What Do You Boast In?
In Philippians 2:5 to 8 we read, “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider [His equality with God something to be held on to], but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.
None of us can fully imagine what it meant for Jesus to humble Himself. He exchanged His state of heavenly perfection with its divine privileges for the form of a human being and took on the characteristics of an obedient servant. He did it willingly, motivated by His love for you and me. It’s this mindset that we’re to adopt in our relationships with each other.
As I’m sure you know, the mindset of humility is not natural. No, we are all infected with the same sin that got Satan kicked out of heaven – pride. God hates it, He resists it, and he will judge those who embrace it! Why, because, at its root, pride is an attempt to place ourselves on the throne instead of God.
The Scriptures inform us that pride often leads to boasting. Boasting is “a statement expressing excessive pride in ourselves, praising ourselves extravagantly in speech.” James cautions us not to boast about what we hope to achieve because our human existence is so tenuous that it’s compared to water vapor! We must admit we don’t know what tomorrow will bring and we don’t even have a promise that we’ll be here tomorrow.
So, is all boasting wrong? Stay with me because we will answer that question from our Scripture text today. The text is Second Corinthians 10:7 to 18. This is the Word of God to us.
As we read Paul’s writings, they reveal to us a godly man with a humble spirit. Repeatedly he urges followers of Christ to protect, promote, and pursue a spirit of humility. But in this section of verses I just read, Paul uses the word, boast, 13 times. It seems clear that he felt compelled to defend his apostolic authority to his critics. He does so with the greatest reluctance.
To answer the question, “what do you boast in” we will look at three STANDARDS of judging that Paul highlights in this text.
The First STANDARD of Judging is,
By Appearance
We’ve all used this standard and we know how inaccurate it can be. Most of us have at one time or another made a judgment about a person or situation based solely on appearances, and later come to regret that decision. To my shame, I’ve done it too often.
The opening phrase of verse seven can be taken two possible ways; “are you looking only at appearances?” Or “you are looking only at appearances.” The unstated implication is that they should be looking deeper, looking beneath just the surface. As we work through this text, we’ll see how the rebellious faction at Corinth was guilty of judging by appearances.
I find it interesting, and also in character, that Paul doesn’t question his opponent’s claim to belong to Christ. He restricts himself to his own calling. He didn’t say, “if you were genuine followers of Christ, y...
