Paul Misunderstood

Cultural norms frequently affect our expectations of our pastors and elders, as is evident in our day. In modern America, at least, we often expect our elders and pastors to do far more than Scripture tells us to expect. Historically, the church has recognized Acts 6:4 as outlining the core duties of church elders and pastors—namely, “prayer” and “the ministry of the word.” Elders and pastors are supposed to devote themselves to praying for the church and with people in the church, and they are to minister the Word of God through preaching, teaching, and counsel. Yet, today we often expect our pastors and elders also to be community leaders, CEOs, and more. This can lead to disappointment when improper expectations are not fulfilled. The solution, of course, is to bring our expectations of elders and pastors more in line with Scripture, not to pile on additional duties to which they have not been called.

In first-century Corinth, the cultural expectation was for religious teachers to solicit and accept financial support from their students. As we have seen, this led the Corinthian Christians to misunderstand Paul when he refused to receive funds from them (see 1 Cor. 9). This issue comes up again in today’s passage. The Apostle refers to their suspicion of his being crafty and of taking advantage of them through others such as Titus (2 Cor. 12:16–18). Basically, the Corinthians believed that Paul acted disingenuously in turning down their support. It seems they thought he was rejecting their support publicly but then secretly taking it anyway, probably through the collection for the Jerusalem church. In other words, they apparently believed he was taking advantage of their giving by skimming some of the funds intended for the Christians in Jerusalem. They thought that Paul, instead of being honest about his need for their help, was secretly getting money from them anyway.

The Apostle refutes this by appealing to the envoys he had sent to Corinth. The Corinthians knew Titus, for he had spent time with the church (2 Cor. 7:5–9), and he had plainly not taken advantage of them. Titus’ good will demonstrated Paul’s good will toward the Corinthians, for Titus was carrying out duties assigned by Paul (2 Cor. 12:16–18). Matthew Henry comments that Paul and his fellow workers “all agreed in this matter to do them all the good they could, without being burdensome to them, to promote the gospel among them and make it as easy to them as possible.”