I repeat, let no one think me foolish. But even if you do, accept me as a fool, so that I too may boast a little. 17 What I am saying with this boastful confidence, I say not as the Lord would but as a fool. 18 Since many boast according to the flesh, I too will boast. 19 For you gladly bear with fools, being wise yourselves!
Sometimes we can find ourselves in a conversation, only to realize that the other person is totally messing with us and the experience can be embarrassing if not done in the right spirit. We can ascribe the right spirit to Paul because he wrote under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. We can now get a better glimpse of why this is called “The Fool’s Discourse”. We can also see that Paul is messing with his audience a bit. He even admitted that Jesus would not talk like this but Paul needed to do this to expose the foolishness of the superapostles.
Come to Cape Community Church tomorrow and learn that sometimes, desperate times call for desperate measures. In the times Paul lived in, there were those who undermined his leadership. He spoke as he did to defend his ministry and the gospel. The false leaders who came in would not undergo the suffering Paul went through and that is what disqualified them. What follows these verses is not what Paul accomplished in his career but what ignominious suffering and humiliation he suffered at the hands of enemies. Sound familiar? Let’s learn to be Christlike like Paul.
Dear Lord, thank you for the cross that we can cling to but also are commanded to carry. May we remember that you have suffered before us. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Pastor Brad Boyer
Cape Community Church