The Christian and Boasting

is known as “The Fool’sSpeech.” It’s because Paul decides to speak as a fool and imitate the boastingof the false apostles—boasting which the Corinthians had become enamored with. Someform of the word boast appears no less than 11 times in TheFool’s Speech, which means we can learn a lot concerning how Christians oughtto view boasting. Today Inote three things in particular.

Totally Incongruous

In the first place, boasting is totally incongruous for a follower of Jesus. In 2 Corinthians 11:17

, Paul says, “What I am saying, I am not saying as the Lord would, but as in foolishness, in this confidence of boasting.” Literally, I am not speaking “according to the Lord.” That is to say, “To boast about my accomplishments is totally out of accord with the Lord Jesus. It is not something that Jesus would ever do.”

No one in the history of the world ever had more to boast about than Jesus did, and yet you will search the Gospels in vain for a single instance in which Jesus bragged about or congratulated Himself. He never puffed out His chest or wore a self-satisfied grin because He was able to one-up His competition. He was the supreme example of humility, of lowliness of mind, of surrendering His rights and not insisting on His own due ( Phil 2:5–8

). He had every right to continue in heaven, reveling in the worship due unto His name from the saints and angels, in manifest equality with God the Father and God the Spirit. And yet He didn’t cling to that equality, but nullified Himself. He made Himself of no effect by taking on the weakness and frailty of a human nature. And then, when He was on earth living as a man, “He humbled Himself by becoming obedient.” (The Master obeyed commandments!) And not just obedient, but “obedient to the point of death.” (The Author of Life submitted Himself to death!) And not just death, but “even death on a cross.” And, as the divine law said that everyone who was hanged on a tree was cursed ( Deut 21:23

), so also did the sinless Son of God—the fountain of all blessing—become a curse in the place of His people ( Gal 3:13

), as He bore our sins in His body on the cross ( 1 Pet 2:24

).

The beginning, middle, and end of the Gospel by which we aresaved—the incarnation of Christ, the perfect life of Christ, and thesubstitutionary death of Christ—is a wholesale denial of self-exaltation andthe embrace of self-abnegation. How incongruous, then, would it be for thosewhose salvation has been won by self-denial to go around boasting in ourselves.

And more than that: our Savior has granted that salvation to us as a sheer gift of grace. Not only couldn’t we achieve our salvation; in our natural state we’re so corrupted by sin that we can’t even receive the salvation accomplished for us, unless the sovereign King of Grace subdues our sinful hearts and grants us the gifts of repentance and faith in Him. There were not many wise among us, not many mighty or noble. But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, the weak to shame the strong, the base, the despised, the nobodies. Why? “So that no man may boast before God. But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus” ( 1 Cor 1:26–31

). First Corinthians 4:7

should be the tagline of every Christian’s life: What do I have that I haven’t received? Everything that I call mine has been a generous gift from my Heavenly Father’s unspeakably lavish grace. And so “if you did receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it?” All grounds for boasting are totally undermined by a helpless humanity and a sovereignly gracious God.

And if grace isthe enemy of boasting, then boasting is the enemy of grace. So for us who havebeen saved by grace, are being sanctified by grace, are called into ministryand service by grace, it is totallyincongruous for us to boast in our own labors, to brag on our ownaccomplishments. It would be foolishness ( 2 Cor 11:17

). It would bepreposterous. It would be sheer idiocy. Boasting is totally incongruous for afollower of Jesus.

IntenselyUncomfortable

And therefore, secondly, boasting should make the genuineservant of Christ intenselyuncomfortable. And you see this intense discomfort in the Apostle Paulall throughout this section of his letter. This section of 2 Corinthians (11:16–21)is really Paul’s third preface to hisfoolish boasting.

• He spoke of it first in 10:8: “For even if I boast somewhat further about our authority … I will not be put to shame.”
• And then in 11:1 he entreats them to “bear with him in a little foolishness.”
• And you’d think he’d just get to it after that, but boasting is so antithetical to his character that he goes on for the next 14 verses to explain why he’s going to act so foolishly as to boast.
• And then he comes to verse 16 and says, “Again I say, let no one think me foolish.” He’s going to act like a fool, but he wants them to recognize that it’s not the real him.
• And again in verse 17: “What I am saying, I am not saying as the Lord would, but as in foolishness, in this confidence of boasting.” He’s gotten one sentence in to his third preface to his boasting, and he’s got to stop again!
• And then again in verse 21, as he begins his boast, he can’t help but interrupt himself once more: “But in whatever respect anyone else is bold— I speak in foolishness —I am just as bold myself.” He’s embarrassed and absolutely disgusted to be talking like this.
• And then in verse 23: “Are they servants of Christ?—I speak as if insane—I more so.” “This is insane! Am I really boasting about how I’m a better servant of Jesus than someone else? I must be beside myself! I must be out of my mind to talk like this!”
• In 12:2–5, he has to speak of himself in the third person because he can’t stand drawing attention to himself or his own experiences. He invents a person because he finds boasting so distasteful.
• And then finally in chapter 12 verse 11, at the close of this “Fool’s Speech,” he says, “I have become foolish; you yourselves compelled me.”

The commentators remark on Paul’s attitude toward boasting in this passage. They use phrases such as, “Obvious embarrassment,” “thoroughly distasteful,” “nothing could be more uncongenial to him” (Hughes); “intensely embarrassed” (Guthrie), “intensely uncomfortable,” “utterly detestable,” “sends him into spiritual agony” (Carson). Charles Hodge says, “These references to his labor and sufferings were wrung from him, filling him with a feeling of self-contempt.” This is how the genuine servant of Christ feels about boasting in himself.

Dear reader, ask yourself: Is this how boasting in youraccomplishments makes you feel? Is there this instinctive aversion, thisintense discomfort, this utter distaste and even embarrassment at the notion ofdrawing attention to yourself? Does such commentary on your own worthiness haveto be wrung from you?

Or do you kinda like the praise and recognition? Do you likegetting the attention? Are you quick to make mention of the books you’ve read,or the classes you’ve taken, or the papers you’ve published? Are you one ofthose people that loves to post evidence of your spirituality on social media,so everyone can see that you’ve done your devotions this morning, or thatyou’re meeting someone for discipleship, or that you’ve been out evangelizingthis week?

Friends, that’s not the spirit that we see modeled here in the Apostle Paul. We need to crucify our lust for the praise of men, which fuels our fleshly boasting. And we do that by resting in the blessed joy that God accepts us and welcomes us to Himself on the basis of what Jesus has done, not on the basis of what we can get men to see that we’ve done. Our cry must not be, “God, I thank You that I am not like the sinners, and I thank you that I fast and I tithe and I accomplish this and that in my Christian life!” Our cry has always been, and must ever continue to be, “God, be merciful to me, the sinner!” ( Luke 18:13

). “Lord, I’ve got nothing to bring before you but my sin. All my hope is in your mercy to poor sinners, on the basis of Christ’s propitiatory sacrifice.” When that’s your attitude—that, as Paul says in Romans 7:18

, “I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh,” that you’ve got nothing you haven’t received as a gift of God’s grace—you’ll experience the intense discomfort with boasting that marks the genuine servant of Christ.

Only in Weakness

In the third place, we learn from this text that if thefaithful minister of the Gospel ever does boast, it is not in his spiritualvictories, exploits, and accomplishments, but only in his sufferings, shame,defeats, and weaknesses.

When Paul finally gets to his foolish boast, and he makesthe claim that in whatever respect anyone claims to be a servant of Christ, heis a far better servant, you’d expect to hear an avalanche of ministerialsuccesses! You’d expect, “I’ve preached the gospel in more lands and to morepeople groups; I’ve won more converts, established more churches, and traveledmore miles; I’ve spoken to more crowds, raised more money, and performed themost spectacular miracles” (cf. Carson, 116). But that is not what we get. Weget an avalanche of ministerial hardships, sufferings, and weaknesses. At thetop of the false apostles’ ministry resumé are their public speaking skills,their extensive crowds, their large honorariums, and their mystical spiritualexperiences. At the top of Paul’s ministry resumé are labors, imprisonments,beatings, and near-death experiences. This is certainly not what we expect!

And it’s certainly not how we boast! When we think of a“successful” ministry for Christ’s sake, we think of tabulating all sorts ofaccomplishments. Degrees earned from Bible College or Seminary. Theses anddissertations written. Books and articles published. Sermons preached.Conference invitations. Different cities, and states, and countries traveled tofor ministry. We think of money raised, buildings erected, selfies taken withChristian celebrity pastors. Or maybe a bit closer to home: we think of yearsof church attendance, the number of times we’ve read through the Bible, thehours we’ve prayed, the theology books we’ve read, the knowledge we’ve amassed,maybe even the outreaches we’ve done, or the counseling cases we’ve solved, orthe number of disciples we’ve turned out, or ten thousand other things.

But then there’s Paul. “If I have to boast, I will boast ofwhat pertains to my weakness” ( 2 Cor 11:30

). “On my own behalf I will not boast, expect inregard to my weaknesses” ( 2 Cor 12:5

). And why will Paul only boast in hisweaknesses? Well, because, you might say, when we’re thinking of ourselvesrightly, weakness is all there is! This is who we are. We are not the wise,mighty, and noble. We’re the foolish, the weak, and the despised. We saw thatin 1 Corinthians 1 and 1 Corinthians 4.

But consider 2 Corinthians 12:9

: “And [Christ] has said tome, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.’ Mostgladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the powerof Christ may dwell in me.” Paul will boast in his weaknesses because it is inhis weakness that the power of Christ is perfected. It is against the blackbackdrop of human weakness that the brilliant glory of the power of God shinesthe more brightly. It is when the minister is bankrupt of his own strength,destitute of his own glory, and can do nothing but cry out to God for help,that God works through your frail and feeble efforts to make His Word effectualin the lives of His people. It is then that there is no doubt who the glorybelongs to. It is thenthat your weakness showcases the glory ofChrist’s power.

And that is what ministry is all about. That is what life is all about. It is about magnifying the glory of God’s sovereign power. It is about debasing self and exalting Christ. He must increase, and I must decrease. And Paul says, “If the way He increases is for me to decrease to weakness, then I will boast in my weakness. I will glory in my weakness. Because my weaknesses become the occasion for my greatest joy: the magnification of the glory of Jesus.”

Now, this does not mean that we’re supposed to be proud of our sacrifices for Christ. We’re not supposed to go around trying to one-up one another: “I’ve gotten fired from three jobs because I’m a Christian!” “Oh yeah? Well I’ve been fired five times because I’m a Christian!” No. Remember that Paul is wearing the mask of a fool as he writes this passage. Instead, it simply means that we are to point away from ourselves and our own glory, repudiate any purely-external, worldly, fleshly definitions of “success,” and be fond of speaking of only that which tends to the magnification of Christ’s power, glory, and honor.

And so Paul says, “He who boasts is to boast in theLord ” ( 1 Cor 1:31

; 2 Cor 10:17

). The true Christian “glories inChrist Jesus ” ( Phil 3:3

). And in Galatians 6:14

he says, “But mayit never be that I would boast, except in the cross of ourLord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I tothe world.”

“I am weak, shameful, sinful, and worthless when left tomyself. For me to accomplish anything of value, for me to be of any service toChrist’s Church, for me to bring Him any glory at all—how powerful must thecross be! How much must the cross have overcome! What abundant grace God mustlavish on His people!”

That’s the only kind of boasting that’s proper amongChristians.