Category Archives: 2 Corinthians

We are confident of all this because of our great trust in God through Christ. It is not that we think we are qualified to do anything on our own. Our qualification comes from God. He has enabled us to be ministers of his new covenant. This is a covenant not of written laws, but of the Spirit. The old written covenant ends in death; but under the new covenant, the Spirit gives life.2 Corinthians 3:4-6 

Dear God, there are times when I can really feel the Holy Spirit moving in me and getting me to a place of compassion and insight that I’d don’t normally have. I wish it happened more often than it does. Maybe it happens more often than I realize, but I know that when I do realize it is happening it feels like a wonderful thing. 
Yesterday, I think I was able to help people make a connection to an anonymous prayer request left at my work. There were the words in the prayer request, which were heartbreaking enough, but then I felt like the Holy Spirit whispered in my ear about that person’s state of being and experience while they wrote that request down. Then I shared that thought with a couple of people and I think it helped them to 1.) have more empathy for the person and 2.) put their own problems and interpersonal conflicts with others into perspective. 
Father, make me an instrument of your peace. Make me a leader of your will. Make me a doer of your word. Make me a teacher of your grace. 
In Jesus’ name I pray,
Amen 

2 Corinthians 4:2 But we have renounced the hidden things of shame, not walking in craftiness nor handling the word of God deceitfully, but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God.

A couple of months ago, I woke up from a dream in which I was sitting in a classroom and a teacher gave us an assignment: “Define shame.” I questioned her and asked if we were supposed to define the verb or the noun. She looked at me and simply said, “Define shame.”

I woke up feeling like this was something I needed to do. It seemed divinely inspired. I needed to define shame. I sat down to do it a couple of times, but I ran into road blocks. I started thinking of biblical characters who experienced shame: Adam, Noah, Saul, David, Elijah, Peter, Thomas, etc. Frankly, nearly everyone in the Bible experienced shame because all of us are flawed and make mistakes (or have tragic things done to us). It’s one of the most refreshing things about reading the Bible–it is honest about what it’s like to be human.

So this “assignment” from my dream (something that felt divinely inspired at the time) has been sitting in the back of my brain. I’ve always drifted towards defining it as a noun, but I’ve still struggled. Then I ran across this passage from 2 Corinthians and I decided to take another swing at it. How would I define shame?

If I’m going to use this verse, and since I don’t read Greek or Hebrew, it’s probably a good idea to look at some different translations of this passage. Here are a few:

We reject all shameful deeds and underhanded methods. We don’t try to trick anyone or distort the word of God. We tell the truth before God, and all who are honest know this. (New Living Translation)

Rather, we have renounced secret and shameful ways; we do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God. On the contrary, by setting forth the truth plainly we commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God. (New International Version)

…but we have renounced the things hidden because of shame, not walking in craftiness or adulterating the word of God, but by the manifestation of truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God. (New American Standard)

But have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully; but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God. (King James Version)

But we have renounced the hidden things of shame, not walking in craftiness nor handling the word of God deceitfully, but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God. (New King James Version)

While Paul is talking about how he treats evangelism here, there are truths that go back to my dream and the assignment I received from the teacher. I think a key to what Paul is saying here is that shame changes us. Shame causes us to hide things. Shame causes us to deceive so that we can keep reality a secret.

Shame isn’t only driven by the things we do. Sometimes it is driven by the things that are done to us. I’m thinking about sexual abuse/assault. I’m thinking about the child who is ashamed of their parent because of prison or something else. I’m thinking about the shame of poverty. I’m thinking about substance abuse. I’m thinking about the shame a parent has when their child “didn’t turn out the way they should.”

Notice that all of the translations combine the same idea along with shame. The words they use are “secret,” “underhanded,” and “hidden.” That’s where Satan gets his power over us–over me. It’s when I am ashamed of something that I have done or was done to me, and I decide that it must be something that only I can know or I will be rejected.

I am not saying that we must share our shame with everybody, but I do believe that it needs to be shared with somebody (a spouse, parent, trusted friend, pastor, therapist, etc.).

When I first started dating my wife 28 years ago, we were talking late one night and I knew that this relationship was serious. We had already bonded quite a bit and I decided to take a chance. I told her my deepest, darkest secret. I took a chance that it would end the relationship there, but I wanted to know early on if she could accept me. Thankfully, she did. But if I had carried that secret into the rest of our relationship and the next 25 years of marriage, I would still be sitting here, even as I type this, in shame, deceiving her, and hoping she doesn’t find out how awful I really am. Instead, that secret has lost its power and I can be free. I also know that I can trust her and I am free to be honest with her.

I think the hopeful thing about this passage is that it ties our rejection of shame’s power over us with being honest. It’s a reminder to me that I need to be intentionally vulnerable to my wife, family, and close friends, and appropriately vulnerable with others. It is also a reminder to look beyond the deception that I see in others and try to consider that there might be something they are hiding that is driving their behavior.

So here is my personal response to the teacher in my dream.

shame (noun): the emotion felt over an embarrassing event that Satan then uses to separate us from God and the ones we love by leading us to deceive

2 Corinthians 10:17-18 But, “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.” For it is not the one who commends himself who is approved, but the one whom the Lord commends. 
Dear God, all of us need to work on our humility. I need to work on my humility. I went back and looked for the reference for Paul’s quote in verse 17. It gave me Jeremiah 9. Here’s verses 23 and 24:

Jeremiah 9:23-24 NIV

[23] This is what the Lord says: “Let not the wise boast of their wisdom or the strong boast of their strength or the rich boast of their riches, [24] but let the one who boasts boast about this: that they have the understanding to know me, that I am the Lord, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight,” declares the Lord.

So if I want to brag about anything it should be that I had the sense to submit my life to your Lordship, and I continue to pursue you as best I can. 

Father, help me to draw others to you through humility. I visited with a woman yesterday who needs your help. Give her a sense of your purpose for her. Help me, my wife, our children, our family members, our coworkers, our friends, and all who I know somehow have their lives touched by you simply through my acts of obedience to you. 

In Jesus’ name I pray,

Amen

2 Corinthians 7:1 Therefore, since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God. 
Dear God, why is it that my first instinctual reaction to this passage was to reject the idea of being too holy? I think I’ve always feared that being too holy–either in actions or attitudes–would take me too much out of the world and I would lose my saltiness. I would lose any credibility I need to be your representative. 

I guess it comes down to what we mean by holiness and how that gets demonstrated to the world. For example, how will my relatives who are struggling with different life situations right now see me if I act too holy? Will they be repulsed? Will they see something they want?

Father, I suppose it comes down to pursuing you, trying to keep my focus on you and rejecting things that reject you, and then letting you guide my actions from there. I just don’t want to be “holier than thou” when I am with those who are struggling. What I really want to be is their fellow sojourner who can encourage them into deeper relationship with you. And I want to always be deepening my relationship with you too. 

In Jesus’ name I pray,

Amen