High Expectations
The passage from Corinthians this week (2 Corinthians 8:7-15) has some high expectations of us. It starts out by commenting on how the audience is excelling in everything: faith, speech, knowledge, eagerness, a loving relationship with Paul, and right out of the gate I’m wondering if this is really the experience of everyone in the Corinthian church. There are certainly times when I feel completely in my element. I feel like I am excelling in every way possible. I feel like not only am I doing better than people around me, but more importantly, I’m doing better than myself the previous day and the day before that. However, at least for me, those particularly good days are often countered by days when I feel like I’m falling behind, drowning in the torrent of life’s sorrows and challenges. But even more frequent than particularly good or bad days are days that can’t really be described as either one. Most days are mundane, normal, without particular highs or lows. I may not be falling behind but I certainly am not excelling.
The church in Corinth likely had a very wealthy community forming its upper crust, and Paul may be specifically speaking to them here. To be rich and powerful, or at least wealthy enough to be well taken care of, in the ancient world was an incredible comfort. This meant happiness and plenty for you, education and opportunities for your children, and some degree of local status. Whether or not they felt like they were excelling every day, they certainly would have experienced an overall sense of greatness in their life, especially when compared to their poor Christian peers who were often struggling to keep their heads above water. So, while this passage seems to be targeted at the wealthy who are excelling, as a young man without substantial wealth of my own, I’m more curious about the experience of those who were not as successful. How did they take this passage?
There is certainly some frustration that arises from a feeling of inadequacy when I’m having a bad day and I see people being praised for having their lives so well in order. Every compliment paid to someone doing better than me, has the potential to feel like a personal insult. Most of the time this isn’t true, even if I feel that way, but sometimes I think people are drawing these comparisons to guilt me and others into doing better. When this happens, they imply a message to me behind the compliment to another, “They’re doing well. Why aren’t you?”
Again, to be clear, most of the time I feel someone is insulting me through praise of another person, I don’t think they mean the insult. I think I’m importing that unfairly. However, when you’re having a bad day and are already feeling very self-critical, it is remarkably easy to hear disparagement where it isn’t intended or even doesn’t really exist. When you’re feeling down, the world keeps piling it on. The flood waters of misery flow downward with reckless destructive power, muddying praise and turning beautiful things into obstructions and hazards.
I can’t help but wonder if this was the experience of the poor Corinthians when they read this letter. Were they being subtly reprimanded for not excelling? Were they condemned for just trying to get by? While Paul is expecting big things out of Corinth, will those Corinthians who can’t contribute get left behind? This is a fear we’ve all probably felt from time to time in our lives. If everyone around me is getting better and moving along, but I’m just staying and falling back, will they abandon me? Will I be able to catch up? When I’m self-isolated because of my own shame at sin or weakness or futility, who will break down the walls I’ve built to be my friend when I need it most?
But Paul counters the overwhelming torrent of the world’s evils with something much better. In the world, in society opposed to God, pain and misery flows down. The rich remove their own discomforts by stacking them on the poor. However, in God’s kingdom, power and love flow down. Christ was rich, but became poor to raise up the poor. While this certainly refers to the righteousness of Christ making up for the spiritual and moral poverty of humans, there is more downflowing in this passage. Paul proposes creating a material equilibrium so that everyone can be well. The rich should give up some of their riches to raise up the poor. This is not to say that the rich themselves must become poor, but that wealth is distributed such that everyone has enough. In context, Paul is probably talking about taking money from Corinth and distributing it to poor Christians in Judea. However, the poor people in Corinth can probably take some inspiration from this passage.
If Paul is claiming that the wealthy need to give up some of their riches and power to raise up the poor elsewhere, why not here? If the goal is a society in which no one has too much and no one has too little, why not start in Corinth? And for us today, why not start in Wahoo or Ceresco or Lincoln? Why not start in Nebraska? Where the poor and the rich meet, why not let wealth flow over the boundary like osmosis till the boundary is no longer meaningful?
In the world, the excellence of others can be scary to those who don’t see themselves as excelling. Not only do we feel ashamed in comparison but also as much as that shame flows downhill, so do actual material hardships. However, in God’s kingdom it isn’t shame, pain, and misery that flows down to wash away the poor and weak. In God’s kingdom, the flood of baptismal waters rush down from God to all people bringing love and power. When we excel, God calls us to pour out our abundance to those around us who need it most. When we are weak, God invites us to receive the generosity of others which all ultimately comes from God. High expectations need not frighten us. When we meet or exceed them, we share. When we don’t, we receive. No matter where we are along our journey, God sees us, God cares for us, and God loves us.
