The Apostolic Resume
Introduction: The Fool's Speech
We come now to a section of Paul's letter to the Corinthian church that is dripping with a holy, biting sarcasm. Paul is forced to do something he detests, and that is to boast. He calls it speaking "in foolishness," as if "insane." And why is he doing this? Because the Corinthians, God bless them, had been taken in by a group of theological hucksters, men Paul sarcastically dubs the "super-apostles." These men were slick. They were polished speakers, they had letters of recommendation, they likely had a very impressive stage presence, and they certainly knew how to charge for their services. They were peddling a gospel that was impressive to the world, a gospel of strength, success, and self-importance. And the Corinthians, being worldly-wise in all the wrong ways, were falling for it.
So Paul, backed into a corner, decides to play their game, but with a radical, gospel-shaped twist. He says, in effect, "You want boasting? You want resumes? You want to compare credentials? Very well. Let's compare." But the resume Paul lays out is not one the world would ever value. It is not a list of his successes, but a catalog of his sufferings. It is not a record of his triumphs, but a litany of his trials. This is not just Paul defending his ministry; this is Paul re-calibrating the entire Corinthian definition of what true ministry is. He is showing them, and us, that the seal of a true apostle is not worldly power but Christ-like weakness. The proof of his ministry is not found in his strength, but in the scars he bears for the sake of the gospel.
We live in an age that is just as susceptible to the lure of the super-apostles. We are drawn to the mega-church pastor with the best marketing team, the Christian author with the most Instagram followers, the worship band with the biggest light show. We measure spiritual success by worldly metrics. And into this foolishness, Paul's fool's speech comes as a bracing, necessary corrective. It forces us to ask what kind of apostles we are looking for, and what kind of Christians we intend to be.
The Text
But in whatever respect anyone else is daring, I speak in foolishness, I am just as daring myself. Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they Abraham’s seed? So am I. Are they ministers of Christ?, I speak as if insane, I more so; in far more labors, in far more imprisonments, in beatings without number, in frequent danger of death. Five times I received from the Jews forty lashes less one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, a night and a day I have spent in the deep. I have been on frequent journeys, in dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from my countrymen, dangers from the Gentiles, dangers in the city, dangers in the desolate places, dangers on the sea, dangers among false brothers. I have been in labor and hardship, in many sleepless nights, in starvation and thirst, often hungry, in cold and without enough clothing. Apart from such external things, there is the daily pressure on me of concern for all the churches. Who is weak without my being weak? Who is made to stumble without my burning concern?
(2 Corinthians 11:21b-29 LSB)
Leveling the Playing Field (vv. 21b-23a)
Paul begins by matching the superficial credentials of his opponents before completely overturning the game board.
"But in whatever respect anyone else is daring, I speak in foolishness, I am just as daring myself. Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they Abraham’s seed? So am I. Are they ministers of Christ?, I speak as if insane, I more so..." (2 Corinthians 11:21b-23a)
Paul starts with the credentials that these Judaizing super-apostles were likely waving around. Their whole appeal was based on a kind of spiritual pedigree. "Are they Hebrews?" This refers to their language and cultural purity. Paul says, "Check. I speak the language of my fathers." "Are they Israelites?" This points to their covenant identity, their membership in the chosen nation. Paul says, "Check again. I am a member of the covenant people." "Are they Abraham's seed?" This is their racial lineage, their physical descent. Paul says, "I have that too. A Benjamite, as I say elsewhere."
He is meeting them on their own turf and showing that their claims to ethnic and religious superiority are nothing special. He can match them point for point. If the game is about heritage, Paul is in the premier league. But then he gets to the heart of the matter. "Are they ministers of Christ?" This is the central claim. And here, Paul does not simply say, "So am I." He says, "I more so." And he qualifies this boast by saying he speaks "as if insane." Why insane? Because the proof he is about to offer is the kind of thing any sane, self-promoting person would hide. The world's idea of a successful minister is one who avoids trouble. Paul's proof of his superior ministry is the sheer volume of trouble he has endured for Christ.
He is not just defending his apostleship; he is redefining it. True ministry is not about having the right bloodline or the slickest presentation. It is about being a servant, a doulos, of Christ. And to be a servant of a crucified Lord means that the path to glory is paved with suffering. The super-apostles wanted a crown without a cross. Paul is showing that the cross is the only path to the crown.
The Resume of Scars (vv. 23b-27)
Here Paul unleashes the torrent, the curriculum vitae of a true servant of Jesus Christ. It is a breathtaking list of afflictions.
"...in far more labors, in far more imprisonments, in beatings without number, in frequent danger of death. Five times I received from the Jews forty lashes less one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, a night and a day I have spent in the deep. I have been on frequent journeys, in dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from my countrymen, dangers from the Gentiles, dangers in the city, dangers in the desolate places, dangers on the sea, dangers among false brothers. I have been in labor and hardship, in many sleepless nights, in starvation and thirst, often hungry, in cold and without enough clothing." (2 Corinthians 11:23b-27 LSB)
Let us just walk through this catalog of horrors. "Far more labors, far more imprisonments." This was not a comfortable traveling lectureship. This was hard, grinding, dangerous work that frequently landed him in jail. "Beatings without number." The Greek is even stronger, suggesting beatings "beyond measure." He stopped counting.
"Five times I received from the Jews forty lashes less one." This was a synagogue punishment, specified in Deuteronomy. They stopped at thirty-nine to ensure they did not break the command against more than forty. This means five separate times, Paul was stripped, tied to a post, and flogged by his own people for preaching that the Jewish Messiah had come.
"Three times I was beaten with rods." This was a Roman punishment, often a precursor to execution. It was brutal and humiliating. "Once I was stoned." This happened at Lystra, as recorded in Acts. They dragged him out of the city and left him for dead. This was not a metaphorical stoning by the press; this was a literal attempt at execution by a mob.
Then he moves to the dangers of travel. "Three times I was shipwrecked." Travel in the ancient world was perilous. "A night and a day I have spent in the deep." This means clinging to a piece of wreckage in the open Mediterranean, waiting for rescue or death. He lists dangers from every conceivable source: rivers, robbers, his own countrymen, Gentiles, in the city, in the wilderness, on the sea. And perhaps the sharpest sting of all, "dangers among false brothers." The most painful opposition often comes not from the outright pagan, but from the man who calls you brother and then stabs you in the back.
He concludes with the constant, grinding physical toll: "labor and hardship, many sleepless nights, starvation and thirst, often hungry, in cold and without enough clothing." This is not the resume of a successful televangelist. This is the life of a man who has been poured out like a drink offering for the sake of the gospel. The super-apostles boasted in their strength, their eloquence, their visions. Paul boasts in his scars, his shipwrecks, and his sleepless nights. He is saying, "You want to see the signs of a true apostle? Don't look at my press clippings. Look at my back."
The Weight of the Churches (vv. 28-29)
As if the staggering list of physical afflictions were not enough, Paul adds the internal burden that, in many ways, was heavier than all the rest.
"Apart from such external things, there is the daily pressure on me of concern for all the churches. Who is weak without my being weak? Who is made to stumble without my burning concern?" (2 Corinthians 11:28-29 LSB)
After cataloging shipwrecks, beatings, and stonings, he says, "apart from such external things." He sets all of that aside as if it were the lesser burden. The real weight, the thing that pressed down on him daily, was his pastoral heart for the people of God. The word for "pressure" here can mean a riot or a mob. It was a daily, tumultuous anxiety for the spiritual well-being of these fledgling churches scattered across the Roman Empire.
This is the heart of a true shepherd. He feels the weaknesses and the stumblings of his sheep as if they were his own. "Who is weak without my being weak?" When a believer in Corinth was struggling with a particular temptation, Paul felt that weakness with them. He did not stand aloof, dispensing abstract advice from a position of superior strength. He entered into their struggle. This is empathy born of love.
"Who is made to stumble without my burning concern?" The word for "burning" here is the word for being set on fire. When someone was led into sin, particularly by false teaching, Paul was consumed with a holy indignation and a fiery, protective love. This was not the detached concern of a corporate CEO for his franchises. This was the passionate, fierce, loving heart of a father for his children.
The super-apostles were likely concerned with their own reputation, their own influence, their own income. Paul was concerned for the sheep. This is the final and greatest mark of his apostleship. It was not the miracles he performed or the visions he saw, but the love he had for the church, a love that made him willing to endure everything else on the list.
Conclusion: The Upside-Down Kingdom
Paul's foolish boast is a manifesto for the upside-down nature of the kingdom of God. In God's kingdom, the way up is down. The way to be strong is to be weak. The way to lead is to serve. The way to live is to die. The super-apostles were operating on the world's principles, and they were trying to drag the church in Corinth back into that same way of thinking. They were measuring greatness by the standards of Wall Street, Hollywood, and Washington D.C.
Paul comes and demolishes that entire framework. He boasts, but he boasts in his infirmities. Why? As he will say in the next chapter, it is so that the power of Christ might rest upon him. God's power is made perfect in weakness. The world looks at Paul's resume and sees a failure. A man who gets beaten, jailed, shipwrecked, and betrayed. Heaven looks at Paul's resume and sees the very image of Jesus Christ, the one who "emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant... he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross" (Philippians 2:7-8).
This passage should be a profound challenge to us. We must repent of our love for worldly metrics of success in the church. We must honor the faithful, plodding, often-unseen ministry of those who labor and suffer for the flock, not just the charismatic personalities who command the largest stages. And in our own lives, we must learn to see our weaknesses, our trials, and our sufferings not as signs of God's disfavor, but as the very arena in which the power of Christ is most perfectly displayed. The proof of our sonship is not a life free from trouble, but a life in which Christ is glorified through our trouble. That is the apostolic resume, and it is the only one that will matter on the last day.