I mentioned last Sunday—Paul writes 2 Corinthians (in part) to convince Christians that he’s a trustworthy authority. As a good authority, Paul cherishes the meekness of Christ. He fights for obedience to Christ. He aims to build up in Christ. I could’ve added a fourth point last week, but I saved it for today: good authority makes its boast in Christ. Let’s read about this together, starting in verse 7. What I read is the word of the Lord…

⁷ Look at what’s before your eyes. If anyone is confident that he is Christ’s, let him remind himself that just as he is Christ’s, so also are we. ⁸ For even if I boast a little too much of our authority, which the Lord gave for building you up and not for destroying you, I will not be ashamed. ⁹ I do not want to appear to be frightening you with my letters. ¹⁰ For they say, “His letters are weighty and strong, but his bodily presence is weak, and his speech of no account.” ¹¹ Let such a person understand that what we say by letter when absent, we do when present. ¹² Not that we dare to classify or compare ourselves with some of those who are commending themselves. But when they measure themselves by one another and compare themselves with one another, they are without understanding. ¹³ But we will not boast beyond limits, but will boast only with regard to the area of influence God assigned to us, to reach even to you. ¹⁴ For we are not overextending ourselves, as though we did not reach you. For we were the first to come all the way to you with the gospel of Christ. ¹⁵ We do not boast beyond limit in the labors of others. But our hope is that as your faith increases, our area of influence among you may be greatly enlarged, ¹⁶ so that we may preach the gospel in lands beyond you, without boasting of work already done in another’s area of influence. ¹⁷ “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.” ¹⁸ For it’s not the one who commends himself who is approved, but the one whom the Lord commends.

My parents live in south Texas brush country. Last time we were down, I spotted three turkeys strutting across the pasture. Every so many yards they’d stop and go into a standoff. While they stared and circled, they’d inflate their breast, fan the tail feathers, and drag their wings—presenting themselves as twice the size. They do this to attract a female or to intimidate rival males. You might say they’re engaging in a game of boasting. It’s comical to watch.

It’s also not too far from what we observe among humans. From little kids on the playground—“I can swing higher than you can”—to grown adults gyrating in the end zone; from doctoring up a selfie for Instagram to scholars priding themselves in their degrees, humans are good at boasting. The same was true in Paul’s day. You could even take classes on boasting.

But not all boasting is equal. To our ears, boasting normally sounds like a bad idea—unless, of course, you’re a grandparent boasting in your grandkids. Otherwise, boasting is usually viewed in a negative light. But in the Scriptures, boasting wasn’t always bad. What matters isn’t the mere act of boasting but the object of your boasting. There is such a thing as a valid boast, if what you’re boasting about is true and lasting and worthy of people’s attention.

Paul engages his opponents in a bit of boasting. But Paul’s boasting has different criteria. He’s not playing the one-upmanship game of these turkeys in Corinth. In verses 12-18, Paul develops several criteria that helps us discern legitimate boasting.

Boast Not in Worldly Comparisons

Number one: legitimate boasting doesn’t boast in worldly comparisons. Verse 12: “Not that we dare to classify or compare ourselves with some of those who are commending themselves. But when they measure themselves by one another and compare themselves with one another, they are without understanding.”

In Paul’s day, “comparison was a common rhetorical exercise.”[i] Political opponents engaged in “vicious smears of [their] rivals.”[ii] Among orators, self-boasting was standard practice. David Garland observes that “people were constantly vying with others to attain elusive glory…Boasting about one’s status and achievements and comparing oneself favorably against others were routine tactics for those who aimed at gaining a following for themselves.”[iii]

You got a taste of it in verse 10—Paul’s opponents put him down to make themselves look better: “his bodily presence is weak, his speech [is] of no account.” In 5:16, Paul says they “boast about outward appearance and not about what is in the heart”—things like economic class, bodily appearance, social popularity, rhetorical skill. They used these external measures to boast and commend themselves. For them, boasting was a matter of one-upmanship.

What’s alarming is that Paul has warned about this kind of boasting before. In 1 Corinthians 1, some in this same church were boasting in men: “I am of Paul.” “I am of Apollos.” “I am of Cephas.” These men were simply trying to minister the gospel. But the Corinthians were so given to prideful impulses, they started playing the one-upmanship game. They’re still doing it. Only this time, they’ve moved on to boasting in men who aren’t even preaching a true gospel. In 11:4, Paul says they’re preaching “another Jesus.” But the infatuation with worldly comparisons has killed the church’s ability to discern falsehood.

Beware of boasting in worldly comparisons, or you too will lose the ability to discern the true Jesus. Didn’t the Pharisees have the same problem in John 5:44? Jesus tells them, “How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another.” And they knew the Bible. They read the Scriptures. Yet because of their desire for desire, they remained blind.

When it comes to worldly comparisons, the culture of our day is no different, because the heart of man has not changed. Like strutting turkeys, the human heart wants to size people up and puff out our chest and make ourselves look greater. We form friendships based on earthly values—how smart they are, how much money they make, how much influence they have. People gather around certain leaders not because of faithfulness but because of how impressive their preaching is. Yes, even Christians are sometimes guilty of giving in to celebrity culture.

Sometimes, our own theological positions can become points of boasting. Instead of being a set of lenses through which we see God more clearly to worship him, we turn the position into a form of elitism that’s all about us and what makes us superior.

Of course, the problem here is a very old one—one that stretches back to Genesis 3, one we see repeated at places like the tower of Babel in Genesis 11. We want glory that belongs to God alone. Paul says that when they “measure themselves by one another,” “when they compare themselves with one another, they lack understanding.” Surely, they know what they’re doing—some of them went to school and learned how to boast well.

So, what does he mean by “lacking understanding”? Well, in verse 17, Paul quotes part of Jeremiah 9:23-24. And if we read that passage, it illuminates Paul’s meaning. Jeremiah writes, “Thus says the LORD: ‘Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands [same word in the Greek that Paul uses in verse 12] and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD.”

When Paul says, “they lack understanding,” he means they don’t know the God who practices steadfast love and justice. Because if they knew him truly, worldly comparisons would fall flat before his glory. If they knew the character and work of God—if they knew his majestic otherness; if they knew the depths of his loyal love for those who don’t deserve it; if they knew his delight in all that’s good and his power to bring it about—they’d be appalled by such dumb, trivial comparisons with each other. And so would we. That’s precisely why we Jesus to save us and open our eyes to the Lord’s worth and beauty. Any boast in worldly comparisons is a sign that we don’t know God as we ought to know him.

Boast Only in What God Has Assigned

Well, if legitimate boasting isn’t measured by worldly comparisons, then how should we measure it? Paul’s answer is by God’s assignment. That’s criteria number two: legitimate boasting boasts only in what God has assigned. Verse 13, “But we will not boast beyond limits, but will boast only with regard to the area of influence God assigned to us, to reach even to you. For we are not overextending ourselves, as though we did not reach you. For we were the first to come all the way to you with the gospel of Christ.”

Earlier, in verse 8, Paul said, “For even if I boast a little too much of our authority…I will not be ashamed.” Paul’s opponents have questioned his authority; and it seems that one way they’re doing it is by saying that Paul’s authority doesn’t extend to Corinth. Perhaps it sounded something like this: “You know, he’s always off somewhere else. The last time he came, he didn’t even stay. He was timid and weak. He ran away. Then, when he said he was coming back, he didn’t. All he’s good at is trying to scare you with his letters.”

But Paul is saying, “Come now. Let’s reassess this situation.” He’s not in this to vie for someone else’s ministry. He’s not trying to insert himself into a place he didn’t belong. No, he was the first to bring the gospel to Corinth; and he brought them the gospel because God assigned him that mission. If anything, they should be questioning the other guys who’ve come in much later, who are not there by God’s assignment, and who are not preaching the gospel.

Stated differently, Paul boasts only in what God did to bring others the gospel. His concern is faithfulness to God’s assignment to preach Christ for the salvation of others. That’s what his mission is all about—bringing others to know Jesus. You might be thinking, “Man, I’m not too far removed from this worldly boasting. I measure myself by others. I’m constantly vying for attention. Even when I don’t say it out loud, I want others to notice me. I want the followers, the ‘Likes’.” In various ways, we all know what it’s like to boast in the wrong things. Because of sin, our hearts are turned inward and away from God. We don’t know him or worship him as we ought. And because of that, we deserve his judgment.

That’s why we need a Savior. God commissioned Paul to bring the Corinthians good news about a Savior. In 5:18, he put it this way: “in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them…For our sake [God] made [Christ] to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” Jesus died for all our inclinations to boast in ourselves. That message is Paul’s boast. Paul has no other boast than what God assigned to him in bringing others that gospel message. His assignment is from God, it’s about Christ, and it’s for others—nothing is about Paul. It’s all about what God was doing through Paul. So, boast only in what God has assigned.

Boast in Christ’s Mission Not Your Platform

And once boasting is tied to God’s assignment, naturally, it becomes focused on God’s mission rather than our reputation—which leads to criteria number three: Paul boasts in Christ’s mission not his platform. Verse 15, “We do not boast beyond limit in the labors of others.” Meaning, he’s not going to use somebody else’s work to make himself look better. His goal isn’t to accumulate churches for himself. It’s not about building a brand name for Paul. Rather, he says, “our hope is that as your faith increases [matures], our area of influence among you may be greatly enlarged, so that we may preach the gospel in lands beyond you, without boasting of work already done in another’s area of influence.”

Paul’s passion was to see the gospel advance among those who’ve never heard. This isn’t about spreading his name; it’s about spreading Christ’s name. His hope for these Christians is that they mature in faith by rejecting the false apostles—that they mature by rejecting a life of worldly boasting—and as a result partner with Paul in boasting about Jesus. However, if they don’t grow up, they’ll become more of an obstacle to the gospel than helping it advance.

Brothers and sisters, we need to get this: a church that boasts in worldly comparisons hinders the work of missions. One way it hinders the work of missions is that it divides the church instead of uniting it. I mentioned the example of 1 Corinthians 1 earlier. The church should’ve been focused on their unity in Christ. Instead, they divide over distinctions that don’t matter—like who’s the better orator? “I am of Paul” “I am of Apollos,” they were saying. And we hear similar things today: “I am of Sproul” “I am of Piper” “I am of Keller.” If that’s your M.O., you will divide Christ’s body and tear down what’s meant to be built up.

Another example comes in 1 Corinthians 1:26-27. Paul reminds them to consider their calling: “not many of them were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong.” What sort of boasting was Paul trying to dismantle? The kind that says, “How educated are you? What’s your ethnicity? How successful are you? How much money do you have?” The irony was that they wanted wisdom, but it wasn’t the wisdom of the cross. If they sought the wisdom of the cross, they would’ve seen that God doesn’t save based on worldly standards. He saves in a way that shames worldly standards. Before the cross, everyone should see that we’re nothing. Everything is by grace.

But many in the Corinthian church had forgotten this. Then here in 2 Corinthians—they’re still giving in to the same worldly comparisons. They want a leader who looks powerful not a leader like Paul who looks weak. Paul willingly admits weakness because God’s power is made perfect in his weakness. His weakness becomes an opportunity to boast in the Lord’s power. But some in the Corinthian church don’t like the idea of admitting weakness. They’d prefer to boast in their own power instead of God’s power.

And Paul is trying to help them see that if a church abandon’s its boast in the Lord, it has nothing to offer the world—except what the world itself already has. The world already believes itself to be strong; it already believes that life is just fine without God. And that’s the problem. A church that boasts in worldly comparisons ends up joining the world in its self-sufficiency instead of displaying our need for Christ. Thus, it hinders the work of missions.

Boasting in worldly comparisons errs in what truly matters. It divides the church instead of uniting brothers and sisters around Christ. It takes the focus off Christ and puts it on ourselves and our achievements. But worst of all, it lies about the worth of Jesus Christ. He’s the only one worthy of all our boasting.

Boast in the Lord Alone

Which leads us to our final criteria for legitimate boasting: boast in the Lord alone. Verse 17, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.” He’s quoted this before in 1 Corinthians 1:31. So, these Christians have heard it; and they’ve had it with them in writing for a couple years. But it seems they’ve ignored it. And had they remembered it, it would’ve helped them discern the empty boasting of these false apostles.

I read it earlier, but it’s worth repeating. Jeremiah 9:23-24. “Thus says the LORD: ‘Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches…” Just those words alone should’ve sent their discernment antennas way high, when it comes to these false apostles. They were putting Paul down to puff themselves up. They were bragging in their public speaking skills. They were boasting in outward appearances. They were peddlers of God’s word, using their preaching for selfish gain. Verse 23 of Jeremiah should’ve made the Corinthians say, “Sorry, no thank you. You’re not welcome here.”

But just like rebellious Israel, the Corinthians were given to that sort of thing. Which should really cause us to pause and evaluate our own hearts. Even the people of God are vulnerable to such things. We’re all prone to puffing ourselves up like a bunch of turkeys. For centuries this stuff keeps coming up. What are you prone to boast in? Our brother Wes once described boasting as “going vocal with what you place your confidence in.”[iv] Where is your confidence? Is it in your own wisdom? Your own riches? Your own might? Your own achievements? Your own political party? Your own theological proficiency?

The reason Jeremiah calls God’s people away from such boasting is that he knows none of these things can save us. None of these things were going last. None of these things were worthy of everyone’s attention. The only One who saves, the only One who lasts, the only One worthy of everyone’s attention is the Lord. Jeremiah 9:24, “but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth.”

God’s steadfast love has to do with his loving, loyal resolve to fulfill his covenant obligations, especially when his people are helpless. God’s justice and righteousness have to do with God always acting in ways consistent with his nature and will. He judges impartially, rewarding righteousness and punishing evil. We could list numerous examples from the Old Testament where God displays steadfast love and justice. But all of them anticipated a much greater revelation. The ultimate display of God’s steadfast love and justice happened at the cross, when God in his great love put forward his only Son to punish and take away our sins.

When Jeremiah spoke these words to Israel, the Lord he had in mind is Yahweh, Israel’s covenant God. When Paul quotes these words in Corinth, the Lord he has in mind is that same Lord now revealed in the person of Jesus Christ. Jesus is God in the flesh. God has revealed steadfast love and justice most fully in Jesus. God has given Jesus all authority in heaven and on earth. God has seated Jesus high, above all earthly powers; and he’s given him a name above every name. Apart from Jesus, we remain dead in our trespasses and sins, lost and without hope, cut off from God. But in Jesus we have eternal life, freedom, forgiveness, adoption, security, the hope of glory, and God himself.

This is why all heaven boasts about Jesus. John tells us about it in Revelation 5: “I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders the voice of many angels, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice, “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!” And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying, “To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!”

You see, everything the world boasts in—wisdom, power, wealth, honor—God has gathered them all in their purest form and placed them in one person: Jesus Christ. It’s no wonder that Paul says elsewhere, “far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.”

Paul knew what it meant to boast in the Lord. That’s why the Lord commends Paul in verse 8: “it’s not the one who commends himself who is approved, but the one whom the Lord commends.” It’s not the false apostles who commend themselves in all the wrong ways—with all their one-upmanship. The Lord commends Paul who makes his boast about Jesus. The One worthy of everybody’s attention is Christ. Our lives will square with the truth insofar as we make Christ the object of our boasting as well. The Lord doesn’t commend those who make much of themselves; he commends those who make much of Christ.

To boast in the Lord is to place all your confidence in him; and when your confidence is in him, you make much of him. He becomes what’s most important to talk about. You tell others about his greatness. You walk in humility before others, knowing that you are nothing without him. Your life motto becomes, “Not to us, not to us, but to your name be the glory.”

When the kids were younger, Rachel and I used to read them a children’s book called Fool Moon Rising (not “Full” as in the whole moon “Fool” as in being dumb). The poem in that book offers a great illustration of illegitimate versus legitimate boasting. I won’t read it all, but it starts like this:

I heard a cosmic story and wondered if it’s true
The moon was stealing glory and this is what he’d do
He bragged each night that his great might could make the darkness flee
And like a kite he scaled the heights and said, “Hey! Look at me!”

The poem then goes on to illustrate the various ways he bragged: he loved how people wrote songs about him; he took pride in being able to change his face from time to time; he was the one astronauts came to visit in space. But then it ends like this:

He’d boast away and loved to say, “I am the greatest light!”
Until one day a piercing ray showed him a shocking sight
He saw his pride and then he cried for all that he had done
For he had lied when he denied his light came from the Sun

So now each night a new delight is what he loved the most
Reflecting light with all his might the Sun is now his boast.

The poem then becomes a prayer: “So God I pray for grace each day to find the joy that’s true / In all my days and all my ways in making much of You.” May that become our prayer as well.

This week, consider what you talk about most naturally. Think about what excites you most. Evaluate what sorts of criticisms decimate your spirit. Evaluate what you defend. Consider where you place your confidence. Those things often reveal what you’re boasting in.

And wherever you find yourself boasting in something other than Christ, bring it to the cross and learn again to say with Paul, “Far be it from me to boast in anything except the cross of our Lord, Jesus Christ.” “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.”

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[i] David E. Garland, 2 Corinthians, CSC (Nashville: Holman, 2021), 514

[ii] Garland, 2 Corinthians, 514

[iii] Garland, 2 Corinthians, 514.

[iv] See Wes Duggins, “No Other Boast,” RedeemerChurch.org (May 21, 2017), accessible at https://www.redeemerfortworth.org/sermons/sermon/2017-05-21/no-other-boast.