Exposing Foolishness Without Becoming a Fool

2 Corinthians 11:1–21a

Foolishness is dangerous. Proverbs 26 warns us both not to answer a fool according to his folly—lest we become like him—and also to answer a fool, lest he think himself wise. That’s the razor’s edge Paul had to walk in Corinth. We get to see that fine line in 2 Corinthians 11.

The Corinthian church was cozying up to false apostles—spiritual pretenders who undermined the true gospel of Jesus Christ. These teachers were eloquent, persuasive, and polished, but their message was rotten at its core. Paul could have ignored them, but his jealous love for the church drove him to speak. He knew that sometimes Christians must confront false teachers in the church, even using biting sarcasm and irony to make the point.

Have you ever realized how important accurate measurements are? If Subway cheats you of a couple of inches, it’s annoying but not life-changing. If your baseboard is a little uneven, it might bother your eye, but not much else. But when you’re driving, measurements matter a lot. A small mistake could mean disaster.

My dad learned that lesson the hard way as a teenager in Canada. He ran an errand for his teacher, using his teacher’s car (a strange enough situation in itself!). He thought he was cruising safely along at 50. What he didn’t realize was that the speedometer was in miles per hour, not kilometers per hour. By the time the flashing lights appeared in the rearview mirror, he was going much faster than he thought. Wrong measurements had real consequences.

The same is true in our spiritual lives. If we use the wrong measuring stick for what makes a good pastor, leader, or even a faithful Christian, we’ll always get the wrong result.

In 2 Corinthians 10:7–18, the apostle Paul tackles this very issue. The Corinthian church had been swayed by flashy “super-apostles” who measured ministry by talent, charisma, and outward appearances. Paul reminds them (and us) that those are faulty measuring sticks. So what does God say makes a faithful minister of the gospel?

Ordination is one of the most serious responsibilities a local church can undertake, because it is not simply a ceremony but a declaration. When a congregation ordains a man to the gospel ministry, it is saying to the watching world: “We believe that God has called and equipped this man to shepherd His people.” In doing so, the church is affirming a man’s calling, testifying of his character, and setting him apart for a lifetime of service to Christ and His bride.

Yet many Christians wonder: What does ordination actually mean? Why does it matter? And how should churches approach the ordination process today? To answer these questions, we must return to Scripture, where the foundations of ordination are laid with both clarity and gravity.