I want to love them. 00:09:16.320 --> 00:09:19.500 But let's not let money get in the way of our relationship. 00:09:20.060 --> 00:09:21.560 He saw it as a minefield. 00:09:22.200 --> 00:09:27.320 Unfortunately, Paul underestimated how immature the Corinthians actually were. 00:09:27.320 --> 00:09:30.300 And so the whole plan backfired, right? 00:09:30.340 --> 00:09:33.920 He went in saying, I'm not going to accept any support, and hopefully that'll just mean 00:09:33.920 --> 00:09:37.800 that we don't even talk about it, and it's one less thing that might become a problem. 00:09:38.040 --> 00:09:40.180 And in fact, that thing became the problem. 00:09:40.720 --> 00:09:46.180 In verse 16, Paul says, he's quoting them, I was crafty, you say, and I got the better 00:09:46.180 --> 00:09:46.900 of you by deceit. 00:09:46.920 --> 00:09:49.379 He's quoting their accusations against him. 00:09:49.420 --> 00:09:53.720 In other words, they're saying, oh, Paul's whole thing about not accepting support, that's 00:09:53.720 --> 00:09:58.840 clearly a smokescreen to cover up the fact that Paul plans to defraud us. 00:09:59.660 --> 00:10:06.840 And they had some crazy allegation going around the church through gossip and rumor that Paul 00:10:06.840 --> 00:10:09.899 was saying up front, oh, I don't need any support. 00:10:09.940 --> 00:10:10.460 I'm fine. 00:10:10.779 --> 00:10:14.399 I'm here to raise money to relieve the poverty in Jerusalem. 00:10:15.460 --> 00:10:19.460 And they said that Paul's plan was he's going to take all this money, he's going to say it's 00:10:19.460 --> 00:10:22.560 for the Jerusalem Christians, and then he's going to leave, and then he's going to keep 00:10:22.560 --> 00:10:23.580 some of it for himself. 00:10:24.180 --> 00:10:25.660 So that's what they're accusing him of. 00:10:25.700 --> 00:10:26.840 They're accusing him of fraud. 00:10:28.500 --> 00:10:31.500 And commentators say, you say, well, where would they get this idea from? 00:10:31.620 --> 00:10:36.280 And a lot of commentators will say, well, what they're actually doing is, this is a classic 00:10:36.280 --> 00:10:37.519 example of projection. 00:10:38.400 --> 00:10:45.360 They are accusing Paul of doing the very thing that they themselves had done and would do given 00:10:45.360 --> 00:10:47.300 half a chance, right? 00:10:47.299 --> 00:10:50.839 And so they're projecting their own corruption onto Paul. 00:10:51.799 --> 00:10:56.059 So on top of their lack of discernment and their preference for style over substance, 00:10:56.259 --> 00:11:01.639 they have a deep mistrust of authority that stems from their own institutional corruption. 00:11:02.639 --> 00:11:09.139 So we have this church in Corinth full of people who think very highly of themselves. 00:11:09.339 --> 00:11:16.339 They thought of themselves as enlightened, as sophisticated, spiritually mature and advanced, 00:11:16.340 --> 00:11:18.899 beyond most Christians they knew. 00:11:19.740 --> 00:11:23.800 And yet the reality is, they're profoundly immature. 00:11:24.100 --> 00:11:25.060 They're a total mess. 00:11:25.259 --> 00:11:27.360 And we see some of the underlying reasons here. 00:11:27.440 --> 00:11:29.660 Number one, they had a total lack of spiritual discernment. 00:11:30.600 --> 00:11:32.800 Number two, they preferred style over substance. 00:11:32.920 --> 00:11:35.560 And number three, they were institutionally corrupt. 00:11:35.559 --> 00:11:39.739 So that's Corinth. 00:11:40.799 --> 00:11:45.059 Now let's fast forward a couple of thousand years to the state of the church today. 00:11:45.119 --> 00:11:50.879 As much as we probably hate to admit it, I think there are many parallels between the first 00:11:50.879 --> 00:11:54.779 century church in Corinth and the 21st century church in the modern West. 00:11:54.779 --> 00:12:04.179 I think you might agree that as we look around, we see evidence of a lack of discernment in the church today. 00:12:05.379 --> 00:12:11.120 What that means is that many Christians are not regularly thinking biblically and theologically 00:12:11.120 --> 00:12:12.120 illiterate. 00:12:12.120 --> 00:12:33.419 And what I've found is that most people tend to take a shortcut when it comes to thinking about life and the world that we live in. 00:12:33.419 --> 00:12:42.219 And by that I mean most people take a shortcut of simply finding people out there who seem thoughtful whom we would like to emulate. 00:12:43.279 --> 00:12:52.779 We listen to podcasts or blogs or read blogs or follow people on Instagram, Instagram gurus, you know, politicians, Fox, CNN. 00:12:53.319 --> 00:13:00.860 Whatever it is, we find a trusted content provider or several trusted content providers, and we consume the content. 00:13:00.860 --> 00:13:09.279 And then we basically adopt those people's views and then parent those ideas to other people in conversation. 00:13:09.680 --> 00:13:10.759 Especially in D.C. 00:13:10.759 --> 00:13:18.560 We sort of live in a sort of a bubble culture here in D.C. where there's a pressure to have thoughtful opinions about lots of things. 00:13:19.000 --> 00:13:19.200 Right? 00:13:19.240 --> 00:13:22.399 Because people are always talking about major issues in a place like D.C. 00:13:22.500 --> 00:13:24.419 And who can possibly keep up? 00:13:24.419 --> 00:13:32.839 And so it's easy to just adopt the opinions of people whom we respect and parent those in conversation to appear thoughtful. 00:13:34.179 --> 00:13:40.279 And then we assume that by doing this we're going to be reliably placed on the correct side of the issues. 00:13:40.279 --> 00:13:45.639 But we've never actually done any real thinking or prayerful reflection about these things. 00:13:45.639 --> 00:13:52.539 And the problem is when we do that, we are setting ourselves up to be led astray in all kinds of ways. 00:13:52.679 --> 00:13:57.960 And we're giving other people tremendous power over us when we do that. 00:13:58.059 --> 00:14:07.319 So just to give an example that might be particularly relevant for our community, take someone like Jordan Peterson or Brene Brown. 00:14:07.320 --> 00:14:07.760 Right? 00:14:08.420 --> 00:14:17.360 These are two people that I guarantee a good swath of people in our congregation are familiar with, listen to, maybe even revere on some level. 00:14:18.140 --> 00:14:22.460 Now, I've listened to or read a whole lot of Jordan Peterson and a whole lot of Brene Brown. 00:14:22.540 --> 00:14:25.000 And both have a lot of great things to say. 00:14:25.500 --> 00:14:25.980 Absolutely. 00:14:27.060 --> 00:14:35.220 And there's enough sprinkling of Christian ideas in their content that many Christians see them as being fully compatible. 00:14:35.220 --> 00:14:44.120 But listen, if you're practicing any level of discernment, you'll immediately recognize that when it comes to anthropology, right, the human condition, 00:14:44.240 --> 00:14:54.759 when it comes to the Christian faith and the nature of the gospel or the nature of scriptures, the identity of God, these core ideas, both of them are way off base. 00:14:55.160 --> 00:14:56.899 They are way off base. 00:14:57.560 --> 00:15:00.639 But the point I'm trying to make is I'm not saying don't listen to them. 00:15:00.740 --> 00:15:01.560 Great content. 00:15:02.320 --> 00:15:03.879 But listen with discernment. 00:15:03.879 --> 00:15:05.500 Discernment is like a muscle. 00:15:06.019 --> 00:15:12.600 And the more you use it, the stronger it gets, the more effective you become in discerning truth from falsehood. 00:15:12.720 --> 00:15:16.200 But if you're not practicing it, then it atrophies. 00:15:16.580 --> 00:15:19.580 And you lose your ability to tell the difference. 00:15:21.659 --> 00:15:23.539 Discernment is extremely important. 00:15:24.419 --> 00:15:27.600 And I think the lack of discernment is one of the reasons the church is going off the rails. 00:15:27.600 --> 00:15:35.759 The second thing we see that I think comes straight out of Corinth that we see in our modern church is a preference for style over substance. 00:15:36.720 --> 00:15:38.399 A preference for style over substance. 00:15:39.580 --> 00:15:39.980 Right? 00:15:39.980 --> 00:15:41.720 We live in an entertainment culture. 00:15:42.399 --> 00:15:47.680 And many churches have realized that if we can entertain people, they will come. 00:15:48.680 --> 00:15:51.320 If you can entertain people, they will show up. 00:15:51.320 --> 00:16:04.360 So, instead of gospel truth, which can sometimes be hard to hear, instead of preaching through Scripture, which can sometimes be hard to understand, a lot of churches preach and teach things that they know people are going to want to hear. 00:16:04.360 --> 00:16:11.060 Some churches preach feel-good messages that are inspirational, but not necessarily biblical. 00:16:11.840 --> 00:16:13.500 Some promise health and wealth. 00:16:14.960 --> 00:16:20.639 Some echo the talking points of whatever political party they happen to favor. 00:16:21.639 --> 00:16:21.860 Right? 00:16:21.899 --> 00:16:27.779 I heard about one church in the Midwest that prior to Easter of 2020, they were just kind of a normal church, 00:16:27.779 --> 00:16:35.240 and then they decided to hold an in-person worship on Easter 2020 in defiance of the local emergency shutdown order. 00:16:35.980 --> 00:16:41.319 And at the same time, the pastor decided to start using pulpit time to go off on political rants, 00:16:41.360 --> 00:16:49.159 and then begin to actually allow other local leaders, political leaders, to come in and use his pulpit to sort of advance their ideas. 00:16:50.019 --> 00:16:53.459 And you say, well, gosh, you know, wag your finger at that pastor. 00:16:53.559 --> 00:16:56.519 Now, the real point of that story is what happened to that church. 00:16:56.519 --> 00:17:00.179 For about 10 years prior, that church had had a steady attendance of about 100 people. 00:17:00.759 --> 00:17:07.299 When the church made that shift, their attendance exploded to over 1,500 people every week. 00:17:08.500 --> 00:17:08.660 Right? 00:17:08.680 --> 00:17:14.960 So the real issue, the real question that begs is, why are all of those people responding to that? 00:17:15.720 --> 00:17:15.920 Right? 00:17:15.940 --> 00:17:18.879 It's because people want to go where they're going to hear what they want to hear. 00:17:19.079 --> 00:17:21.480 And that's happened on both sides of the political lines. 00:17:22.180 --> 00:17:24.139 It's happened on both sides of the political lines. 00:17:24.140 --> 00:17:29.200 And so people have a preference for style over substance. 00:17:30.200 --> 00:17:34.020 And then the third thing that we see, and this is probably the hardest to talk about for me personally, 00:17:34.280 --> 00:17:37.660 is the ongoing reality of institutional corruption. 00:17:39.200 --> 00:17:40.100 Institutional corruption. 00:17:41.300 --> 00:17:45.800 You know, people tend to assume the worst about the institutional church and about church leaders, 00:17:45.920 --> 00:17:48.660 and as a church leader, that's pretty hard, I have to say. 00:17:48.660 --> 00:17:52.880 You sort of feel like sometimes you're guilty until proven innocent. 00:17:53.420 --> 00:17:54.060 And that's hard. 00:17:55.320 --> 00:17:58.820 But there are good reasons why people feel the way they do. 00:18:01.540 --> 00:18:06.620 You know, this weekend we're celebrating Juneteenth and the emancipation of slaves, 00:18:06.860 --> 00:18:10.300 yet the church does continue to wrestle with the legacy of slavery in our society. 00:18:10.299 --> 00:18:15.159 And simply having that conversation is tearing the church apart. 00:18:15.839 --> 00:18:20.559 Because you can't mention it or have it without it becoming political in one way or another. 00:18:21.899 --> 00:18:26.980 Moreover, one after another, prominent church leaders, and some of these people are people 00:18:26.980 --> 00:18:31.680 that I've followed and respected and loved for years, are going down because of scandals. 00:18:31.680 --> 00:18:40.420 And many denominations are dealing with issues of abuse and mishandling of abuse within their own ranks. 00:18:41.560 --> 00:18:41.960 Right? 00:18:42.019 --> 00:18:46.140 So we have this ongoing reality of institutional corruption that we cannot deny. 00:18:47.640 --> 00:18:49.700 And so you may be hearing all this, and you may be saying, 00:18:49.759 --> 00:18:51.360 well, what kind of sermon is this? 00:18:51.400 --> 00:18:52.279 Why are we talking about this? 00:18:52.299 --> 00:18:53.340 I'm so depressed now. 00:18:53.740 --> 00:18:56.000 And there's a reason why we're talking about this. 00:18:56.000 --> 00:19:02.339 What I want to encourage us to do is to look back at the church over the last few years in particular 00:19:02.339 --> 00:19:06.380 and to recognize we need to be able to put things in perspective. 00:19:07.319 --> 00:19:10.059 The church right now in our society is a mess. 00:19:10.420 --> 00:19:10.900 Absolutely. 00:19:11.640 --> 00:19:14.599 But this kind of crisis is nothing new. 00:19:15.299 --> 00:19:19.299 The church has struggled with issues like these ever since its inception. 00:19:19.640 --> 00:19:21.779 And we see evidence of that in Corinth. 00:19:21.779 --> 00:19:23.240 And here's the point for us. 00:19:23.240 --> 00:19:27.059 If we struggle with the same issues that Corinth did, 00:19:27.740 --> 00:19:32.539 then Paul's response to Corinth continues to be relevant for us today. 00:19:33.460 --> 00:19:35.640 So let's look at Paul's response. 00:19:36.380 --> 00:19:38.880 The last part of this message this morning, 00:19:38.980 --> 00:19:44.160 we see really the key to understanding Paul's ministry in Corinth comes in verse 19. 00:19:44.960 --> 00:19:48.059 And I think actually if you've been following along 2 Corinthians, 00:19:48.059 --> 00:19:52.640 verse 19 sort of helps us pull together all that Paul is attempting to do. 00:19:53.240 --> 00:19:55.759 He says this in chapter 12, verse 19. 00:19:56.220 --> 00:19:59.559 Have you been thinking all along that we've been defending ourselves to you? 00:20:00.759 --> 00:20:03.120 You know, is Paul an egotist? 00:20:03.660 --> 00:20:06.240 How dare you reject my apostolic authority? 00:20:06.539 --> 00:20:07.640 Don't you know who I am? 00:20:08.059 --> 00:20:08.839 No, he's not. 00:20:09.339 --> 00:20:10.740 Is Paul a moralist? 00:20:11.880 --> 00:20:13.460 Get yourselves together. 00:20:13.880 --> 00:20:14.859 How dare you? 00:20:14.940 --> 00:20:16.460 Look at all I've done for you. 00:20:16.940 --> 00:20:18.039 No, that's not what he says. 00:20:18.420 --> 00:20:20.519 He says this isn't about me defending myself. 00:20:20.519 --> 00:20:24.799 It is in the sight of God that we have been speaking in Christ. 00:20:26.099 --> 00:20:28.819 And all for your upbuilding, beloved. 00:20:30.480 --> 00:20:33.319 People who hate him, reject him, mock him, revile him. 00:20:33.740 --> 00:20:36.460 All for your upbuilding, beloved. 00:20:38.059 --> 00:20:41.799 And in this one statement, we see the foundation and the aim of Paul's ministry. 00:20:41.799 --> 00:20:47.259 And I say this as someone who firmly believes that this is what we need today in the church. 00:20:48.519 --> 00:20:50.980 First, the foundation of Paul's ministry is this. 00:20:51.039 --> 00:20:55.059 The entire foundation for Paul's ministry comes from this little phrase, 00:20:55.700 --> 00:20:57.579 in Christ. 00:20:58.579 --> 00:21:00.639 In Christ. 00:21:00.640 --> 00:21:05.940 The thing that makes the church the church, the thing that sets the church apart from other 00:21:05.940 --> 00:21:11.140 institutions and non-profits in the world is the fact that the church was not only established 00:21:11.140 --> 00:21:14.880 by Christ, but it is held together in Christ. 00:21:15.800 --> 00:21:23.540 The church is a spiritual body of men and women who have been joined to one another and to Christ 00:21:23.540 --> 00:21:25.759 in an unbreakable bond. 00:21:25.759 --> 00:21:32.160 The church is a spiritual reality that is eternal in nature. 00:21:33.200 --> 00:21:34.480 And so the difference is this. 00:21:34.559 --> 00:21:38.619 Other religions have a founder who started the movement, they started the group, 00:21:38.759 --> 00:21:40.859 and then they die, and then others take over. 00:21:41.879 --> 00:21:47.119 But when Jesus commissioned his first apostles to go and to make disciples of all the nations, 00:21:47.460 --> 00:21:50.480 giving birth to the Christian movement, he made a promise. 00:21:50.480 --> 00:21:57.319 He didn't say, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of 00:21:57.319 --> 00:22:00.380 the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit and teaching them all that I've commanded you. 00:22:00.799 --> 00:22:02.759 Remember everything I taught you, good luck. 00:22:03.980 --> 00:22:09.640 He said, behold, I am with you always to the end of the age. 00:22:09.680 --> 00:22:11.180 That's a very different statement. 00:22:11.539 --> 00:22:14.839 The source of their confidence was never meant to be themselves. 00:22:15.960 --> 00:22:19.480 It's the promise that Jesus will be with them always. 00:22:19.480 --> 00:22:22.180 He will always be with his church. 00:22:22.660 --> 00:22:27.559 And this is why Jesus says to Peter, and I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I 00:22:27.559 --> 00:22:31.500 will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. 00:22:31.599 --> 00:22:34.420 He does not say, Peter, go build my church. 00:22:36.380 --> 00:22:38.819 He says, I'm going to build my church. 00:22:39.819 --> 00:22:41.460 I'm going to build my church. 00:22:42.360 --> 00:22:44.819 And this phrase, the gates of hell, is wonderful. 00:22:44.819 --> 00:22:49.460 You know, it refers to the fact that in the ancient world, all of the best and brightest, 00:22:49.639 --> 00:22:56.319 most highly educated, most gifted, most impressive, most formidable people would hang out around 00:22:56.319 --> 00:22:57.579 the gate of the city. 00:22:58.839 --> 00:23:04.960 So to send the gates of your city against something was to send your best and your brightest. 00:23:05.559 --> 00:23:09.240 And so what he's saying here is hell can send its best and brightest. 00:23:09.240 --> 00:23:13.740 Hell can throw everything it has at the church, and guess what? 00:23:13.799 --> 00:23:15.000 It's never going to succeed. 00:23:15.680 --> 00:23:18.839 It's never going to win because Jesus will not allow it. 00:23:19.799 --> 00:23:25.279 So we need to hold on to this hope right now, those of us who feel like the church is a total mess. 00:23:25.779 --> 00:23:32.220 As the church is being torn about by politics and scandal, what this shows us is no matter how bad things get, 00:23:32.220 --> 00:23:37.160 no matter what crises we face in the church today, ultimately we have nothing to fear, 00:23:37.920 --> 00:23:39.600 and we have nothing to hide. 00:23:43.059 --> 00:23:49.120 So when it comes to admitting our weaknesses, when it comes to being honest about and transparent about 00:23:49.120 --> 00:23:55.700 and confronting our weaknesses, our failures, our institutional corruption, 00:23:55.700 --> 00:24:01.200 we don't have to cover anything over to protect the image of the church. 00:24:02.900 --> 00:24:03.960 We can be honest. 00:24:05.299 --> 00:24:10.500 Because our righteousness comes from Jesus, so we don't have to maintain the appearance of righteousness. 00:24:12.400 --> 00:24:16.019 All right, we can be honest and open and transparent about the failures of the church, 00:24:16.620 --> 00:24:18.500 about the failures of our own denomination, 00:24:19.000 --> 00:24:23.700 which we're having to do, we're having to acknowledge right now, 00:24:23.700 --> 00:24:29.900 ways that our own denomination, right, the ACNA, is mishandling allegations of abuse. 00:24:30.460 --> 00:24:32.259 This is something that we're having to wrestle with right now, 00:24:32.299 --> 00:24:37.360 and it's extremely painful for me to talk about it because this involves people that I dearly love and know 00:24:37.360 --> 00:24:39.900 and have served alongside for over a decade. 00:24:41.640 --> 00:24:44.460 But as messy as all of this is, it is necessary. 00:24:44.759 --> 00:24:48.779 Because before we can hope to be part of any kind of revival in this country, 00:24:49.100 --> 00:24:51.480 the Bible's clear, we have to get our own house in order. 00:24:51.480 --> 00:24:56.980 There could be no true revival without true repentance. 00:24:58.240 --> 00:25:00.599 So this is the foundation of Paul's ministry. 00:25:01.099 --> 00:25:02.480 We are in Christ. 00:25:03.240 --> 00:25:04.319 He built the church. 00:25:04.480 --> 00:25:05.940 He continues to build the church. 00:25:07.240 --> 00:25:11.240 Church will always be because Christ will always be with her. 00:25:13.000 --> 00:25:16.720 The aim of Paul's ministry comes out of this foundation. 00:25:16.720 --> 00:25:22.259 He says, everything we've done has been for your upbuilding, beloved. 00:25:23.720 --> 00:25:27.600 True Christian ministry is about building others up in love. 00:25:27.680 --> 00:25:29.839 That's why he says in verses 14 and 15, 00:25:30.140 --> 00:25:32.360 I seek not what is yours but you. 00:25:33.519 --> 00:25:35.620 I seek not what is yours but you. 00:25:36.620 --> 00:25:40.220 For children are not obligated to save up for their parents, but parents for their children. 00:25:40.220 --> 00:25:44.860 I will most gladly spend and be spent for your souls. 00:25:46.180 --> 00:25:51.940 What an appropriate image for Father's Day, though it could easily apply to mothers as well. 00:25:52.279 --> 00:25:58.220 Being a parent, especially if you're a parent of young children, is not about what we get from our kids. 00:25:59.160 --> 00:25:59.299 Right? 00:25:59.460 --> 00:26:05.200 Sometimes we get rewarding experiences, but sometimes it can be a very thankless job. 00:26:05.200 --> 00:26:12.100 And if you go into parenting expecting all kinds of immediate return and reward, 00:26:12.220 --> 00:26:15.180 you're kind of setting yourself up for a bit of a disappointment. 00:26:16.180 --> 00:26:16.680 Right? 00:26:16.740 --> 00:26:22.400 It's about spending yourself until you are spent for the sake of building up your children. 00:26:22.799 --> 00:26:24.259 That's what parenting is. 00:26:25.279 --> 00:26:28.420 And so Christian ministry is not building your own brand. 00:26:28.819 --> 00:26:30.880 It's not about becoming an influencer. 00:26:30.880 --> 00:26:37.420 Christian ministry is a willingness to spend and be spent for the sake of others. 00:26:38.000 --> 00:26:40.640 It's ultimately about giving yourself away. 00:26:41.880 --> 00:26:43.460 And of course, where did we learn this? 00:26:43.540 --> 00:26:44.580 Where did Paul learn this? 00:26:44.640 --> 00:26:45.520 Where did this come from? 00:26:46.260 --> 00:26:47.720 It came straight from God. 00:26:49.200 --> 00:26:49.480 Right? 00:26:49.820 --> 00:26:56.280 God who in Jesus Christ was willing to spend and be spent for us. 00:26:56.279 --> 00:27:05.339 So for those of us who lament the state of the church, who are tempted to sort of lapse into despair or cynicism, 00:27:05.759 --> 00:27:11.559 or maybe even give up on it altogether, there is a wide road and there is a narrow road. 00:27:11.700 --> 00:27:14.220 There is an easy road and there is a hard road. 00:27:14.220 --> 00:27:22.039 The wide road is to complain and to criticize all of those other Christians for getting it wrong. 00:27:22.039 --> 00:27:27.480 To distance ourselves from all of those Trump supporters or all of those Marxists. 00:27:28.259 --> 00:27:33.059 And to pretend like they never truly belonged to my church, to my body. 00:27:34.220 --> 00:27:40.879 The narrow road, the road that Paul took, the road that Jesus pioneered, 00:27:40.880 --> 00:27:49.560 is to give ourselves away to loving and to serving and to building up the body of Christ. 00:27:51.320 --> 00:27:58.160 And to do that on the foundation of the truth that this is His church and His bride. 00:27:59.100 --> 00:28:02.380 And no matter what, we are able to say, 00:28:02.800 --> 00:28:04.420 I will never give up on the church. 00:28:05.200 --> 00:28:08.680 Because that's exactly what Jesus has said about us. 00:28:08.680 --> 00:28:13.519 The church is His bride and He has promised Himself to her. 00:28:14.120 --> 00:28:19.680 And He will be with her to love her and to cleanse her and to restore her. 00:28:20.200 --> 00:28:25.380 Until the day when He comes again and we all feast together at that great wedding supper of the Lamb. 00:28:26.340 --> 00:28:31.240 So until then, be of good courage and trust the Lord. 00:28:32.200 --> 00:28:33.000 Let's pray. 00:28:33.000 --> 00:28:39.960 Lord, we thank You that these issues are above all of our pay grade. 00:28:41.019 --> 00:28:49.799 Lord, there is no human church leader or church body or denomination 00:28:49.799 --> 00:28:56.339 that can fully handle or address all of the things that need to be addressed in the church. 00:28:56.339 --> 00:28:59.679 So, Lord, we gladly hand this over to You. 00:28:59.959 --> 00:29:03.220 We gladly acknowledge that You are the great shepherd of Your sheep. 00:29:03.659 --> 00:29:04.859 You are the bridegroom. 00:29:05.619 --> 00:29:13.359 Lord, You are the one who established us and You are the one who will complete the work that You began in us so long ago. 00:29:14.199 --> 00:29:17.500 Lord, we pray that we would have Paul's heart, which is Jesus' heart, 00:29:17.500 --> 00:29:21.779 to continue to love this church and everyone in it. 00:29:22.859 --> 00:29:26.940 Lord, that You would guard us and protect us against cynicism or hopelessness or despair. 00:29:28.220 --> 00:29:32.380 That You would give us courage and humility to continue serving, 00:29:32.599 --> 00:29:35.019 to continue spending ourselves until we're spent, 00:29:35.700 --> 00:29:38.880 to see our brothers and sisters built up until You come again. 00:29:38.940 --> 00:29:40.339 We pray this in Your Son's holy name. 00:29:41.259 --> 00:29:41.559 Amen. 00:29:41.559 --> 00:29:41.680 Amen.