Do Not Lose Heart
I find
Paul’s opening words in this verse absolutely challenging. Here is a man who
had enemies in every city that he went.
Here is a man who had churches that he had established absolutely fail
and reject him. Here is a man who was
imprisoned multiple times, shipwrecked several times, stoned, beaten, and
driven out of towns.
Yet, he
kept fighting. He says a really hard set
of words. “We do not lose heart.” Another way of translating it would be “We do
not get discouraged.” I find it really impressive
to think that Paul didn’t get ultimately discouraged with all of the stuff that
happened to him. I know I would get
discouraged had I walked in his shoes. In
fact, we actually know that he did get discouraged. . Acts
18:6 tells us quite clearly of an incident where he get frustrated with God’s
calling. Paul was ministering in Corinth
and he was attacked so much by the Jews of Corinth that he shook out his robes
and declared that he was done with the Jews and he was only going to the
Gentiles from there on out. Yeah, Paul
got frustrated and lost heart from time to time.
Yet, I
don’t think that Paul is lying when he writes back to the Corinthians. Surely they above all people would know
Paul’s frustration that he experienced in their city. Certainly if Paul was lying they would know
it. The reason that I don’t think Paul
is lying in this passage is because of the way that he phrases the
expression. His verb is not 1st person
singular, it is 1st person plural.
Had Paul
said, “I do not lose heart,” then I think we could all call him on his
lie. But collectively, Paul and his
associates do not lose heart. When one
falls and stumbles another is there to pick him up. When one gets discouraged another is there to
talk it out and refocus the discouraged member.
And above all else, there is always Jesus Christ who bears light into
the darkness. In fact, if we can return
to the example in Acts 18, it is Christ who comes to Paul and says “Shape
up.” Okay, that’s a bit of a paraphrase
from what Jesus really says to him in Acts 18:9-10. The point is, Paul can say “we do not get
discouraged” because he means it. He has
a support group around him to help keep everyone on track and focused.
Jars of Clay
Paul gives
us a great analogy in the next section.
Paul talks about being a jar made of clay. He talks about all the trials, tribulations, and
persecutions. He even talks about
feeling as though he is perpetually in danger of being handed over to
death. Here we genuinely get a sense of
the fragility of Paul even though he just confessed to the strength of the
collective.
I think
that is so very important for the Christian to understand. Individually we are all weak. We are all so very fragile. We are treasures to God, but we are very
breakable. We have the treasure of God
within us, but we are still so fragile. But
we can go forth in action because we know that even should we break, God can
and will raise us. If God can defeat
death and raise Christ, God can do the same for us. We may be fragile, but we need not be timid.
Light Momentary Affliction
This
brings us to the end, where Paul returns to another amazing set of words. He calls his life a “light momentary
affliction.” I find that absolutely
amazing. Here is Paul calling everything
that has happened to him a light momentary affliction. Then he goes on to talk about how the light
momentary affliction is preparing them for the future weight of glory. That is perspective that only comes from God.
Actually,
that is perspective that refuses to do anything but to see the things that are
unseen. It totally makes sense. As Paul says, the things that are seen are
transient and temporal whereas the things that are unseen are eternal and
divine. But that doesn’t mean that it is
easy. It is difficult to maintain that
kind of perspective. But I give credit
to Paul. Even in the midst of a
difficult letter of rebuke Paul finds time to focus more on the unseen God than
on the temporal problems of this age.
Listening to the Wrong God
Before I
end, I need to go back and pick up a loose end.
I need to return to the opening section and talk a little about Paul’s
declaration about why some people do not come to Christ and commit to Him. I left this part out earlier because I wanted
the flow of the rest of the verses to come together. But it does need to be discussed.
Paul is
clear that there are people in this world who would rather listen to the “god
of this age” (Satan) instead of the one true God. There are people who think only with a
temporal perspective. These are people
who cannot see the glory of God or Jesus Christ. I am saddened by this reality. I am saddened by the reality that there are
people who are that short-sighted out there.
But it is a reality. There are
people out in the world who will choose not to see the glory of God and respond
to it. We may not like it, but we must
acknowledge it. Paul knows it is true;
so do we.
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