NOTES for Co2 10:7

Continuing the discussion about who argues and persuades, and how, Paul says bluntly that he is not going to take his cue from those who “commend themselves” and “measure themselves by themselves.” This is how the apostle assesses lovers of debate who argue for argument's sake in order to assert themselves and their own point of view. Such people really are concerned only with “putting themselves forward”; the truth does not interest them. Moreover, their only criterion of truth is usually their own opinion. They are convinced in advance that they are right, believing, though they do not always say so directly, that there are only two points of view: their own and the wrong one.

Of such disputants the apostle says that they “boast in other men's labours,” contrasting them with himself and his own ministry. This is understandable: disputes and debates of this kind are intended to assert oneself at the expense of others, not to help those others become established in the life of the Kingdom. The disputants Paul mentions think first of winning as many supporters as possible, while often caring nothing at all about their fate or spiritual condition. They leave it to someone else to concern themselves with their supporters' spiritual state.

The apostle, by contrast, cares first of all about the spiritual life of those with whom he associates. He does not need supporters; he has no intention of creating circles, schools, or church parties. He wants only to bring as many people as possible to Christ and draw them into the life of the Kingdom in which he himself abides. It is in this sense that Paul says he does not boast in other people's labours, but in “his own field” among those to whom God will reveal the Kingdom through him, strengthening their faith.

Such ministry can be considered truly Christian. As for boasting, if it makes sense to boast of anything at all, it does so only when it is God, not people, who commends us. If God values highly what a person has done, then that person has not lived in vain and has devoted his life to what was worth doing and ought to have been done. But glory, influence, and fame in this world are worth as much as the world itself. Compared with the life of the Kingdom, its value tends towards zero, as do its glory, influence, and fame.

As this epistle moves into chapter 10, the Apostle’s tone changes abruptly. Perhaps he had received new information about the situation in the Corinthian community that compelled him once again to call the Corinthians to obedience.

Paul uses rather sharp expressions and takes a very firm position toward those who undermine his authority in the community and call into question his vocation as an Apostle of Christ. Notice how he uses military terminology in verses 3–6. Indeed, “his letters are weighty and strong,” and he threatens to be the same “in person” (10–11). What, then, distinguishes the Apostle Paul from the leader of some totalitarian sect? And can we use his severity to justify our own harsh words and actions directed against our brothers?

First, Paul’s weapons are “mighty through God”: he does not act on his own behalf or initiative. Can we say the same of ourselves? Second, he takes “every thought captive to obey Christ.” It is very important that Paul demands obedience not to himself but to God. How often our harshness is prompted only by personal motives! Finally, third, Paul “boasts”—that is, insists on his authority—only “according to the measure of the sphere which God appointed us, a measure that reaches even to you.” He respects the freedom of the Corinthian Christians. His goal is the free obedience to God of those whom he has “reached with the gospel of Christ.” Yet obedience to God is at the same time a condition of the Apostle’s authority in the community (6). He does not usurp power in the Corinthian church, even in Christ’s name. And if we must sometimes be firm toward our brothers or sisters, we need to learn from the Apostle Paul to combine firmness with love and respect for them.

Speaking about his strength, Paul characterizes it not as human strength, but as God's strength, given to him for the destruction of "mental fortresses" and for resisting everything that exalts itself before God. The apostle states this while commenting on the idea about him that, judging by his words, had spread: that he is strong in letters but weak when meeting opponents face to face. Judging by the mention of "mental fortresses" and exaltation, the matter apparently concerns certain arguments and debates, perhaps public ones, that took place in the Corinthian church. And Paul's reference to exaltation in such a context was hardly accidental. One may think that the participants in these arguments and debates had already, for quite some time and by quite a distance, gone beyond the boundaries within which it was still possible to speak of the search for truth and authentic spiritual life. At the time when the apostle was writing his letter to the Corinthian Christians, their arguments and debates were probably aimed first of all at self-assertion and the defense of their own rightness, whether the issue concerned individual people or certain groups within the church.

Paul undoubtedly wanted to stop these meaningless and spiritually harmful disputes. But, of course, this was not a matter of stopping them by using power or authority: Paul did not have such power, and not everyone was ready to recognize his authority. He could act only as a Christian, by God's strength and by the breath of the Kingdom by which he lived. Very often it is precisely God's strength and the breath of the Kingdom that turn out to be the decisive argument in disputes among Christians.

If all Christians lived the full life of the Kingdom opened to them, the breath of the Kingdom would always and in every case be their only argument. But since full Christian life is not found all that often even among Christians, disputes and debates among Christians often unfold according to the laws of this world, and here the main goal becomes precisely self-assertion: if not of one's person, then of one's school, one's ideas and views, one's position.

But if those arguing are still not completely closed to the action of God's breath, then the appearance of a person living a full Christian life can change the situation, forcing them to look differently both at themselves and at their disputes. And then it may well turn out that there is nothing to argue about, because the argument was about things that are not so important from the point of view of spiritual life.

The main thing is renunciation of self-assertion, which is the spring behind many arguments and debates, including among Christians. Often it is enough to remove this spring for the disputes to grow quiet, and for the strength and energy spent on them to be directed toward spiritual life as such, toward recognizing and building relationships with God and with people. This is the kind of change in their church life that Paul would like to bring to the Corinthian Christians.