Putting Up with a Little Foolishness

2 Corinthians chapter 11, verse 16. Paul is continuing

2 Corinthians 11:16

to defend himself. There had been some around

Corinth that obviously had been referred to as,

he quotes, super apostles. It had been said in

2 Corinthians chapter 10, Paul referenced where

2 Corinthians 10 · chapter mention

the people had said that Paul was weak. And Paul

was discouraged, perhaps angry, that the people

of Corinth had heard the gospel and they were

doing well. And these false teachers had come

in. These false teachers had begun to boast in

themselves. They had begun to, it appears from

the passage we'll read tonight, been putting

some burden on the people. And yet instead of

listening to Paul, the people of Corinth were...

Just really falling head over heels for these

new smooth -talking false prophets, false teachers,

I should say, that Paul said last week disguised

themselves as angels of light, that like the

devil, they are disguising themselves. They may

look good, they may say a good thing, and they

may play a good role, but Paul says you need

to stop listening to their boasting. and you

need to listen to me. And so we've kind of seen

that same theme really throughout, and he continues

along those lines in the passage we'll look at

tonight. So let's pray, and we'll get started.

God, we come to you, and I pray, dear Lord, that

you just help us to focus on you for a few minutes

tonight. We come in here, and some of us may

be struggling, dear Lord. Maybe there's some

listening online that are... that are struggling,

God, that today has just been a rough day. It's

been a lot of just difficulties and stresses

and just all kind of stuff, dear Lord. Life throws

it at us, and it's not always easy. So if there

are any that have had that bad day or maybe a

bad week or maybe a bad month or a bad year,

dear Lord, I pray that maybe we can learn from

Paul. that as he so confidently says that he

has learned to do without and to be content,

that God, that you would help us to grow in you

in such a way that we can get there. Maybe we're

not even really that close tonight, or maybe

we are close, or maybe we've got a long way to

go. But dear Lord, I pray that you would help

us to find some contentment to realize that you

are good, even on the bad days, God. And I pray

that we would find some strength and encouragement

in that, dear Lord, that we would not despair.

Life is tough, but I pray that as we read Paul's

words tonight, that maybe you can guide and instruct

us and draw us closer to you. In Jesus' name

I ask it. Amen. 2 Corinthians chapter 11, verse

2 Corinthians 11:16

16. I repeat, no one should consider me a fool,

but if you do, at least accept me. So Paul is

kind of being a little silly here. He's kind

of being silly. He says, okay, you people are

listening to a bunch of teachers that are just

teaching you foolishness. The things they're

teaching you is foolishness. The things they're

doing is foolishness. The way they're acting

is foolishness. And you're just eating it up.

You're just loving the foolishness. And he says,

look, if you'll listen to fools, then let me

just be foolish for a little while. Let me just

say some foolish things. Because you are ready

to listen to the fools, so would you put up with

my foolishness for a little bit? I've tried to

come in here and teach you and lead you in the

way of the gospel of Jesus Christ and to help

nurture you and to mature you in Jesus, and you're

not wanting to pay me any attention. You're not

wanting to listen to the things I've said, but

instead you're listening to foolishness. So if

foolishness is what you want, he says, then let

me speak foolishly to you for a while. And that's

what he says. He says in verse 19, For you being

so wise, gladly put up with fools. Now, they

are actually not wise there. That's the point

he's making. Y 'all are so wise, y 'all think

y 'all know everything, and y 'all are so smart

listening to these teachers. If y 'all are so

wise, then listen to foolishness, if that's what

you want to listen to. And listen to what he

says in verse 20. In fact, You put up with it

if someone enslaves you, if someone devours you,

if someone captures you, if someone dominates

you, or if someone hits you in the face. Now,

I would assume here that perhaps these are the

very things that the people of Corinth are seeing

from these people that they're following. These

are people that are not leading them closer to

Jesus Christ. to help them find grace and to

live in freedom from sin. But instead, it appears

as though whatever these foolish teachers are

teaching, it's putting more of a burden on the

people. He says, you put up with it if someone

enslaves you. Now, wait a minute. Shouldn't a

preacher of the gospel of Jesus Christ... Be

offering and providing freedom through Jesus

Christ by the things that they preach and teach?

Shouldn't the word of God be being taught in

such a way that the people are experiencing freedom?

Not being enslaved. But these teachers, whoever

they are, these preachers, whoever they are,

they're obviously preaching and teaching in a

way that's not bringing freedom to the people,

but enslaving them in some way. Keeping them

in their sins or putting some type of burden

on them. And he says after that, You put up with

it if someone devours you. They're being taken

advantage of in some way. They're being destroyed

by these people. He says, you put up with it

if someone captures you, if someone dominates

you, if someone hits you in the face. Now, this

does not seem like an attitude of love. If someone

is to be a shepherd of the Lord, then these are

not the qualities that they should have. Now,

Jesus even tells his apostles, look, The rulers

of the Gentiles, boy, they use their power and

they dominate over the people. They put their

force and they want to be over the people with

their thumb pressed on them. But what did Jesus

say to his apostles? He said, but it must not

be this way among you. He said, those of you

who want to be first of all must be a servant

of all. So those who seek to be a leader just

so they can have some authority and dominate

those under them when it comes to, people in

the church, then they need to stop really quickly

and they need to go back and read the words of

Jesus. Because Jesus says, if you want to be

a shepherd, if you want to be a leader, if you

want to be a follower of mine, then you have

to first be a servant of all. Now that's, of

course, what Paul has been and is to those that

he ministers to in Corinth and everywhere else.

But that is not what's going on with these false

teachers. They have come in and they have put

these burdens on these people. They have enslaved

them and they're making it difficult for people.

And you still see that in our world today. There

are a lot of people out there that are in ministry,

that are preaching, that are teaching, that are

in some leadership role, and they really put

pressure and they devour. They devour their congregation.

Their goal is not to build them up in Christ,

but to... bleed their money from them and to

bleed their resources from them and to in some

way make them feel guilty or dependent on them

as though they're the only one who has the answer.

So you must come to my church and you must listen

to my preaching because I'm the one who's going

to help you and you must give me your money and

I'm going to show you the answers that you want.

And there are a lot of people that use their

leadership roles not in a way to build up people.

but in a way to completely destroy them. Those

are false teachers. Paul saw them in his day,

and we see them in our day. So Paul says, look,

you want to pull up with foolishness? This is

foolishness what you're listening to. You'll

gladly listen to these people, but Paul's already

made the point earlier on. We saw in the last

couple of weeks that Paul had said, look, I haven't

asked for anything from you. I'm not even asking

for money from you. I'm here to serve you. There's

other churches that are supporting me while I

support you. I'm not being a burden on you. Paul

says, I just want you to love Jesus. I just want

you to follow Jesus. I just want you to trust

Him and not be led astray. I want you to love

one another. I want you to follow the commands

of God. I don't want you to give in to sin and

to hate one another and for there to be trouble

among you. I want you to deal with these things.

Paul says, I've come to you with love. You've

seen my love. But why won't you listen to me?

You listen to these people, they don't love you

a bit. So Paul says, if you want foolishness,

then I'm going to give you some foolishness.

Listen to what he says in verse 21. He says,

I say this to our shame. We have been weak. But

in whatever anyone dares to boast, I am talking

foolishly, I also dare. Okay, so he's fixing

to start boasting. Now, we kind of have an idea

maybe a little bit about what these other people

are boasting about just because some of the things

that he said. Obviously, he, in quotations, calls

them super apostles, so perhaps that's what the

people were saying. Maybe that's what these people

were calling themselves. Perhaps they were boasting

in their ability to speak better. It says of

Paul that he's not a good speaker. It says that

he's weak in person, that he looks weak. So maybe

some of these other people were boasting that

they were better looking than Paul, that they

weren't weakly, but they were strong. Maybe they

were boasting that they were better speakers.

Maybe they were boasting at all the money that

they were bringing in. Well, Paul was just the

opposite of these people. They said, okay, you

don't look like much. You don't talk very good.

You ain't took no money from us. And Paul's thinking,

hey, this is a good thing. None of those things

matter. I'm just loving you, and that's what

matters. But obviously that wouldn't matter to

the people because they were looking for the

wrong thing. We have to be careful. Sometimes

we do that too. You know the story of when God

sent Samuel to pick the next king of Israel.

And Samuel, he first looked at the strongest

one. and he said, this is going to be the one

that's going to be the king. And God said, nope,

that ain't the one. He goes through all of them.

And he finally says, well, there's nobody left.

And God says, well, there is one more. And it

was little David, little shepherd. Well, he wouldn't

have been the one that Samuel was going to pick,

but the Scripture says that God doesn't see what

we see. He doesn't look at what's on the outside.

He looks at what's on the inside. And so the

people had completely kind of written off Paul.

because of what he looked like or what he sounded

like or the way he was doing ministry. And they

were really drawn to the ones who looked better

and who sounded better and who were really full

of foolishness, who didn't care about them at

all or weren't pointing them to Jesus at all,

but instead were being a burden to them. And

Paul says, I want you to be free of that burden.

But if they're going to boast in these things

that they're going to boast in, Paul says, well,

give me a moment. I would like to boast to you

as well. And listen to what Paul says when he

boasts. Verse 22. He says, are they Hebrews?

So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they

the seed of Abraham? So am I. Okay, he's off

to a good start right here. So whatever these

guys are boasting in, whatever they think they

got on Paul says, okay, I'm just what they are.

I'm all these things they are. They got nothing

on me yet, but let me continue. Are they servants

of Christ? I'm talking like a madman. I'm a better

one. With far more labors, with many more imprisonments,

far worse beatings, near death many times. Five

times I received 39 lashes from Jews. Three times

I was beaten with rods by the Romans. Once I

was stoned by my enemies. Three times I was shipwrecked.

I have spent a night and a day in the open sea.

dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers

from my own people, dangers from the Gentiles,

dangers in the city, dangers in the open country,

dangers on the sea, and dangers among false brothers,

labor and hardship, many sleepless nights, hunger

and thirst, often without food, cold, and lacking

clothing. Not to mention other things, there

is a daily pressure on me My care for all the

churches. Who is weak and I am not weak? Who

is made to stumble and I do not burn with indignation?

If boasting is necessary, I will boast about

my weaknesses. The God and Father of our Lord

Jesus, who is praised forever, knows I am not

lying. In Damascus, the governor under King Aretas

guarded the city of the Damascenes in order to

arrest me. So I was let down in a basket through

a window in the wall and escaped his hands. Well,

that's a pretty impressive list. Paul says, if

you want somebody that's going to boast, well,

then let me boast for a minute. But notice what

Paul didn't boast in. Now, if we were going to

boast, what would we boast in? What are the kind

of things that maybe we're guilty of boasting

in or we see other people boast in? Well, the

things that we might boast in. Maybe similar

to the things that we see that the Corinthians

are drawn to. Boasting our good looks. Pretty

good looking. Actually, we look so good, we're

always going to take a selfie of ourselves, maybe

put it on Facebook for people to see on the TikTok.

I mean, we boast in a lot of ways. Maybe we boast

in how nice our homes are. Maybe we boast in

how nice our vehicle is, or we boast in our gun

collection, or we boast in... How much money

we've got in our bank account. Are we boasting

our position and how good our position is at

work? There's a lot of things that we may boast

in. There's a lot of things that people in the

world boast in. And those are the types of things

that seem really important to us in a worldly

sense. But you notice Paul didn't boast about

any of those kind of things? He didn't boast

about any of those things. What he was proud

of... is that he loved God and was suffering

for the kingdom of God. That's what he boasts

in. He says, look at these guys who are coming

to you. What have they done for you? They've

done nothing. But let me show you. Let me tell

you. I love God. I have suffered for the kingdom

of God. And he goes and he lists all of these

ways. I mean, he's been beaten. He's been in

prison. He's been lost at sea. He's experienced

dangers from all people and all things. Everywhere

he goes, he's constantly in the middle of conflict

and trouble and persecution. And what does he

do? He just keeps on praising God. He says, many

times I've been cold, I've been hungry, I ain't

had clothes to wear. But Paul also says in another

point in Scripture, Learn to be content with

all things, whether hungry or well -fed. I can

do all things through Christ who strengthens

me. And that's what he's boasting in. He says,

I'm going to boast in my weakness. I haven't

done anything worth boasting in other than serving

the Lord. And that's what I've done is serve

the Lord. And he boasts in that. And he says,

and on top of all of that, not only am I suffering

in this way to serve the Lord, but on top of

all that, I'm trying to care for the churches.

I'm trying to care for you. I'm trying to preach

to you. I'm trying to teach you. I'm trying to

protect you. So he says, who is weak and I'm

not weak? Who was made to stumble and I do not

burn with indignation? He says, man, these people,

I've gone through all this. I suffer in this

way for God. I suffer in this way for you. And

these people come in and they make you stumble.

And he says, I burn with indignation. It makes

me so angry that they come in. That I fought,

that I bled, that I have suffered in such a way

because I love you. And they're boasting in the

things they're boasting in. Well, let me boast

in these things to you. So Paul knew what really

mattered. He knew what was really important.

It wasn't the things of the world. He knew what

it was like to suffer. and yet he still continued

to serve the Lord. You know, he says earlier,

you may remember back when we were in chapter

4, we actually looked at this list because Paul

talked about his momentary light afflictions.

He says, boy, I have these momentary light afflictions.

And then you look at, this is his momentary light

afflictions. This is it right here. So we get

up tomorrow and we go get in our car and we say,

oh, my leather seat is cold. It's not really

an affliction. Or we say, golly, I've got to

use half and half in my coffee. I don't like

half and half. I want whipping cream. And we've

got all these afflictions, right? All these afflictions.

Oh, we've got a busted pipe out here. Well, there's

people that ain't got power, ain't got heat,

ain't got nothing. Our little afflictions, I'm

not saying that they're not real to us, right?

These things that we go through, they're real.

I'm not belittling your troubles. We have real

troubles, okay? but maybe our afflictions aren't

quite as bad as we thought. And maybe if Paul

can go through all these afflictions that he

can go through and still be content with Jesus

Christ and trust the Lord, maybe there's a lesson

there for us. Maybe the things that we're discontent

with, maybe the things that ruin our days and

ruin our weeks, maybe they're not quite as bad

as we think. Maybe our focus is on the wrong

thing. Maybe even if we don't do it verbally,

maybe our heart's been boasting in the wrong

thing. When those things that we boast in, those

things that we treasure, those things that we

long for, when something happens to those things,

then man, it tears us up. It gets us angry. It

gets us upset. It gets us depressed. But when

our heart boasts in the Lord in the way that

Paul's does, Man, it gives us a new passion.

It gives us a new desire. It gives us an ability

to say, you know what? Whether hungry or well

-fed, whether clothed or naked, whether imprisoned

or free, whatever it is, I have learned the secret

to being content. And we learned the secret to

being content. Paul certainly had. That's why

he could say with all boldness and foolishness

here, he could say, look. I have learned what

it means to trust in Jesus Christ, and I'm going

to proclaim him all the more. Would you just

listen to what I have to say? Okay, I'm weak,

Paul says. If I'm weak, I'm weak. But if I'm

weak, I'm weak for Jesus Christ. Are we trusting

in Jesus Christ today? Do we know that we can

do all things through Christ who strengthens

us? Well, we can if we become like Paul and are

content. with Jesus Christ. Let's pray. Dear

Lord, we thank you for these good words tonight

and I pray that you would help us to be on guard

because maybe we are exposed to people, dear

Lord, that want to teach and preach a little

foolishness to us. God, maybe we read your word

or maybe we even hear the truth presented in

a way that's right, but maybe it's not quite

as flashy as... as some of the things we hear,

dear Lord. And maybe we are drawn away to those

things that are flashy and worldly, those values

that we consider to be good, dear Lord. But sometimes,

God, we may be led astray by people that maybe

they look the right way or maybe they sound the

right way, but God, I pray that we would just

pay attention to the message that they preach,

God, that we are not led astray, that we are

not led into a... a burden, dear Lord, that Your

Word is not a burden, that Jesus Christ is not

a burden, God, but that Your Word offers us freedom

through Jesus Christ. So I pray, God, that we

would be on guard for those that want to preach

and teach false things, that we won't give in

to foolishness, but we would listen to the wisdom

of Your Word. I pray, dear Lord, that You would

help us to take a deep breath. God, maybe there

are some things in our life that are tough. There

certainly are many things in our life that are

tough, but God, you're still good. And maybe

our momentary light afflictions are not quite

as bad as we sometimes make them out to be. So

I pray, dear Lord, that we can have an attitude

like that of Paul, that even in the worst of

the worst situations that we go through, God,

that we still consider them as light afflictions,

God. That as bad as they may be, they pale in

comparison to your glory that we will one day

see. So help us to continue to run the race with

endurance while we're here, dear Lord. Help us

to have the same boldness. Help us to be able

to live our life in a way that we could, if necessary,

boast in the way that Paul does about our weaknesses,

dear Lord. That we would recognize our weaknesses

today and that we would be ready to... stand

for you and to live for you and to serve you

in that same way. God, let us not be those, if

we are ever one who has a position of any kind

of authority or leadership, let us not be one

who dominates over other people, dear Lord, but

let us, no matter who we are, what position we're

in, be those who would be, first of all, a servant

of all. And I ask these things in Jesus' name.

Amen.