Saturday 7 September 2024
1 Corinthians 4:6-15. The Lord is near to all who call him – Psalm 144(145):17-21. Luke 6:1-5.
To absorb the punches
Attack is the best form of defence. That’s Sun Tzu, Chinese military general, writer and philosopher who wrote The Art of War in the 5th century BCE. The idea is that taking proactive, assertive action will keep the opposition off balance, thus creating a strategic advantage, as the opposition is constantly preoccupied and unable to respond effectively. It’s a popular strategy used in every field of competitive endeavour. But Paul, in his letter to the church in Corinth, explains a different approach. He gives a brief account of life as an apostle and it’s no picnic: ‘. . . hungry and thirsty . . . in rags . . . brutally treated . . . homeless.’ But he advocates an approach more like Rocky Balboa’s: to absorb punches without going down; a strategy of powerful endurance. Honestly, it’s a strange path to victory that embraces weakness, dishonour, persecution, and answering slander only with love and blessing. But for Paul, these earthly struggles were meaningless because the greater heavenly victory was already won.
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