Boasting – 2 Corinthians 11:16-33

The first century AD saw a resurgence of the sophist spirit and behavior, influenced by the ancient Greeks. Sophistry was a mode of speaking and teaching and influencing and it involved a form of oratory that has been described as “flowery, bombastic, full of startling metaphors, too metrical, too dependent on the tricks of rhetoric, too emotional” and shamefully theatric. Sophists were self-promoters.

The false teachers at Corinth had embraced the spirit of sophism, with its dependence on letters of recommendation and its boasting. They boasted that they were superior to Paul, were, in fact, super-apostles, and they were leading the Corinthians away from Paul and the gospel.

I repeat, let no one think me foolish. But even if you do, accept me as a fool, so that I too may boast a little. What I am saying with this boastful confidence, I say not as the Lord would but as a fool. Since many boast according to the flesh, I too will boast. For you gladly bear with fools, being wise yourselves! For you bear it if someone makes slaves of you, or devours you, or takes advantage of you, or puts on airs, or strikes you in the face. To my shame, I must say, we were too weak for that!

But whatever anyone else dares to boast of—I am speaking as a fool—I also dare to boast of that. Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they offspring of Abraham? So am I. Are they servants of Christ? I am a better one—I am talking like a madman—with far greater labors, far more imprisonments, with countless beatings, and often near death. Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea; on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers; in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches. Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is made to fall, and I am not indignant?

If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness. The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, he who is blessed forever, knows that I am not lying. At Damascus, the governor under King Aretas was guarding the city of Damascus in order to seize me, but I was let down in a basket through a window in the wall and escaped his hands. (2 Corinthians 11:16-33 ESV)

In what is an extraordinarily sarcastic and then humbling “boast” Paul goes to the wall with the Corinthians to show himself superior to the super-apostles who would divert the Corinthians’ loyalty away from Paul.  The Corinthians have been abiding these fools because they boast, because they lord it over them, because they act like kings, when in fact they are using and abusing the Corinthians.  Paul confesses that he is too “weak” to do that to them, though they seem to love it.

The super-apostles were Jews but they have nothing near the experience in ministry Paul has, though the extent of that ministry doesn’t sound like a victory speech but like a list of the worst experiences in life.  Paul’s ministry for Christ has been one of suffering and weakness, even to the point of escaping persecution in a basket lowered from the wall of Damascus, a most humbling experience.  But that is the point.  Paul’s boast and evidence of his superiority is his weakness.  Like Jesus he has suffered at the hands of unbelievers and borne it like a sheep led to slaughter.  This the super-apostles cannot claim.

Proverbs 26:4, 5 reads:  Do not answer a fool according to his folly, or you yourself will be just like him.  Answer a fool according to his folly, or he will be wise in his own eyes.  There are times when you must answer a fool according to his folly and the wise man knows when to do this.  Paul is a wise man.

Discussion Questions for Small Groups

1. Who did you (or everyone) most fear or misunderstand in your neighborhood when you were growing up?  Were you justified in that fear?
2. Why do you think the Corinthians did not “fear” these false teachers who had invaded their congregation?
3. How did Paul’s boast, especially of his experiences of danger and suffering, show his superiority to the “super-apostles”?
4. How does highlighting the weaknesses in our lives actually show God’s work?
5. What things that show your weakness could you “boast” of in your life?
6. Who do you need to re-evaluate based on the standard of acknowledging weakness?