OUR SPIRITUAL WEAPONS -- Tomorrow:
"Now I Paul myself beseech you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ, who in presence am base among you, but being absent am bold toward you: But I beseech you, that I may not be bold when I am present with that confidence, wherewith I think to be bold against some, which think of us as if we walked according to the flesh. For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ; And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled." (2 Cor 10:1-6)
APPEARING BASE WHEN PRESENT, #1
" . . . who in presence am base among . . . "
Other versions read, "who in presence am lowly" (NKJV), "who am meek when face to face with you" (NASB), "who am timid when face to face with you" (NIV), "who am humble when face to face with you" (NRSV), "who am poor in spirit when with you" (BBE), "as to appearance, am mean among you" (DARBY), "who am meek when face to face with you" (NAB), "the one who is so humble when facing you" (NJB), "when I am present among you am of no reputation" (TNT), "when among you have not an imposing presence" (WEYMOUTH), and "who [am] lowly enough [so they say] when among you face to face" (AMPLIFIED).
This is the assessment of Paul's critics. He is apparently quoting what they have said of him. However, his critics have misjudged his appearance, thinking that his meek manner was a sign of weakness, human fear, and basic timidity. They appeared to have thought that Paul viewed himself as grossly inferior to them and their Grecian manners – as though he was intimidated by them. Nothing could possibly be further from the truth.
Later in this chapter, Paul will allude to these very charges. "For his letters, say they, are weighty and powerful; but his bodily presence is weak, and his speech contemptible" (2 Cor 10:10). Their judgment represented Paul as cowering among men in an attempt to gain their favor. They saw him as afraid to exercise the discipline that he demanded of them in his letters. If the truth of the matter can be seen, they were assuming Paul was like unto themselves.
From the higher point of view, Paul had been gracious, exercising the gentleness and meekness of Christ in seeking to bring the Corinthians within the perimeter of Divine favor. Like his Master, he did not wish to break a bruised reed or quench a smoking flax (Isa 42:3; Matt 12:20). This kind of deportment did not match the Corinthian's opinion of greatness. By not pushing himself among men, they thought he was comparing himself with them, when actually he was more conscious of the Lord who called him, than of the Corinthians themselves. He was desirous of the Lord's approval, not that of his hearers or readers.
Paul was not forward in the flesh. He was not seeking to promote himself or some private agenda. To the world this is a sign of weakness. To the Corinthians he was like the fair-haired David standing before the giant Goliath – his critics imagining themselves to be like Goliath. Paul had apparently moved among them with unusual gentleness, becoming "all things to all men" (1 Cor 9:22; 10:33). This was because he sought to "by all means save some," not because he felt inferior to them.
He had not fully asserted his apostolic power and authority, not striking his critics blind as he did Elymas the sorcerer (Acts 13:8-11). He had not risen up in righteous indignation as he did in the synagogue of Antioch of Pisidia. There he said, "It was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you: but seeing ye put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles" (Acts 13:46). The Corinthians took his gentle conduct among them as a sign of weakness.
PRAYER POINT: Father, in the name of Jesus, grant me grace not to deride Your messengers, or treat them as though they were anything but Your servants.