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16我再说，谁都不可把我看作愚蠢的；即使你们把我当作愚蠢人，那么，也让我稍微夸夸口吧。17我说的话不是奉主的权柄说的，而是像愚蠢人具有自信地放胆夸口。18既然有好些人凭着血气在夸口，我也要夸口了。19你们是聪明人，竟能甘心容忍愚蠢人！20假若有人奴役你们，或侵吞你们，或压榨你们，或侮辱你们，或打你们的脸，你们居然都能容忍。21说来惭愧，在这方面好像我们是太软弱了。
30我若必须夸口，就夸我软弱的事好了。31那永远可称颂之主耶稣的父 神知道我不说谎。32在大马士革的亚哩达王手下的提督把守大马士革城，要捉拿我，33我被人用筐子从城墙上的窗口缒下，逃脱了他的手。
对于那些试图诱惑哥林多信徒走向歧途的“超级使徒”，保罗可以向他们夸口；在21-29节，保罗用自己的经历夸口。但在保罗看来，在这些事情上夸口是愚蠢的行为。
看上去那些超级使徒在哥林多教会的行为，就像是恶霸一样。他们甚至夸口自己有能力去威吓那些弱者。保罗这里甚至提到“打你们的脸”。难道这些假教师真的是用身体虐待的方式，来控制那些弱者吗？也许是这样。在教会历史上确实出现过类似的事情，那些真信徒在背离基督的假教会手中受苦，甚至死亡。
但是保罗夸耀什么呢？他的软弱。他的确行过神迹，但不是为了救自己。在大马士革，有人要捉拿他，他躲在筐子里，从城墙上被人缒下去，逃离了这个城市。那时没有天使来拯救他。他被腓力斯和非斯都收在监牢里长达两年，也没有神迹来拯救他。
为什么要夸耀他的软弱呢？因为福音的大能就是要在那些软弱的人身上工作。当我们四处传播福音的时候，记住这点很重要。我敢肯定，我永远无法像今天某些超级传教士那样，让一整座体育场坐满人，听他讲道。但无论何时，不论走到哪里，我都会继续传讲福音。为什么？因为保罗在罗马书中这样写道：“我不以福音为耻；这福音本是神的大能，要救一切相信的人。”
祷告：主耶稣，愿你的话语传遍这个世界，无论你的福音无论传播到哪里，是在遥远的地方，还是在我们身边，愿你的国度降临，愿你的旨意成就。阿们。
2 Corinthians 11: 16 I repeat: Let no one take me for a fool. But if you do, then tolerate me just as you would a fool, so that I may do a little boasting. 17 In this self-confident boasting I am not talking as the Lord would, but as a fool. 18 Since many are boasting in the way the world does, I too will boast. 19 You gladly put up with fools since you are so wise! 20 In fact, you even put up with anyone who enslaves you or exploits you or takes advantage of you or puts on airs or slaps you in the face. 21 To my shame I admit that we were too weak for that! … 30 If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness. 31 The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, who is to be praised forever, knows that I am not lying. 32 In Damascus the governor under King Aretas had the city of the Damascenes guarded in order to arrest me. 33 But I was lowered in a basket from a window in the wall and slipped through his hands. (NIV)
Paul could boast with the best of these “super-apostles” that were trying to mislead the Corinthians. He had the marks on his body to prove it, as we will see in tomorrow’s devotion. But to boast about such things would be to act foolishly.
It appears that those super-apostles were acting almost like bullies. They boasted about their powers to intimidate the weak. Paul even mentions being slapped in the face. Did these false teachers actually resort to physical abuse to gain control of the weak? Perhaps so. There have been times in the history of the church when real Christians suffered at the hands of the apostate church, even to the point of death.
But what does Paul boast about? His weaknesses. He did wonderful miracles, except to save himself. When he was about to be arrested in Damascus, he fled the city by being lowered in a basket from the wall. No angels delivered him. When he was in prison under Felix and Festus for almost two years, no miracle saved him.
Why boast about his weaknesses? Because the power of the gospel works even in the hands of those who are weak. That’s important for us to remember as we go about preaching the gospel. I am sure that I will never fill a stadium with people, the way that some super-preachers do today. But I will continue to proclaim the gospel wherever and whenever I can. Why? Because as Paul wrote to the Romans, “I am not ashamed of the gospel because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes.”
Prayer: Lord Jesus, let your word have free course throughout the world, so that wherever the gospel is preached, in distant lands or neighborhoods near, your kingdom may come and your will be done. Amen.