Ten Minute Bible Talks Devotional Bible Study - Qualities of a Leader | New Testament | 2 Corinthians 12

Episode Date: July 14, 2023

What makes a good leader? Turns out Jesus's understanding of what it means to be a good leader is radically different than what we might understand as a good leader. In today's episode, Keith discusses 2 Corinthians 12. Your support makes TMBT possible. Ten Minute Bible Talks is a crowd-funded project. Join the TMBTeam to reach more people with the Bible. Give now. Join the TMBT community in reading the entire New Testament in one year. Get your FREE reading plan here. Like this content? Make sure to leave us a rating and share it with others, so others can find it too. Use #asktmbt to connect with us, ask questions, and suggest topics. We'd love to hear from you! To learn more, visit our website and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter@TenMinuteBibleTalks. Don't forget to subscribe to the TMBT Newsletter here. Passages: 2 Corinthians 12

Welcome to 10-minute Bible Talks, where we connect the Bible to your life. In the time it takes to get to work. I'm Keith Simon. Jesus had a radically different understanding of what it means to be a leader than we in America do today. These are some examples that I think I got from Scott Sol's, but to be honest, I can't remember. I just know I find I'm really convicting. In America, credentials qualify a person to lead. In Jesus, the chief qualification is character.

In America, what matters most are the results we produce. In Jesus, what matters most is the kind of people we are becoming. In America, success is measured by material accumulation, power, and the positions that we hold. In Jesus, success is measured by material generosity, humility, and the people who we serve. In America, it is shameful to come in last and laudable to come in first. In Jesus, the first will be last, and the last will be first. In America, leaders make a name for themselves to become famous and sometimes treat Jesus as a means to an end. In Jesus, leaders make his name famous and treat their own positions, abilities, and influence as a means to that end.

In America, leaders crave recognition and credit. In Jesus, leaders think less of themselves and give credit to others. In America, leaders compare and compete so that they'll flourish. In Jesus, leaders sacrifice and serve so that others will flourish. In America, leadership often means my glory and happiness at your expense. In Jesus, leadership always means your growth and wholeness at my expense. In America, the strong and powerful rise to the top. In Jesus, the meek inherit the earth.

Corinth was a lot like America. It valued the strong, the smart, the savvy, and the successful. When the Corinthians became believers, they brought those values into the church. As a follower of Jesus, the Apostle Paul emulated Jesus' leadership style. That means he rejected the kind of leadership that the Corinthians valued and respected. In 1 Corinthians 12, Paul picks up where he ended in Chapter 11. And that is he's laying out his very unconventional resume. He says this in chapter 12 verse 2. I know a man in Christ who 14 years ago was caught up to the third heaven. Whether it was in the body or out of the body,

I do not know, God knows. Now, most scholars believe that Paul is talking about himself in the third person because he doesn't want to boast about his experience. Only Enoch and Elijah were taken up into heaven alive, and so Paul's reluctant to compare himself to them. But it appears from this text that soon after he became a Christian, God gave Paul a vision of paradise. You can imagine how a Corinthian leader might use this experience to his or her advantage.

I mean, just imagine how an American pastor would have used this experience. I mean, it would be tempting to write a best-selling book about the experience and then claim that you have divine knowledge that no one else does. Or maybe a pastor would use this story in order to be invited to speak at major conferences. Interestingly, Paul refuses to boast about this experience or really even talk about it much. He says in verse 6, but I refrain so no one will think more of me than is warranted by. what I do or say, or because of these surpassingly great revelations. That's really convicting. Paul says that he doesn't want people to praise him or think more highly of him than is warranted. And I say it's convicting because I think most of us would be thrilled if people thought more

highly of us than they currently do, regardless of the reason. I mean, how many times do people say, I'm concerned because I think you think too highly of me? It's far more common for people to have their feelings hurt because in their opinion they haven't been given enough credit. Verse 7. Therefore, in order to keep me from being conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me. God gave Paul a thorn in the flesh to keep him from being full of himself. God wanted to help Paul remain humble and resist the spiritual pride that came from the vision he saw. Now, we don't know what that thorn in the flesh was, although it's likely the Corinthians did. Perhaps it was a physical ailment of some sort. Based on Paul's other letters,

some have speculated that his thorn in the flesh was poor eyesight. But the bottom line is that we will never know. Verse 8. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me, but he said to me, my grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. Whatever the thorn was, Paul wanted it removed. And so he prayed three times. He prayed. He prayed. repeatedly for God to take it away. When you read that Paul prayed three times, you can't help but think of Jesus in the Garden of Gassimony, asking God three times to let the cup of judgment pass. Jesus and Paul both prayed that God would take away suffering, but they both accepted his answer when he said that he wouldn't. Jesus would endure God's judgment on the cross, and Paul would endure

his thorn for the rest of his life. It's interesting that Paul says God's power is made perfect in his weakness. Why is that the case? Well, I think it's because it's easier to seek God's strength in our weakness. But in our culture, weakness isn't valued. No one wants to vote for a weak candidate to be president. No one values a weak leader of a company or an organization or a church. Can you imagine a pastoral search committee reading through Paul's resume and seeing that he's leading by listing his weaknesses? They would for sure throw his resume in the discard pile. Paul goes on. He says, I will boast the more gladly about my weaknesses so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults and hardships and

persecutions and difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. We can be strong with human strength or divine strength. When we accept our weaknesses, we are more open to rely on God. When we rely on ourselves, we don't leave room for God. In 1 Corinthians 1, Paul writes, But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise. God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.

God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things and the things that are not to nullify the things that are so that no one may boast before him. Do you feel weak? If so, you're in good company. So did Abraham and Moses and Gideon and Ruth and David and Esther and Mary and Peter. The list goes on and on. God loves to use weak people. If you feel weak right now, then that's the perfect place.

That's exactly the place God wants you to be. Resist the cultural pressure to boast in your strength. Instead, delight in your weakness because that's when you can be strong in the Lord. Hey, thanks for listening. If you want to go deeper, sign up for the 10-minute Bible Talk newsletter. You'll get a short email once a week. It'll challenge you to grow in your faith, give you interesting background on today's passage and a lot, lot more. Just click the link in the show notes to sign up. It'll help you

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