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Paul was not ashamed to be human; or to let others know that he was. There are way too many Christians that are expending vast amounts of energy trying to be something they aren’t – and it’s totally unnecessary. God is not shocked when we fail and He is not impressed by our self-righteousness. He knows we are dust; He knows that He is our only hope; He’s waiting till we realize those things too. Then we can relax, and He can have a relationship with us that is based on truth and not pretense.
There is no way to overstate the importance of honesty in our relationship with God and with one another. Consider Paul words in 2 Corinthians 6:11,“We have spoken freely to you, Corinthians, and opened wide our hearts to you.”
There’s no attempt by Paul to cover, or hide, or deceive, or impress the Corinthian church. He wanted them to know the truth about him and the truth about the Lord – that was what mattered most. He couldn’t predict how they would react (we can never really know for sure what others will do with our openness and transparency); but he knew that if he held back, for any reason, then the Corinthians would not have the whole truth. So, motivated purely by love, Paul did everything he could to make sure the Corinthians knew everything they would need to know to press on in Christ. Paul was willing to risk the rejection he had received from so many others to make sure he was honest and thorough in his dealings with this young church. An apostle of God exposed his heart to people he loved passionately and risked everything in doing so, just so they would know the truth.
Paul also told Timothy in 1st. Timothy 1:16, “Christ Jesus has displayed me as an example for those who would believe on Him... God put Paul on display for all of us to look at. Why? Because God made Paul into what He had in mind for a Christian to be; and it’s not because he was an apostle or that he was caught up into heaven to see and hear things none of us will know till we get there. God’s display of Paul had to do with Paul’s inner man, not his gifts and calling. We should consider Paul’s commitment to God and to others (both lost and saved), and we should consider Paul’s determination to glorify God in all he did; but we are also meant to contemplate Paul’s transparency “We have opened wide our hearts to you...” 2 Corinthians 6:11
The Bible clears up any misunderstanding we may have of what it means, individually, to be a genuine disciple of Christ. We need to strip away the fantasies, the preconceptions we have of Old and New Testament believers being, somehow, greater and more wonderful than we could ever hope to be. They were so human it was scary.
They ranged from born-again adulterers and alcoholics to martyrs willing to die rather than compromise the Name of the Savior; just like believers in our century, and in every century. So, what is a disciple? Well, let’s consider a few definition options. A disciple of Jesus Christ is someone who was not a very nice person, but now he is. Or, he was not a very calm or gentle person, but now he is. Or, how about, he was not a very committed or zealous person, but now he’s very committed. He used to be irritable, unsociable, compromising, and depressed – now he’s all better. Is that what makes a Christian?
Have any of you ever heard of pharmaceuticals? Give me the right drugs and I can turn a non-zealous, irritable, depressed person into the nicest, kindest, most mellow person you’ll ever meet. But that wouldn’t be done by the power of the Holy Spirit. It wouldn’t be done by revamping the inner man, but by tweaking the outer man. Whether drugs, or religion, or Yoga, or acupuncture, or whatever; it’s possible to make some major changes in a person – good, healthy changes – but you still don’t have a New Testament Christian when you’re done.
So, this person we hypothetically fixed, maybe he just went from being a bad unbeliever to being a good unbeliever. If the truth about my salvation, or my identity as a Christian, lies in the realm of my feelings or my nervous system, I am going to be a very flaky Christian, because those things change every day. The truth of who I am goes much deeper than outward adjustments, and the definition, or identifying, of who a disciple of Christ is also goes much deeper than outward personality traits.
There are all kinds of Christians, with all kinds of personalities – all kinds of strengths and weaknesses; but the ones Paul would call “spiritual” have one thing going for them that the rest don’t have: their hearts are wide open to God and to others. Again, they’re not hiding behind some self-generated religion; they’re not pretending to be ‘spiritual’, or righteous, or wonderful. They are who they are. No matter what stage of spiritual development they may have reached by God’s grace, they are not embarrassed or ashamed to live there and to continue to press on regardless of the criticism or disappointment of those around them.
And, by the way, one of the reasons they don’t tend to be judgmental or critical of others is because of that transparency, that openness. How can you judge others when you’ve been honest with yourself; and you know you have so far to go?
In 1st. Corinthians 4:3 Paul wrote, “I care very little if I am judged by you or by any human system of evaluation; indeed, I do not even judge myself...“ This has to be one of the greatest personal blessings that honesty and openness can bring. If we’re open with God, and with others, why waste time condemning ourselves, or anyone else? Why waste time feeling guilty over the criticisms of other people? You know who you are; God knows who you are; why try to conceal anything from Him, ourselves, or anyone else? I know that God’s not disappointed; He’s in love with us!
As for me, I’m not that excited about myself, but God’s not done yet and at least I’m safe. And as for others, whatever problem they have with me, is their problem, not mine. They may be right, I may be a real loser, but I’m a loser that God is working feverishly on, and He’s promised, in no uncertain terms, to complete what He’s begun in me.
If other people aren’t as patient as God is with us, they’ll have to take that up with Him, because, and I re-quote; “I care very little if am judged by you or anyone; I do not even judge myself...”
If I stay open to God; if I’m willing to listen to Him, then if He has a problem with me, He’ll let me know, and I can confess that to Him. His goal is to love me and to help me, not to judge me. I’m willing to listen to Someone like that. I know that His evaluation is true and that it’s motivated by compassion not complaint. When you know someone like God, someone who is incredibly insightful and wise, and someone who has only you’re best interest at heart, it’s not so hard to listen to them when they tell you something you normally might not want to hear.
This is what Paul desperately wanted the Corinthians to realize about him. He knew them, he had God’s insights into what they needed, and he loved them with the love of Christ. Now, would they listen to him?! “We have spoken freely to you, Corinthians, and opened wide our hearts to you. We are not withholding our affection from you...” (2 Corinthians 6:11-12) To me, that is an amazing revelation of the nature and character of God’s man, Paul; and if this was the way Paul dealt with Corinthian type Christians, then think about what we can learn concerning the way God Himself relates to us! After all, the Holy Spirit wrote the Bible, Paul was just a tool in His hand. So, just for a moment, get alone with yourself, isolate, and listen to these words as coming from the Lord to you personally, “I have spoken freely to you and I have opened my heart wide to you. I am not withholding my affection from you...”
God is revealing His own heart to us – desiring us – and revealing this aspect of Who He is through Paul’s interaction with the Corinthians. Have we known God this way? Why would we expect anything else when we see Jesus on the Cross loving us to the very end? This is the kingdom of grace, ruled by a King of mercy; and this King is our Father!
Finally, Paul asked one thing from the Corinthians; and I believe it’s also the one thing God is asking from us. “...but you are withholding your affection from us. As a fair exchange – I speak as to my children – open wide your hearts also.” 2 Corinthians 6:12-13. It’s not so much to ask. God is asking that when we come before Him, we can open our hearts and reveal our affections. Love desires honesty in return; and being honest with pure, non-judgmental, non-condemning love is not a hard thing to do.
It’s time that our perception of Who Paul was, what a disciple of Christ really is, and especially Who God is, all lined up with the Truth. Paul took the risk of being wholly transparent with the Corinthians; Jesus took the risk of being wholly transparent with us. We can receive or we can reject that love, but no matter what we do, that love will never change, and that open heart will never close.
Paul says that it’s a “fair exchange”. Is it? If God has so opened His heart and affections to us, is it a fair exchange that we would do the same with Him? That kind of relationship is exactly what New Testament Christianity is about. From the time God walked hand in hand with Adam in the garden, He has never had any other intention or design for the human race.
The entire goal of the Christian life is to get back to God’s original intent – Creator and creature, holding hands, walking in a garden together and thoroughly enjoying one another; totally at peace, and totally in love.
Trinity Baptist Church
711 Fairview Dr. Moscow, Idaho 83843
208.882.2015
trinity@moscow.com
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