2 Corinthians 10
"I beg that you that when I come I may not have to be as bold as I expect to be toward some people who think that we live by the standards of this world. For though we live in the world we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons that we fight with are not the weapons of the world.On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up agains the knowledge of God, and we take every thought to make it obedient to Christ" (v. 3-6).
Paul is having trouble with those in the church at Corinth. The church is being torn apart by its factions. There are several prominent leaders who possess style and eloquence and the people are choosing one leader over the other and then arguing about whom is the best. In the midst of disunity the substance of the gospel is getting lost. Paul is at a disavantage because in appearance and style he cannot compete. It seems that his appearances borders on ugly and the boldness of his letters does not translate into eloqouence of speech in his personal appearances. His message is being overlooked and discounted. He pleads with them not to discount his message because of his image. Do not loose the substance of the gospel to style and image.
Our country is all about style. People may even be corrupt as long as they do it with style. We have come to believe that we cannot deliver the Christian message unless it is done with "style" and often the substance of the message is lost in our desire to appeal to our world. As seniors there comes a point when we are no longer in style. At some point it takes too much to stay on the cutting edge. For example, we become content with our computer and fail to buy the latest upgrade. We stay with our old reliable car. We maintain what we have rather than surrounding ourselves with the latest and greatest gadgets. We move toward simple over complex. In making the decision to no longer pursue the latest style, we may feel that we have lost our voice, that we can no longer be heard. We may feel invisible and out of it. It is easy to become observers rather than participants.
Paul warns us that the gospel is not about cutting edge style, it is about substance. As elders in our community we can always be voices for substance. We can continue to put God first in our lives and trust him in all things. We can rely on the salvation of Jesus Christ. We can love our neighbors as ourselves. We can forgive others who have wronged us. We can work for reconciliation in our families and communities. We can endure loss and hardship with grace. We can show compassion and work for justice. One does not need to be stylish to model the substance of the gospel. Paul reminds us that it is God's commendation that counts, and God does not give style points. Let us never grow weary of modeling the substance of the gospel!
How do you choose substance over style?
