The David Spoon Experience 12-14-23 part 1

A) In 2 Corinthians 11:21, The Apostle Paul takes on the role of being a fool on purpose. To make his point in this letter, he takes the side of a prideful boaster while acknowledging he is being moronic while doing it. He starts with his background by connecting himself to being Hebrew, an Israelite, and a descendant of Abraham. He then states that to use this form of logic is utterly ridiculous. But the truth is that the marks of his faith are impressive.

B) He considers his encounters since taking on the faith that he once tried to destroy. There are 20 different items after he connects himself from his background. In labor, imprisonment, beatings, facing death, whipping, beatings, stoned (not recreationally), shipwrecked, and floating around on the water for 24 hours. I’m not sure many of us would still be preaching and teaching after these things. But wait, there’s more.

C) These things are a form of defense for Paul, but he knows the truth. He survives nothing without the grace of God, he has no success apart from Jesus, and he doesn’t always know where he is going and what he is doing without the guidance of the Holy Spirit. For him, there are dangers on land and in water, from Jews and Gentiles, from cities and countryside, from false brothers, from sleepless nights and no food, and the bitter cold. This list is external, but again, he’s not done.

D) Paul also struggles on the inside too. Remember that he is only making this comparison to show how useless it is for people to live by comparisons, as he mentioned in 10:12. But Paul’s honesty about relating to the burning of his britches is the internal stuff. He hates that his people (God’s people) are struggling. When we love the brethren, we get this. It’s not that our lives are perfect, but other people’s pain impacts us, too.