Different But Equal

DEVOTION

2 CORINTHIANS

DIFFERENT BUT EQUAL

2 Cor 12:11-13

11 I have made a fool of myself, but you drove me to it. I ought to have been commended by you, for I am not in the least inferior to the "super-apostles," even though I am nothing. 12 The things that mark an apostle — signs, wonders and miracles — were done among you with great perseverance. 13 How were you inferior to the other churches, except that I was never a burden to you? Forgive me this wrong!

NIV

Although this seems to be a remarkable defense of the power of God working in Paul and his somewhat sarcastic way of making sure these Corinthians know he is the real thing, there still is a truth for us today. Evidently some supposed “super-apostles” were trying to convince the church in Corinth that there were inferior to other churches in other regions, and it would appear from the context of the whole letter they were making a point that these people did not give as much as the other churches did. These “super apostles” were all about fleecing the flock. They were looking for the cash, and making the people of Corinth feeling guilty and inferior because they did not give enough to support them. Paul was refuting this pressure by those “super-apostles”. Yet the proof of being an apostle may well not have been with the “super-apostles” but it surely was with Paul. This is the truth for us today. We have many false teachers, “super-evangelists” so to speak  Are there any evidence of the power of God in their lives? There sure is the evidence of them making us feel guilty because we don’t give enough to them, otherwise they would stop asking for our money all the time.  The point here is the matter of superior and inferior, both as individuals and as churches. God does not show favoritism or as the KJV puts it, God is no respecter of persons. We are all equal in his eyes; there is not one single person who is more important than anyone else in the Kingdom of God. Now we might be tried to be convinced otherwise in the kingdom of men, but the truth is we are all the same in the eyes of God. We do not have to feel inferior to any other person. If we attend a small little church that might be struggling to get by, we do not have to feel inferior to those mega churches with multiple pastors, paid support staff and seem to attract people by the hordes. What matters is are we doing the will of the Father. Perhaps God has called some to tasks that are larger than the one he has called us to, but that does not mean one is superior to the other. Maybe he has called us to a larger task then he has called others to, but that does not mean we are superior to them either. We are all living stones being built, by God, into a temple for him. We have heard it before, bloom where we are planted. We need to be willing to accomplish the will of God both in our own lives, and in the pursuit of advancing the Kingdom of God. We need to see we are all God’s children, equal, perhaps with difference roles, but equal.