We live in such a way that no one will stumble because of us, and no one will find fault with our ministry. 4 In everything we do, we show that we are true ministers of God. We patiently endure troubles and hardships and calamities of every kind. 5 We have been beaten, been put in prison, faced angry mobs, worked to exhaustion, endured sleepless nights, and gone without food. 6 We prove ourselves by our purity, our understanding, our patience, our kindness, by the Holy Spirit within us, and by our sincere love. 7 We faithfully preach the truth. God’s power is working in us. We use the weapons of righteousness in the right hand for attack and the left hand for defence. 8 We serve God whether people honour us or despise us, whether they slander us or praise us. We are honest, but they call us impostors. 9 We are ignored, even though we are well known. We live close to death, but we are still alive. We have been beaten, but we have not been killed. 10 Our hearts ache, but we always have joy. We are poor, but we give spiritual riches to others. We own nothing, and yet we have everything.

11 Oh, dear Corinthian friends! We have spoken honestly with you, and our hearts are open to you. 12 There is no lack of love on our part, but you have withheld your love from us. 13 I am asking you to respond as if you were my own children. Open your hearts to us! NLT

Christian leaders should aspire to blamelessness (3). We surely don’t want to do anything to cause anyone to ”stumble”. This, of course, does not equate with perfection. ‘The best of men are men at best.’ The finest leaders have flaws and faults and these will show through. Nevertheless, verse three represents a noble and proper aspiration.

The subsequent verses in this passage show that what commends a person’s ministry to others is their character: who they are, especially in the face of adversity. We may not have to face anything like the amount and intensity of suffering that Paul did. But if we remain faithful to the Lord, and to our calling, in the culture, and in the circumstances in which God places us, this will speak volumes, and it is likely to gain us a hearing.

Regarding Paul’s list in today’s passage, Tom Wright comments: ‘And off he goes on the splendid catalogue of what he’s had to do and face over his years of relentless travel and proclamation. He wants them to do the same: to open their hearts to him in affection, to tell him what is really happening, not to put up smoke-screens, and to welcome him with equal vulnerability to that which he is showing in this passage.’

Wright goes on to say, ‘The list is full of paradox, putting together things that clash like two musical notes crying out for resolution. These are the points at which the new creation of the gospel grinds against the old world like upper and lower millstones, with the apostle caught in the middle and feeling as if he’s being crushed to powder.’