This is not a competition!

 

Read 2 Corinthians 10

 We are not going too far in our boasting, as would be the case if we had not come to you, for we did get as far as you with the gospel of Christ. Neither do we go beyond our limits by boasting of work done by others. Our hope is that, as your faith continues to grow, our sphere of activity among you will greatly expand, so that we can preach the gospel in the regions beyond you. For we do not want to boast about work already done in someone else’s territory. But, “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.”

Some of Paul’s battles are fought because of jealousy and contempt. Others don’t like what he has accomplished. He was not one of the disciples who followed Jesus for three years. He was the oddball. He couldn’t be as good as the regular apostles, who might be dubbed super apostles.

That was part of the challenge before Paul. Division was a real thing in Corinth, and it does its best to invade every church body it finds.  It’s as if Paul gets to the point where he says, “Enough!”

This is not a competition.

We are not enemies with you or the other apostles who are legitimately doing the work of the Lord.

We are coworkers in Christ. Yes, I am different from the dozen who followed Jesus in the flesh. Here’s the kicker: You will be, too!

This is not an election. There is no campaign. We are not comparing resumes. There will not be a series of three debates.

The goal here in what we are doing in your area is to make you a light unto the world. We want you to be the salt of the earth. We want you to be known as followers of Jesus by your love.

And…

Here’s the kicker: We want you to clone what we have done and become missionaries to this lost world.

You are not going out to make followers of Peter, Paul, Apollos, or any other servant of the Lord. Your objective is to take the good news that we have in the Lord, not in any other human.

Your goal is to do what we did with you and do it with others. Go into the world with good news. Unless God tells you to go to Spain or Egypt, then go across the street or to the next village over and share the good news of life in Jesus Christ.

You will be sharing with some who may know your pagan ways. You will have to explain the old self and new self to them, using the term "new creation" or "new creature."

You need to be learning, studying, and praying because you will soon be the vessels that carry the good news to your neighbors and future generations.

You are not just working on yourselves—and we all need a lot of work—we are reaching out with this gospel of salvation and peace. You must become teachers and evangelists.

The Spirit that lives within you must be—to use Paul’s words to Timothy—fanned into the flames of action.

It’s the same as it was with Abram. You are blessed to be a blessing. The blessing that you are to carry to others is the gospel of truth.

You are to take the truth to the world, at least those within your purview.

By the way, this applies to us in this place and this age as well. It’s grist for the mill business once again. Everything we go through, every sermon you hear, every scripture you read, is grist for the mill as we fulfill our commissions.

Yes, we want to grow in God’s grace and become better people. That’s a noble goal, but as we advance towards that goal, we are gathering others to go with us.

We seek others to replace us, for this gospel must continue to be shared with all generations.

Paul will discuss metacognition, and we will discuss that in the next service. In the chapter ahead, he will warn us about others distorting the gospel.

For now, know that we are being prepared to be evangelists, among other things. We must not only receive God’s grace but also share it.

Amen.