2 Corinthians 13:10 KJV
Therefore I write these things being absent, lest being present I should use sharpness, according to the power which the Lord hath given me to edification, and not to destruction.
The Apostle admitted being sharp in his communication to the Corinthian church but he said:
His was a power given him of the Lord.
The preacher serves with a power that is not his own. If he seems pointed and brusque; if his manner of confidence and persuasiveness takes a person aback, it must be remembered that his is a power that is of the Lord.
He did not use sharpness to destroy them.
The most aggressive of preachers, the ones who seem the most hardened. Those preachers whose personalities are the most sharp, never have as their intention to destroy a person or a church. It would be counter productive to the very reason they are in the ministry in the first place. The intent is never to destroy.
His desire was their perfection and edification.
Those two words are different sides of the same truth. I don't think perfection and edification are synonyms, but they are compliments of the other. God wants to see the work of God perfecting and growing and maturing into that church without spot or wrinkle or any such thing. And he accomplishes this perfection through edification. That edification requires that the preacher give the truth with candor and sharpness.
We ought to thank God for candor, sharpness and the aggressive ability of the preacher to "get to the point." Rather than seeing it as a mean spirit, view it as what it is, God's gift upon him for the edification and perfecting of the saints.
Therefore I write these things being absent, lest being present I should use sharpness, according to the power which the Lord hath given me to edification, and not to destruction.
The Apostle admitted being sharp in his communication to the Corinthian church but he said:
His was a power given him of the Lord.
The preacher serves with a power that is not his own. If he seems pointed and brusque; if his manner of confidence and persuasiveness takes a person aback, it must be remembered that his is a power that is of the Lord.
He did not use sharpness to destroy them.
The most aggressive of preachers, the ones who seem the most hardened. Those preachers whose personalities are the most sharp, never have as their intention to destroy a person or a church. It would be counter productive to the very reason they are in the ministry in the first place. The intent is never to destroy.
His desire was their perfection and edification.
Those two words are different sides of the same truth. I don't think perfection and edification are synonyms, but they are compliments of the other. God wants to see the work of God perfecting and growing and maturing into that church without spot or wrinkle or any such thing. And he accomplishes this perfection through edification. That edification requires that the preacher give the truth with candor and sharpness.
We ought to thank God for candor, sharpness and the aggressive ability of the preacher to "get to the point." Rather than seeing it as a mean spirit, view it as what it is, God's gift upon him for the edification and perfecting of the saints.
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