Live Life Open | Heart Wide Open
You are not restricted by us, but you are restricted in your own affections. 2 Corinthians 6:12
Text: 2 Corinthians 6:1-13

The Corinthians struggled to love and accept Paul as their spiritual guide and ambassador for Jesus. They allowed their culture to impact their perspective. They cared more about the superficials—the leadership qualities that the world said were important—while ignoring the values taught and modeled by Jesus Himself.

Consider the culture's views of Paul as opposed to the way he (and God) viewed him. These are found in verses 8-10.

The culture's view and opinion of Paul:

• Dishonorable
• Guilty of slander
• An impostor
• Unknown (he wasn't in the elite religious club)
• Dying (lacked power)
• Punished (he wasn't respected)
• Sorrowful (he was a sad, little man)
• Poor (a sign of weakness)
• Having nothing (roamed from city to city, no assets)

Paul's Jesus-centered identity:

• Honor
• Praise
• True
• Well known (by the church and by God)
• Alive in Christ
• Not killed (God was still using him in spite of the persecution he has endured)
• Rejoicing
• Rich in good works
• Possessing everything (he was a child of The King!)

In much the same way that a fish doesn't know it's in water, we underestimate the influence of culture on our faith and church community life. We must learn to distinguish our cultural tendencies from biblical truths. The Corinthians struggled greatly with this, and as a result, they struggled to embrace Paul. Paul followed the way of Jesus, and that's why he challenged the Corinthian Church to "Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ" (1 Corinthians 11:1).

• How are you allowing the culture to negatively impact your Christlikeness?
• Can you identify some sinful or compromising worldly values that you've embraced?