In Second Corinthians chapter seven Paul again finds himself in the position of having to defend himself. The Corinthian church had allowed some very serious errors to exist in their fellowship. They were quite afield in their ministry philosophy and practice, there was a serious moral issue within the church and they were terribly wrong in their practice of the Lord’s Table. Paul, out of love and deep concern for the church, wrote them to advise them of the importance of correcting those situations. Some within the congregation obviously took exception to his confrontation of them on this matter. It appears they accused him of wrong-headed corruption of the church:
2 Corinthians 7:2 Receive us; we have wronged no man, we have corrupted no man, we have defrauded no man.
Fortunately there were a majority, and likely the leadership folks of the church, who responded very positively to Paul’s confrontation and went ahead to correct these situations.
I think that it is not unusual at all for those who are truly wrong to lay the blame at the foot of those who are faithful and loving enough to peacefully and even courageously address the matter. Had this church not in the majority accepted this correction they would simply have become another, maybe even thriving social clubhouse on the bone yard of what was once a godly church.
It never has been easy to follow the Lord faithfully. It is costly and difficult. And it should be remembered that the only true measure of a church is the standard that we find within the Scriptures.
