Bold

2 Cor 12:15 "And I will very gladly spend and be spent, for your souls; though the more abundantly I love you, the less I am loved."

So, let's lay it all out on the table. Don't hold back. Tell us what you are really thinking, Paul. He did. As I read through chapters 11 and 12 of 2 Corinthians I can see that Paul is not trying to be politically, socially or religiously correct. He obviously decided that he was going to come at this church and come at them hard. "You are putting up with false teachers." "I robbed other churches to minister to you." "I kept myself from being a burden." "You put up with people who put you in bondage." "It isn't profitable for me to boast." "I should have been commended by you." "Forgive me for not being a burden." "I am afraid that when I come to you I will find you in sin." And then this one which is a dagger to the heart: "I will very gladly spend and be spent, for your souls; though the more abundantly I love you, the less I am loved." In other words: I am pouring out my life for you and will continue to do this, but the more I love you the less I am loved by you. Wow. And the thing is, he was willing to do it.

Two things hit me: Paul was willing to totally burn out to minister to these people and not receive any love, or appreciation, or thanks, or recognition. He did it because he loved them. Am I willing to do that? Am I willing to minister and not only not receive love, but receive criticism? Tough stuff. As I think about it, this did happen at one time in my life and it is not fun.

That leads to the second point: Paul was willing to tell them. He was willing to be bold and lay it on the line and tell them that they were out of line. He did not care if they took this well or took this hard or if they were offended. He simply spoke the truth. This may be harder than ministering to others who do not respond well…and frankly, this is probably where I blew it in the past. I was willing to take the arrows but not boldly speak the truth in love.

It is funny, as you get older you tend to get bolder. As you get older you have a sense that speaking the truth into people's lives is more important than their friendship. I know that that sounds bad, but the question that needs to be addressed is whether it is more important to keep silent in order to maintain a friendship but watch a person or a church destroy itself, or is it more loving to confront the situation head on and realize you may lose a friendship but save a life? I think Paul believed the second option was the better of the two.

I hate it, but it is the truth. We need to loving, boldly confront people with their sin and let God do the rest. God please give grace.