Why Paul Defended Himself (Part 1)(11:1-15)
Neal Pollard
Have you ever felt the need to defend yourself? It can be very unpleasant, especially when you know you have done nothing wrong and your critic appears to have some ulterior motive. Jesus, a perfect man, was not immune to such criticism during His public ministry (Mat. 12:10; Mark 3:2). Why does Paul go to this trouble and potential humiliation?
HE FEARED THE CORINTHIANS WERE BEING LED ASTRAY (1-4)
Paul had done so much to try and build their relationship with Christ. He had worked with them in person for 18 months (Acts 18:11) and had already written them a lengthy letter doing further teaching. It had been emotionally-heavy in nature, and now someone was “preaching another Jesus” (3-4). If you have ever won a soul to Christ, you know the concern you feel when he or she seems to be slipping away from faithfulness. When you have close relationships with other Christians and you see them being led away into false teaching or immorality, you think about the time and energy you have put into encouraging and influencing them for good. It will (or should) move you to do everything you can to fortify them against error and ungodliness.
HE FELT THAT HIS CHARACTER WAS BEING SINFULLY MALIGNED (5-11)
It can be a tough balance to maintain between letting your character and actions speak for themselves and having the courage to respond to unjust criticism. It seems that the difference-maker was that by having his character maligned, the character of Jesus would be made to suffer in the eyes of the Corinthians. So, Paul defends his credentials (5), knowledge (6), means of support (7-9), and love for them (11). If these things could be successfully impugned, it threatened to undo his work among them. This was not about ego or pride. It was about maintaining the force and weight of the Word and work of Christ.
HE WAS FIGHTING SOME UNGODLY INFLUENCES (12-15)
Paul fires back at these unnamed critics. They were passing themselves off as Christian authorities when they were not (12). They were religious imposters, whom Paul calls “false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ” (13). They were servants of Satan disguising themselves as servants of righteousness (14-15). They faced eternal consequences (15b). The stakes are high. These folks were working against Christ while claiming to represent him. Corinth stood to be the casualties of their influence. Truth had to be distinguished from error, so Paul is willing to do every right thing to combat that.
As we will see in the remainder of the chapter, Paul was willing to go to any lengths for Jesus and His people. He suffered, sacrificed, and struggled to advance His cause. Paul was willing to take one for the team when it was just himself that would suffer, but when criticism of him meant harming faith in His Master Paul went on the defensive. That distinction should help us know when we must respond to criticism and when we just let our actions and character speak for themselves.
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