"For I ought to have been commended by you; for in nothing was I behind the most eminent apostles …" (2 Cor. 12:11b).
Ever since the days of the apostles, men of God have been unjustly accused. They have been chased like animals from one hiding place to another, dragged into unjust courts, imprisoned with no trial, and even killed. Men such as Paul, and later, John Hus, John Wycliffe, Martin Luther, and Jonathan Edwards, as well as countless others, have been slandered and opposed by hateful men who sought glory only for themselves. While we are not surprised by the attacks of Satan’s minions against such men, we are often surprised by the inactivity on the part of the church in their defense. In many cases, the church was forced to remain silent by the very murderers who pursued these ministers, but in other cases, the church receded into a passive posture out of fear. It allowed the slander of and false accusations against godly men to go unchallenged. In Paul’s case, even in the face of manifold testimonies of the man’s faithfulness to Jesus Christ, the church allowed the slander to continue. Even though the Corinthians had witnessed the powerful testimonies of his apostleship, they still allowed false apostles to slander him.
Paul rebuked the Corinthians for their passivity in coming to his defense. Given his ministry among them, he should not have had to defend himself. The impostors should have been silenced by the Corinthians without Paul saying one word in his own defense. Unfortunately, this did not happen. Even though Paul had manifested great works among them, loved them as a father, and fed them with the milk of Christ’s Gospel, they refused to defend his reputation. This must have hurt Paul deeply, as this kind of passivity hurts any man of God.
The lesson for every Christian from this short passage is obvious: we are to stand up for true men of God, for Christian brothers and sisters who are maligned. Matthew Henry wrote, “It is a debt we owe to good men to stand up in the defense of their reputation; and we are under special obligations to those we have received benefit by, especially spiritual benefit.” Do not remain silent when others speak evil of your pastor, a Christian friend, or anyone else whom you know to be innocent. It is your duty as a fellow believer to silence the opposers and protect those who serve the Lord.
Read Zechariah 3:1–5. Who accuses Joshua in this scene? Who defends him? This is a poignant picture of how Christ defends His people against the accusations of His enemies. When we defend our brethren, we are conforming to the image of Christ. Pray today that God will give you courage to speak boldly on behalf of your brethren.
