DEVOTION
THE 2ND
LETTER TO THE CORINTHIANS
OUT OF OUR MIND, AND
IN OUR RIGHT MIND
2 Cor 5:11-15
11 Since, then, we know what
it is to fear the Lord, we try to persuade men. What we are is plain to God,
and I hope it is also plain to your conscience. 12 We are not trying to commend
ourselves to you again, but are giving you an opportunity to take pride in us,
so that you can answer those who take pride in what is seen rather than in what
is in the heart. 13 If we are out of our mind, it is for the sake of God; if we
are in our right mind, it is for you. 14 For Christ's love compels us, because
we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. 15 And he died
for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him
who died for them and was raised again.
NIV
This is a little confusing.
What are we going to do with this? How do we make sense of it? First, the Greek
word Paul used here translated as fear, is exactly that, to be put in fear, to
be alarmed. This is not the word that can be used as reverence which is also translated
as to fear the Lord. This is to fear him, to be afraid of his wrath, and to know
that awesome power that he can pour forth upon mankind. When we think about that
and know that we are not hidden from God in any way, that he knows our heart
and mind and we are fully exposed to him. Paul says what we are is plain to
God. Why would we not be alarmed? Although we might look good on the outside,
and present a nice looking, Christian, image to our fellow humans, the total
sum of all we are on the inside, our inner man that other men cannot see, is completely exposed to God. We know what it is to fear him, although we have no
reason to now, for we are in Christ, and through him, we are declared holy and
blameless in His sight. But the point is that we know what is it to fear God,
and because we know we should be trying to persuade others so they will not experience
his wrath, but rather his grace, as we do now. Paul is also making the point
that what we are, should be a witness to those who judge things by what is seen
rather than what is in the heart. Most of the world cannot see into our heart,
they cannot tell our inner man’s love for God, but only see the condition of
our outer man and its movements, or actions, and its expression, or spoken words.
It might seem that when we are alone, that we are a bit crazy in our expression
toward God. That is we worship Him with all our heart, mind, spirit and, strength,
and it could look somewhat strange to an outsider. Although we must admit, some
churches we have been in we see some standing as if they were a statue, perhaps
appealing more to those who take pride in the seen than what is in the heart. But
when we worship, we ought to appear out of our mind, because it is for the sake
of God. But when we speak or interact with others, for either the purpose to
witness, in order to bring the good news to them, or for the purpose of teaching or encouraging
others in their faith, we need to be in our right mind. The question we must
ask ourselves is if we too are compelled. Are we compelled by the love of Christ
to no longer live for ourselves, but to live for Christ? Are we so convinced of
this truth that we are compelled to tell others, to help them escape the death
that awaits them so that they too can live as we do because of Christ? So at
times, we are out of our mind for the sake of God, and in our right minds for
the sake of people.
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