Scripture
19Perhaps you think we’re saying these things just to defend ourselves. No, we tell you this as Christ’s servants, and with God as our witness. Everything we do, dear friends, is to strengthen you. 20For I am afraid that when I come I won’t like what I find, and you won’t like my response. I am afraid that I will find quarreling, jealousy, anger, selfishness, slander, gossip, arrogance, and disorderly behavior. 21Yes, I am afraid that when I come again, God will humble me in your presence. And I will be grieved because many of you have not given up your old sins. You have not repented of your impurity, sexual immorality, and eagerness for lustful pleasure. 2 Corinthians 12:19-21
Observation
Paul is not puling any punches here. When you read this description of the church in Corinth you would think that he’s describing a group of people who don’t know Jesus at all. Yet, he writes at the end of his letter, “Examine yourselves to see if your faith is genuine. Test yourselves. Surely you know that Jesus Christ is among you; if not, you have failed the test of genuine faith.” (2 Cor. 13:5) They are questioning Paul’s authority because no one likes to be questioned. They are trying to discredit Paul because they want to take credit for all the good things going on in their church. It’s as if they have a great presentation for the meal on Sunday, but The owner of the restaurant is walking through the kitchen in the back and has found cockroaches running in and through everything they are cooking. The goal isn’t to shut them down, but clean them up. Quality control requires a discerning eye and a willingness to interrogate reality. Man looks at the outward appearance, but God looks at the heart.
Application
When Gordon Ramsey walks in to a restaurant on the reality show “Kitchen Nightmares” there’s a good chance that place was going to be closing anyway if there wasn’t a drastic change. The estimates of those that have stayed open after an overhaul from Ramsey is between 25–30%. That means that even though the changes were implemented by the expert, for most of these kitchens and restaurants there was no permanent systemic change. There was behavior modification, but no internal transformation. This letter from Paul feels like a Gordon Ramsey moment. When he was there with the Corinth Church last they changed, but have now gone back to their defaults. We can all fake it for a while but eventually the truth comes out. Paul’s reminding them and us that even when he’s not there, The Owner always is. Jesus is walking through the kitchen of our lives and He’s calling us to take a closer look, uncovering issues and patterns of sin that we would prefer to cover up. The goal here isn’t to hurt, but to help and heal. What would the kitchen of my soul receive as a letter grade on the front window? We wouldn’t want to eat at a place with an orange “C” grade on the front window because we wouldn’t want to get sick. God doesn’t want people to get sick when they visit His Church. Who’s Church? His Church! Where are the places where Jesus has brought conviction, but I’ve ignored the inspection? Paul’s vision for what the church can be is when we actually repent and God turns the nightmare into a dream experience for all who would encounter our gatherings: “Dear brothers and sisters, I close my letter with these last words: Be joyful. Grow to maturity. Encourage each other. Live in harmony and peace. Then the God of love and peace will be with you.” (2 Cor. 13:11)
Prayer
No one likes to stand on the scale. No one wants to look at the weaknesses. Yet, this is where You show Yourself strong if I submit to the process. Lord, it’s so easy to get caught up in performance and image, but You are asking me to grab the mop and cleanser and get to work on the systemic issues in my own heart. You want to change my defaults of pride and that only happens through true repentance. I pray that as You walk through the kitchens of your sons and daughters that we would welcome You rather than avoid You, because You are doing this for our good!
