Outshine the Opposition 2 Corinthians 1:12-14

Rumors and innuendo. False accusations. Slander and deceit. Twisting and misrepresenting what was said so as to put words in your mouth that were never there. Attempts to sow seeds of doubt in the minds and hearts of those who know and love you. This is what happens when a friend becomes a foe, when an ally becomes an adversary. This is what takes place when the opposition places a target on your back. This is more than a sermon illustration, more than a scenario for most, if not all of you who are here this morning. I want you to know that you are not alone. Throughout God’s Word we learn about those who suffered from slander, insults, and accusations. Jeremiah had been sent by God to speak to God’s people living in Judah just before the Babylonians came in and destroyed Jerusalem. He was on assignment and he was faithful in carrying out what God had given him to do, yet those who received the message from Jeremiah were livid. They saw him as their adversary and not God’s messenger. In Jeremiah 38:4, we read where some of the officials went to King Zedekiah. 

4 Then the officials said to the king, "This man should be put to death. He is discouraging the soldiers who are left in this city, as well as all the people, by the things he is saying to them. This man is not seeking the good of these people but their ruin." (Jeremiah 38:4 NIV)

Nothing could have been further from the truth. Jeremiah is called the “weeping prophet” because he loved the people of Judah, but because they didn’t like the message, they did everything in their power to bring him down. King David had a friend, his closest counselor, a man named Ahithophel who many believe was the grandfather of Bathsheba. Ahithophel had been David’s right hand man for years, he trusted his advice at every turn. It is easy to understand why David had such trust in what Ahithophel had to say because we read in 2 Samuel 16:23 that, “...every word Ahithophel spoke seemed as wise as though it had come directly from the mouth of God.” (2 Samuel 16:23 NLT)The most painful time in David’s life was when his son Absalom rebelled against him and tried to take the kingdom from his dad. David was crushed when he learned that his trusted friend Ahithophel was conspiring with Absalom to kill him. David wrote, in Psalm 41:9.

9 Even my close friend, someone I trusted, one who shared my bread, has turned against me. (Psalm 41:9 NIV)

Those who are closest to us can inflict the greatest pain. There is nothing more devastating than to have a trusted friend turn and do everything in their power to try and destroy us. David expressed these same feelings when he wrote, in Psalm 55:12-14,

12 If an enemy were insulting me, I could endure it; if a foe were rising against me, I could hide. 13 But it is you, a man like myself, my companion, my close friend, 14 with whom I once enjoyed sweet fellowship at the house of God, as we walked about among the worshipers. (Psalm 55:12-14 NIV)

It is a sad reality of life that relationships can turn on a dime, fall apart in an instant, but the question before us this morning is, “What do we do when we are made aware that cracks are forming in our friendships? What can we do when it all begins to unravel?” Our Scripture this morning gives us such incredible insight into what Paul did when his relationship with his friends in Corinth went sideways. Let’s read our Scripture, found in 2 Corinthians 1:12-14 and we will see what we can learn. 

12 Now this is our boast: Our conscience testifies that we have conducted ourselves in the world, and especially in our relations with you, with integrity and godly sincerity. We have done so, relying not on worldly wisdom but on God's grace. 13 For we do not write you anything you cannot read or understand. And I hope that, 14 as you have understood us in part, you will come to understand fully that you can boast of us just as we will boast of you in the day of the Lord Jesus. (2 Corinthians 1:12-14 NIV)

Paul had spent eighteen months developing a relationship with the people of Corinth. He had started the church, shared the hope of the gospel, led many to Christ, and discipled new believers–How could they now be turning against him? The truth is the majority weren’t turning against him, but there were those in the congregation who were willing to listen to the false teachers who had slipped into the pews and were doing everything in their power to discredit Paul. Paul had to change his travel plans so he wasn’t able to visit the church when he said he would visit them, so the false teachers jumped up and attacked Paul’s integrity and character. They said he was mentally unbalanced, was wishy washy and fickle, and full of ulterior motives. We will learn later in our study that the false teachers were telling the people that Paul was overbearing and loved to throw around his power in his letters, but in person he was a nobody. Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 10:10.

10 For some say, "His letters are weighty and forceful, but in person he is unimpressive and his speaking amounts to nothing." (2 Corinthians 10:10 NIV)

Isn’t it interesting how a strength can be twisted by those who seek to bring you down? Paul was a strong leader, you had better be a strong leader to go into hostile cities and share the gospel, but his adversaries twisted Paul’s strength and made him out to be a tyrant. It is easy to examine Paul’s life and ministry, to evaluate and examine how he dealt with opposition in his day, but how do we deal with the sharp arrows of accusation when they come flying our way? I’ll confess that I have not dealt with it in a Christlike way in the past. I’ve allowed the opposition to distract me and drive me into despair on more than one occasion.  Many years ago there was a man who arrived at our church and immediately jumped in with both feet. He came to worship every Sunday. He attended a Bible study I taught and then dropped by during the week to discuss the lesson. He became a friend in a short amount of time. Then one day he showed up at my office and had an old article, at least 40 years old, from the Daily Oklahoman about a young guy, barely in his twenties, who had committed a crime. The man who had committed the crime also attended Britton Christian Church. I had never heard about the crime he had committed when he was young. At the time of my reading the article, the man was in his 60s. After reading the article I handed it back to my new friend who said, “What are you going to do about it?” I said, “What do you mean?” He said, “You need to remove him from the church. You read what he did. He shouldn’t be allowed to attend church any longer.” I said, “He committed that crime when he was young. I’ve heard how he came to know Christ and how the Lord has turned his life around. If Jesus can forgive him for his sins then how can I not forgive him?” The man was livid. He began calling people in the church and saying all kinds of horrible things about me, accusing me of everything he could think of. He called my house and told my sons horrible things about their dad. When I learned that he had called someone in the church, I followed his call with my own to try and set the record straight. One day I heard he had called Arlene Meier. I called Arlene and said, “I heard you got a phone call about me.” Then I started to tell her that I had not done anything he was accusing me of doing and Arlene interrupted me. She said, “Mike, you don’t need to make any more phone calls. Those of us who know you, know you, and you don’t need to call any of us. And those who don’t know you, a phone call isn’t going to make any difference. So just keep doing what the Lord has given you to do and stop wasting your time making phone calls.” It was as if the Lord Himself had spoken. When relationships turn sour and accusations are made against you that have no basis in the truth then we can learn from what Paul shared with his friends in Corinth. There are three things I want to highlight for us as we focus on these three verses that are before us. First of all, Paul’s conscience was clear concerning his relationship with the people he loved in Corinth. Take a look at verse 12 with me once again.

12 Now this is our boast: Our conscience testifies that we have conducted ourselves in the world, and especially in our relations with you, with integrity and godly sincerity. We have done so, relying not on worldly wisdom but on God's grace. (2 Corinthians 1:12 NIV)

Paul opens this section of his letter by saying, “Now this is our boast:” The Christian Standard Bible Version translates the same Greek phrase, “Now this is our confidence…” With all of the accusations being leveled at Paul his confidence before God was that he has acted with “integrity” and “godly sincerity” in everything he has done regarding his relationship with the people of Corinth. Paul’s conscience is clear. The Greek word which is translated “conscience” is the word, “??????????” (suneidesis) and it means, “conscience, moral conscience, or moral sensitivity.” John MacArthur writes,

The conscience is a warning system, placed by God into the very framework of the human soul. Like physical pain, which warns of damage to the body, the conscience warns of damage to the soul. It reacts to the proximity of sin, warning the soul to ‘pull up!’ before it suffers the terrible consequences of sin (MacArthur, John. The MacArthur New Testament Commentary: 2 Corinthians. pg. 30).

Our conscience should never be put on a level with the truth of God, but it should instead be understood as a wonderful gift which is innate within us to hold us to some kind of moral standard. Paul, in his letter to the believers in Rome, wrote,

14 (Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law. 15 They show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts sometimes accusing them and at other times even defending them.) (Romans 2:14-15 NIV)

You might come to the conclusion that our conscience is equivalent to the truth of God from just reading this one verse. Gentiles who don’t have the law do what is required by the law by nature. The requirements of the law are written on their hearts. Their consciences sometimes accusing them and at other times defending them. Those statements taken by themselves might lead you and me to trust our conscience above all else, but in 1 Corinthians 8, Paul addressed the issue of eating food sacrificed to idols. Paul said an idol is nothing, holding no power at all, therefore food sacrificed to idols is just food. But he goes on to say, 

7 But not everyone possesses this knowledge. Some people are still so accustomed to idols that when they eat sacrificial food they think of it as having been sacrificed to a god, and since their conscience is weak, it is defiled. (1 Corinthians 8:7 NIV)

The association of idols and food was so ingrained in many of the new believers in Corinth that even though they had come to know Jesus, they simply could not eat food that had been sacrificed to idols. Paul says “their conscience is weak…” So we can see that our conscience is not always in line with God’s truth, but being faithful to the conviction of our conscience is at least a good place to start. I can remember when I was young. I wasn’t going to church and never reading the Bible, yet my conscience would convict me over and over again. I called my conscience that “little man in my head.” I tried every trick to get him to shut up, but he would not leave me alone. Once I became a follower of Jesus I had God’s truth to check my conscience. We can have a clear conscience, but we must never forget that our conscience is not our final authority. We need the Lord to examine us. We need to pray for the Lord to reveal to us what we might be missing. In Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, he wrote,

4 My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me. (1 Corinthians 4:4 NIV)

The second thing I want to highlight for us this morning is that Paul’s conscience was clear because of the way he conducted himself while he was with the people of Corinth. Paul conducted himself with “integrity” and “godly sincerity.” Understanding these two words are so important for us because our conduct in dealing with others needs to be rooted and sustained by the same integrity and godly sincerity. The Greek word translated, “integrity,” is the word “???????” (haplotes). Paul uses the word five times in 2 Corinthians and three times in his other letters. The word can mean, “simplicity, sincerity, uprightness, frankness, or generosity.” David Garland writes,

Integrity prompts one to act on what is right even if it is risky, unpopular, or unpleasant and to do so steadfastly when the hail of criticism falls (Garland, David. 2 Corinthians. pg. 90).

I was taking a look at integrity from different perspectives this past week when I came upon a business website that was discussing the importance of integrity in the workplace. The author, Susan Heathfield, writes,

Integrity is the quality of having strong ethical principles that are followed at all times. Honesty and trust are central to integrity, as is consistency. A person with integrity demonstrates sound moral and ethical principles and does the right thing, no matter who's watching. Integrity is the foundation on which coworkers build relationships and trust, and it is one of the fundamental values that employers seek in the employees that they hire. (Susan Heathfield)

Any business owner will tell you how vital integrity is for the health of their company, but let me tell you, integrity is even more vital for the health of our churches. Every church has problems. Disagreements are sure to arise because churches are made up of people who have different opinions, different understandings of this or that, but it is in the way we deal with one another when those differences arise that will reveal our integrity or lack of integrity. Let’s move on. Paul not only related to the people of Corinth with integrity, but he also demonstrated “godly sincerity” in everything he had done. “Godly sincerity” is translated from the compound Greek word, “???????????” (eilikrineia). The two words which are combined, the Greek word for “sunlight” and the Greek word for “to judge” were used in Greco-Roman literature to describe that which was pure, like gold which didn’t contain any alloys. One illustration that has been very helpful to me is the way the word was used in the marketplace. In Paul’s day potters would fill the cracks in their pots with wax before selling them to try and hide the cracks. Those buyers who knew what they were doing would hold the pots up to the sun which would make the cracks clearly visible. Paul used this same word in the next chapter of his letter to the church in Corinth when he wrote,

17 Unlike so many, we do not peddle the word of God for profit. On the contrary, in Christ we speak before God with sincerity, as those sent from God. (2 Corinthians 2:17 NIV)

The false teachers were constantly trying to work an angle. They were using the gospel to benefit themselves, they were trying to tear Paul down to build themselves up, but Paul would not follow their lead. In our relationships with others we need to exhibit “godly sincerity,” not trying to use people for our advantage, but being willing to be used by God for their advantage. This mindset is so rare today, even in the church. I remember many years ago when a politician began attending worship on Sunday morning. He was running for office to represent this district and after he had been here for a few Sundays someone who recognized him asked me what I thought. I said, “He’ll be gone once the election is over. He’s not here to serve, he’s here to get votes.” Sure enough as soon as the election was over he was gone. We are called by God to serve, not be served. We are to follow in Jesus’ steps, the One who was willing to disadvantage Himself in order to put us at the advantage. This may seem somewhat reasonable, at least in dealing with those we love, those we get along with, but if I were to say this is also how we are to relate to those who oppose us then the majority of us will draw the line. Yet, Jesus said,

43 "You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' 44 But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. (Matthew 5:43-45 NIV)

People have chosen different paths in dealing with those who oppose them, those who have slandered their name, spread false rumors, and wanted to discredit them in the community. The predominant approach is to fight fire with fire. Roll up your sleeves and get down in the dirt. They want to sling mud, well then you sling more. Those of us who follow Jesus might want to choose that option, afterall it is a far easier, far more gratifying option isn’t it? Paul writes in verse 12 that he has not relied on “worldly wisdom, but on God’s grace.” And this is the path we are called to as well. When we are opposed we aren’t to sling mud, but we are to allow His light to shine forth from the way we respond to the attacks. The last thing I want to highlight for us this morning is the grace of God at work in Paul’s life while he carried on with the work he was given to do. Paul says he conducted his business, he lived his life, with integrity and godly sincerity while relying on God’s grace. In everything Paul did, he understood his work as God’s work being enacted and empowered through him. Take a look at Colossians 1:28-29 with me. Paul writes,

28 He is the one we proclaim, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone fully mature in Christ. 29 To this end I strenuously contend with all the energy Christ so powerfully works in me. (Colossians 1:28-29 NIV)

Paul hit the streets. He got up early and stayed up late. He visited places nobody would dare to go and he went where everyone gathered. He did all of this “with all the energy Christ so powerfully works in me.” We so desperately need this same mindset. Each day we leave the house we need to recognize that we are on assignment and Jesus will empower us to be His representative in this city. A little later in 2 Corinthians Paul will write,

20 We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God. 21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. (2 Corinthians 5:20-21 NIV)

An ambassador of Christ. That’s what we are and what we are called to be in this city, with friend and foe alike. I will promise you that it makes all the difference in the world in how we view those around us. How are we to deal with those who oppose us? We are to let His light shine. That is so tough when they keep slandering you, twisting your words, and seeking to smear your name, but by God’s grace we can let His light shine. Mike HaysBritton Christian Church922 NW 91stOKC, OK. 73114October 16, 2022