2 Corinthians 10:12-18

Having heard an antidote, we’ll see whether it translates to written form. If you take a group of, say, 20, 5-year-old children and tell them to run to the other end of a football field, you’ll see varying results, few good. Some will look at their feet; those almost always fall. Some see something off to one sideline or the other and veer off in the wrong direction. Some simply stand there, not sure what to actually do.

Now, if you take a group of 20 14-year-olds and run the same drill, only the willful sluggard or those looking back to see whose catching up do err in the task.

It takes training and a depth of Christian maturity to run the race Christ has set before you, pressing toward the mark (Philippians 3:14).

“For we dare not make ourselves of the number, or compare ourselves with some that commend themselves: but they measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise.” – 2 Corinthians 10:12

There is a problem among those less mature in Christ; they compare themselves with themselves or against others. Some compare themselves to others negatively, but some boast of themselves too highly, either openly or by internal dialog. Many also get distracted by bible sounding things that are not Scripture, and some sadly never run the race.

We are called; ordained to works individually. Some bring fruit an hundredfold, some thirtyfold (Matthew 13:8). The body of Christ, if rightly fitted together (Ephesians 4:16), is to serve each man in his own works that our Lord Jesus Christ has pressed upon him.

Verse 12 is as though a proverb of wisdom, and it’s a gem of Christian knowledge about service unto the Lord. If your eyes are on the wrong person, others, or yourself, you serve amiss. We are to labor always about the business of pleasing our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

Sadly, because of a lack of maturity or incorrect focus, many hinder themselves or their brothers and sisters from the good works God has set before them. Why that is, is somewhat of a mystery, but it must start with a lack of eyes upon the prize of heaven, forsaking convicted prayer and personal bible study. Ask almost any brother in Christ who’s served God for some time, and they’ll tell how at the start, some who claimed to be their fellows told them it couldn’t be done or shouldn’t be done or that it would amount to nothing. Jesus took 12 men, made them disciples, and turned the world upside down; it can be done, and those still faithful are getting it done even today.

If the works comport with the sound understanding of New Testament service to Christ, then never hinder the work or belittle the man newly called to the field, whatever service that may be. There is nothing wrong, and often preferably so, with serving quietly, laboring in anonymity, knowing that treasures are being laid up in heaven with our Lord. It is said that one measure of a man is what he does when nobody is watching. Sadly today, many things are called Christian service, which is only religious exercises by those who have taken a single verse, often out of context, labeling it following Christ.

Old-fashioned humility is sorely lacking inside the body of Christ. Christians, serving to be seen serving, have their reward in this life (Matthew 6:2). It’s braggadocious to seek the approval of men. If you always strive to please the Lord firstly, as a practical matter, this allows the Holy Spirit of God to guide you, course correcting while teaching you a depth of maturity in service that your fruit will be much, and be that fruit which remains after the test of fire (John 15:16).

This section of Scripture in 2 Corinthians discusses boasting (Verse 15) in the labors of others. Christ, having set the firm foundation in a man’s soul and those laboring before us, have made a path desired for any that pursue Christ. At least, that’s what our brothers before should have done, and you should be doing now. We ought always to brag on the Lord, acknowledging those others whose labor laid foundations without which we would surely fail. Some plant, some water, but God brings the increase (1 Corinthians 3:6).

Good leadership provides the tools, training, and resources necessary to ensure the mission’s success. It’s no different in the body of Christ because it’s what Jesus did with His disciples.

An example on the negative side: those who busy themselves, creating a vast cloud of dust in their wake while doing none of what Christ commands by His word. Or serving amiss to glory among themselves about how excellent they are, or most sinfully, they do it for money. These are secular, absent Christ, for what lost sinner and busy body do-gooder hasn’t done these very things? Glory not but in the Lord.

Cast a leery eye toward those building a foundation upon their self-lauding words. If someone is getting the accolades of men, fear not, for the Lord knows their heart and yours. You need not measure yourself against others but against faithfulness to complete the mission Christ has given you. Jesus wants faith, your faith in following Him, not seeking to ride the coattails of other men’s labors as though they were ours, or worrying about your status among men. Heaven is our home; all will be revealed (Luke 12:2).

An example about seeking the lost is apt; God saves who He will through their faith in the finished work of Christ while under conviction from the Holy Spirit. And almost always, many seeds have been planted in the lost man’s heart before the harvest is ripe and the fruit falls into the final witness’s basket of harvest.

Desiring the approval of men is a fault of pride in the Christian heart. This section of Scripture concludes with 2 Corinthians 10:18: “For not he that commendeth himself is approved, but whom the Lord commendeth.”