LOVE'S FOOL
© Paul Brydson Oct 31, 1998
The Church of God in Williamstown
WEB SITE: http://www.alphalink.com.au/~sanhub/index.htm

INTRODUCTION
We may have heard the term "love's fool" used to describe someone who is swept up in the pleasant and powerful emotions of being in love, and in the process disengages his or her brain. Shakespeare's black general Othello was deceived into thinking that his wife was being unfaithful, and in a fit of jealousy killed her. When he learnt how he had been deceived he killed himself, but just before he did he expressed his desire that he be remembered as "one that loved not wisely, but too well", meaning that he was passionate in his affections, vehement in his anger, but lacking in wisdom to control them.

Today I would like to consider the example of one of God's servants of whom it can be said that he did love wisely and did love very well, and yet in a sense he described himself as love's fool. I would like to consider his example through what seems to me to be one of the greatest love-letters ever written. It is a letter that stuns me in terms of what it reveals of the beauty, power and the emotional depths of the spirit that is filled with the love of Christ. The person of whom I speak of is the apostle Paul, and the letter is 2 Corinthians.


HOW PAUL WAS MISUNDERSTOOD
Let's first build up a picture of how Paul was perceived, at least in part, by some of the Corinthians. He was called insincere, one who didn't really mean what he said and wrote:

Paul was saying that he had a clean conscience. Did he say this because some were accusing him of being insincere? This was an on-going problem that Paul had to deal with as we see in his letters to the Thessalonians: Paul invoked God as his witness to testify that he had not done these things. He strongly denied that he had been deceitful or insincere: Again, he invoked God as a witness that he had not used deceit towards them.

The implication is that some were saying that Paul's messages were veiled and secretive. Paul responded:

Paul took these charges so seriously that he put himself under yet another oath to refute them. This is the third time that Paul has done this.

He commended himself, it was claimed (Christ was likewise accused - Jn 8:13):

He was beside himself-crazy (2Co 5:13; cf. Mk 3:21): He was also thought of as a fool (2Co 11:1,16; 12:11): He was taking advantage of people with cunning: There must have been many false accusations going around about Paul. So Paul was accused of using cunning and guile to trick them. He had to defend himself against accusations of guile and manipulation.

He said one thing when present, but did another behind their backs:

What else can we add to the list of Paul's misdemeanours?
He boasted of his authority, and took too much on himself. So Paul was seen as a bit of a Genghis Khan-overly ambitious and power-hungry.

And worst of all-he was boring to listen to:

So it seems that Paul was considered insincere, beguiling in his words, indecisive, unreliable, a braggart, foolish, crazy, deceitful, over-ambitious, power-hungry and dull. None of it was true. But how would you feel towards a group of people who held you in such high esteem?! I think parents struggle at times in the face of such misunderstandings from their children. So what we can learn from how Paul conducted himself in this regard could be helpful to parents who are struggling similarly. If you were Paul, what sort of letter would you write to the Corinthians in response? Let's consider how Paul responded.


THE SUFFERING OF LOVE
The open expression of affection
Firstly, we see that Paul is a wonderful example of the suffering required to truly love. In response to the criticism that he was indecisive and unreliable in returning to them, Paul answered from the heart:

Paul felt a need to postpone his visit to those he loved because his presence might have caused both them and him more pain.
God also suffers in his love for his people. Back to 2 Corinthians. Sometimes it cuts us to the core to have to correct someone we really love. The thought of losing their love and friendship tears at our heart. But this wrestling with such emotions is also an expression of the depth of our love for them. Those to whom Paul was endeared were reluctant in their affections towards him-and they were actually accusing him of being distant! How often are we restricted in our affections towards our loved ones? And yet here was a man who really was free. Remember, this was Paul's response to a group of people who held some uncomplementary view about him. What sort of man would say this to someone else? You think about it: how would you feel saying to someone, who misunderstood your good intentions, "Make room for me in your heart! You may not think much of me, but I think a lot of you". Have you ever had someone praise you to the point where you felt embarrassed? Look at the delight Paul expressed in these Corinthians. Again, Paul called upon God as his witness. Yet obviously his example and love for them was misunderstood! How often do children misunderstand the good motives of their parents? And how hurtful that is to endure! But then also, do parents fail at times to express real encouragement of and affection for their children? We know that continual correction and no encouraging affection crushes the spirit. Again, imagine someone saying to you: "I'm coming to visit, and what I want is you!" Talk about feeling wanted! So Paul's overriding concern was not for how others perceived him, but that they would do what was right. Paul's concern was for their improvement, no matter what it was costing him. In the face of disapproval and misunderstanding, Paul had in his spirit this wonderful affection for the Corinthians, one that was difficult to quench.

The strength to confront sin.
We also read that Paul had the courage to confront the problems of the Corinthians and his own feelings for them.

So, in spite of the troubles Paul had to confront, some or many of the Corinthians also had a deep love for Paul, and conformation of this gave the apostle no end of delight: After such lovely words, expressing his joy at their response to his correction, he then had some quite cutting remarks to make: What a put-down! I have to ask myself, "What sort of man is this? His love is so overwhelming, and his concern and upset at evil so uncompromising. What power must stir in his heart!" Talk about concern for others, and zeal against sin! Paul's love allowed him to express the deepest affections openly, and at the same time the most cutting rebukes. So even in the passionate defence he gave of his ministry, Paul insisted that he was not motivated to justify himself, but was acting for their well-being. He poured out his heart to them. He was honest in both affection and disapproval. It was not cool or sophisticated, and in the eyes of some makes him seem like a fool. But such was his concern for their well-being. Paul again told them he was coming to them. How he would act towards them depended upon them: PAUL AND BOASTING
One of the words that Paul uses often in this letter is "boast" and "boasting". How do you feel about people boasting? When I was growing up, I had a friend who was not averse to blowing his own trumpet. I, on the other hand, didn't have a lot of excess wind, so I preferred to let other people blow my trumpet for me. After all, the proverbs do say, However, there is more to understand about boasting, because there is much boasting done by Paul in 2Corinthians.
Scripture tells us a number of things about boasting. However, in 2 Corinthians we read that Paul boasted of the Corinthians greatly: He boasted of their responsiveness to his correction.
He boasted about their generosity, and wrote of his great confidence in them: What pride Paul had in these Corinthians!
And he boasted of the Thessalonians: He boasted of them because the Spirit of Christ was being perfected in them: It seems to me that just as evil needs to be exposed and condemned, likewise goodness must be wholeheartedly revealed and commended. Consider the zeal with which Paul did both!
So we have to learn to recognise and value greatly the heart of integrity and not be afraid to boast of it, to praise it. Perhaps this is one way we can fulfil Hebrews 10:24: "…let us consider how to stir one another up to love and good works". What could be more stirring than someone boasting of your good works and conscience? The Corinthians should have been proud of and boasting about Paul's good works on their behalf. Paul was having to come across like a fool and defend himself. As love's fool, he was having to remind them of his affection for them and his good works on their behalf-which they seemed to have so easily forgotten.

Paul boasted about his conscience:

And his hope was: About his not burdening the Corinthians: Paul had asked for no support from the Corinthians, and he would continue to use this boast of his to undermine those who claimed to be like Paul. He vehemently rejected anything in common with them.

About his work for God:

He boasted within the limits of the work that God had given him to do, and he was proud of it: He acknowledged his sincerity (2Co 2:17), that he was the aroma of Christ (2Co 2:15), his good courage (2Co 5:6,8), the love of Christ in him (2Co 5:14), his adherence to the truth (2Co 4:2), his knowledge (2Co 11:6), and he commended himself as God's servant in a multitude of other ways: He also acknowledged them: And hoped they could acknowledge him in their conscience: STRONG WHEN WEAK
So what Paul really delighted in boasting about was Christ being formed in them, and in him. That was his joy: Therefore, we are to boast in our trials (Rom 5:3), in our physical weaknesses: After praying for relief from a thorn in the flesh Paul received this answer: In our physical weaknesses, our difficulties, our sufferings, our inability to change our outer circumstances, God is able to make our spirits strong by the power of Christ, even though our circumstances are weak. Paul was afflicted, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; persecuted, but not feeling forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; dying, but manifesting life (2Co 4:7-10). May the same spirit that worked so powerfully in Paul also be at work in us all!

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