NOTES for Co2 12:11-21
Speaking about his apostleship, Paul does not mention by chance the signs of it that should have been obvious to any unbiased observer (vv. 11-12). But the Corinthian Christians, as we can see, were inclined to show far greater reverence toward those who behaved like people used to giving orders and, in Paul's words, to being "a burden" to churches (v. 13). Paul himself does not want to behave that way in the Corinthian church. And the issue here is not only that he does not consider such behavior ethically right, though that is clear to him (v. 14). The issue is also that for Paul, relationships between Christians must be built not according to the laws of our world, which is still not transformed, but according to the laws of the Kingdom. The laws of the Kingdom completely exclude every possibility of behavior characteristic of those whom Paul regards as false apostles. The laws of the Kingdom allow only one possibility: complete self-giving, even when there is no question of reciprocity (vv. 15-18).
And when the apostle speaks about his ministry, he is not justifying himself before the Corinthian Christians. He is not defending himself, as it might appear at first glance; he is defending the authenticity of his witness (v. 19). And this is already a matter of fundamental importance, because the authenticity of witness not only defines the spiritual state of the witness himself, but also becomes a criterion for assessing the spiritual life of the community. It is no accident that Paul fears that, when he comes to Corinth, he will find the local church far from what he would want it to be (vv. 20-21). He understands perfectly well that an inability to distinguish a genuine servant of Christ and witness of the Kingdom from a false one is a sign, if not of spiritual illness, then at least of serious spiritual problems. Such a thing becomes possible only when individual people, or the community as a whole, forget the experience of the Kingdom they have lived through, and that experience is obscured by something that has nothing to do with the Kingdom. Then those who have forgotten the Kingdom lose it, at best for a time, and at worst forever.