Strong leaders in difficult times

SIBKL/5/5/12/Pastor Chew Weng Chee

On 27^th December 1903, the Wright brothers made the first piloted flight into the air and thus began aviation history in their plane, the Kittyhawk. At the 5^th attempt, the plane flew for 12 seconds, a very long time in the air. Elated, the brothers contacted their sister Katherine via a telegraph home. They wrote “We flew for 12 seconds and will be home for Christmas”. Katherine quickly brought the telegraph to the newspapers. The next day, somewhere in the middle of the 6^th page, a short article wrote that the Wright brothers had flown for 12 seconds and would be home for Christmas. It was a moment that changed history, but the newspaper totally missed the point. They went for the minor and missed the major.  We are doing a series on 2 Corinthians, and there are minor things that may excite us, but we must focus on the main point of the letter.

The Corinthian church was a carnal church and was attacking Paul as a person – attacking his ministry and attacking his credentials. In this letter, Paul was defending his ministry and also defending himself, in the midst of accusations. The purpose of this series on 2 Corinthians is to train us to be strong man and strong women in difficult times. Many people cave in not from external attacks but from internal ones. A lot of people cannot take it when it is an attack from within. 2 Corinthians teaches us to be strong, to build up our spirit man to withstand challenges.

2 Corinthians is the least methodical of Paul’s epistles. Other letters focus on theological aspects and then practical aspects. However, 2 Corinthians is the most personal of Paul’s letters, and is almost entirely biographical, written more about himself and his ministry more than any other epistle. In this letter, we understand Paul the man, his struggles, angers, frustrations – the real Paul.

There were actually 4 letters that Paul wrote to the Corinthian church in all, more than any other church he started or visited. 1^st Corinthians is actually the 2^nd letter and 2^nd Corinthians the 4^th letter. Why 4 letters? Although the Corinthian church was very charismatic, it was also very carnal. Even if we can speak in tongues or move in prophetic gifts, it does not in any way show if we are a spiritual person. You can be very charismatic and very carnal, and we see a lot of churches like that. Here at SIBKL, we must very conscious not to become like that kind of church. We must not become so preoccupied with the charismatic movement and gifts that we become vey carnal. The core values of SIBKL is still focused on three main things – Christ-centered, Bible-based, Spirit-powered. We must no be man-centered, church-centrered or program centred. We must not be man-driven. The key is not to wring our hands and join in the chorus of the masses, but instead to lift up the name of Jesus. Even in respect of politics and government, we are not to take sides but fight for justice. Our primary aim is to lift up the name of Jesus.  

What is the difference between 1^st Corinthians and 2^nd Corinthians? In the 1^st, Paul concentrated on the church members, on how they ought to behave. It deals with practical issues affecting the church. In the 2^nd letter, Paul focuses on the church leaders and how they should behave. The central theme is about building church strong leaders in difficult days. During our yearly prayer retreat in the mountains in August, God spoke to us that our focus should be on leadership for 2012 – to build our leaders so that they can be strong and tough. 

Secondly, in the 2^nd letter, Paul deals with personal insults affecting himself. The key principle is how to be strong, even in difficult times. In trying days, don’t cave in. Don’t quit going to church just because one person offended you. Look to God, look to Jesus! As spoken in 1 Corinthians, even if we can speak in the tongues of angels and have not love, it counts for nothing.

2 Corinthians was written as if it was the final letter, and has 4 key points, that teach us what kind of church SIBKL should not be.

What kind of church was the Corinthian church? Acts 18:1-11 tells us the beginning of the Corinthian church, starting with the Jews Aquilla and Priscilla. Paul worked with them as a tentmaker at first. He was full time in the workplace and full time for God. Every Sabbath, Paul would reason with the Jews in the synagogue. When Timothy and Silas came, Paul devoted himself fully to preaching, and stayed on for one and a half years. In Acts 18:9, we see how the Lord spoke to Paul in a vision, telling him not to be afraid but to keep on speaking. “Do not be silent for I am with you. No one is going to attack and harm you. I have many people in this city”. It is all about the city, about your workplace. God planted the Corinthian church for the city. When Paul left, he must have expected them to be a spiritual, fantastic church. However, after he left, they became very carnal. In particular, they became sectarian, super-spiritual, and soulish.

Sectarianism is cliquishness. One says “I am of Paul”. Another says “I am of Apollos”. It is very dangerous. We must stay united, and not allow spiritual things to divide us. The church also became “super-spiritual”. Some began to give the impression they were more apostolic than Paul. One would say “I have the word”. Another would say “I hear from God”.

They were soulishly super-spiritual, criticizing Paul and fighting over small things such as land and position. If this continued, it wouldn’t be long before the church was destroyed despite starting so well.

They called Paul fickleminded, cowardly, not caring enough, unimpressive, not a polished speaker. They said he must be no good since he comes cheap. I pity in particular pastors of small churches that  come under the thumb of dominant council members.

A charismatic church may operate in all the gifts but be carnal. The point is not the charismaticism but the carnality. We used to go to a church where we were enthralled by the teaching, but we felt in the spirit, that something was not right. One day, one brother came out and grabbed the pulpit, crying and prophesying and repenting of his sins in the middle of worship and the pastor did not stop it. Another time, a woman rolled across the floor from one end of the stage to another. We need to keep the main thing the main thing, which is about glorifying Jesus.

How did Paul defend himself? He firstly pointed to our Lord Jesus Christ. (2 Corinthians 4:1-6, 2 Corinthians 5:1-21 Jesus is Lord and Head of SIBKL. We do not preach ourselves as Lord. It is about Jesus Christ. It is Christ’s love that compels us.

Secondly, Paul said that is is god who will vindicate me and my ministry. (2 Corinthians 15:1-6,17:18. Let him who boasts boast in the Lord. Thirdly, Paul’s defense was his sufferings and hardships which authenticate his credentials. Fourth, its all spiritual (2 Corinthians 10:5-6) In a recent sharing, brother Philip Koh, SIBKL’s missionary in Tibet told us that we must never trivialize spiritual things. We must not be over-spiritual yet at the same time exercise due care in such things.

There are 5 lessons for us that we can learn about what the Corinthian church did wrong. Firstly, they never dealt with fault lines. We need to deal with our faults. We need to let the Spirit and Word of God penetrate into the deepest recesses of our soul. We must be careful not to cover up our faults with false spirituality. Secondly, we need to be careful not to overstep boundary lines, to be wary of temptations. Thirdly, we must not miss the bottom line. The bottom line is being Christ centred, Bible based, Spirit powered. Fourthly, we must not veer off God’s plumb line. We must honor the Lord. Even if we veer off, we must come back again. Finally, we need to get back online, to keep ourselves connected in Spirit with God.