2 Corinthians 11.16-33 - Would you Hire this Pastor?

2 Corinthians 11.16-33 - Would you Hire this Pastor?

“One wonders how many modern congregations would hire someone like Paul, who touts his weakness…his penchant to find or stir up trouble, his run-ins with the law, his lack of…verbal eloquence, powerful delivery and meaningful gestures… We have bought into the world’s vision of what it means to be wise, powerful, and of great worth, and, like the Corinthians, made void the preaching of the cross…a message of power through weakness, through self-sacrificial behavior, through reliance on God’s power to work through us…. Until we learn ‘when I am weak then I am strong’…we will misread Paul’s theology of leadership, status, power, and wisdom. Until then, the church will continue to play the game of power politics with ministry, an all too human and too Corinthian game indeed.”

Ben Witherington III, ‘Conflict & Community in Corinth: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary on 1 and 2 Corinthians,’ (Eerdmans), 1995.