Sermon on 2 Corinthians 1:12–2:11: Avoiding spiritual drift by staying connected to leaders of integrity
A sermon by James de Costobadie, Senior Pastor at Latimer Church, on spiritual drift and the lessons Paul teaches the Corinthians.
Summary
James de Costobadie preaches through 2 Corinthians 1:12–2:11, using the letter's context — Paul defending his integrity against the Corinthians' attraction to flashy "super-apostles" — to address the danger of spiritual drift that faces every Christian. He argues that what is ultimately at stake in the Corinthians' rejection of Paul is not merely a personality dispute but their relationship with Jesus himself, since to reject Paul's leadership is to risk rejecting Paul's gospel. The sermon draws two practical lessons: first, that Christians must stay connected to leaders of genuine integrity rather than being attracted to the impressive and eloquent; and second, that tough love from godly leaders is not a sign of being unloved but is in fact one of God's key means of keeping his people from drifting away from him. De Costobadie closes by calling the congregation to examine whether there is anyone in their lives whose correction they would actually receive, warning that if the answer is no, they are in a spiritually dangerous position.
Key Takeaways
FULL TRANSCRIPT
Introduction: The experience of drift
James de Costobadie: Some time back, a couple of years ago, we had an opportunity for a great little family holiday over in Charteris Bay — just opposite Lyttelton and Lyttelton Harbour — and we had access to a couple of kayaks. So we had a great time out kayaking in Lyttelton Harbour. One of the things about Lyttelton Harbour is it looks so still when you get a day when there's no wind. It can be almost glass-like, very easy kayaking, so it seems. We put one of our youngest in a kayak — it was his first time — and taught him how to paddle. He did a great job. He just kept rowing further and further and further away. He was totally in control. It looked easy. He was gliding through the water. And it was all good until he turned around and tried to come back.
Lyttelton Harbour is actually quite tidal. When you've got the tide behind you, it's simple — away you go. But when you're rowing against the tide, it's a different story. Our poor little kid — you could just see him getting exhausted. He was too far away for us to yell at him, and he was just getting further and further away from the shore no matter how hard he tried to row. I don't want to leave the story there because you'll wonder what happened to him. He's fine. We got him. He's all good.
But I wonder if you've ever experienced drift like that — where you feel the pull of the water taking you away. If you have, let me ask you a different question. Have you felt that in your spiritual life? Have you felt that temptation to drift away from Jesus? It could be seen in lots of different ways, couldn't it? It could be that right now that is how you're feeling. Maybe you can think back to a time, not so long ago, where you loved being with God's people. You loved singing God's praises. You loved reading the Scriptures. You loved praying. And now you look at your life and think, what happened? I've kind of lost that. Or maybe for some people in the room it's actually a drift towards a particular sin — something you're drawn to that you know is not right, and yet you know you've moved towards it, and in doing so you've moved away from Jesus.
Background to 2 Corinthians: A church that has drifted
Spiritual drift is a danger for every Christian. And it was a danger for the church of Corinth as well. Paul writes this letter to the Corinthians in AD 55. Five years earlier he planted this church. Five years previous to this letter, this church had heard the message of Jesus and him crucified. They believed it and were filled with joy. They were transformed by the message of Jesus. But in just five short years, the church has drifted from that message. They have drifted towards impressive worldly leaders who teach a different message. They've drifted towards sin and allowed sin to creep into their community as a church family. They've drifted away from their love for each other and turned instead to complaining and grumbling. They are drifting.
And so for people like you and me who are prone to drifting, this is a great letter for us. The particular drift — the tide or wind working against the Corinthians — was flashy leaders who taught a different message to the message of Jesus. The Corinthians were attracted by eloquent speakers, strong visionary leaders, leaders who in the world's eyes were impressive and successful. As a result of their attraction to this kind of leadership, Paul the Apostle, in comparison, seemed very weak, unimpressive, and particularly lacking in eloquence. They longed for him to be different. And as a result of this attraction to worldly leaders, the relationship between the Corinthian church and the Apostle Paul had become very strained.
So a major theme in the letter of 2 Corinthians is Paul writing to defend his position of leadership in the church. It's not because he had some kind of low self-esteem and needed to be liked. It's not that he was simply concerned for his own reputation. It's much deeper than that. What Paul knows is that what is at stake is not just his relationship with this church, which he loves, but more importantly, the church's relationship with Jesus, whom Paul proclaimed. The church in Corinth is not just in danger of rejecting Paul as a leader — they're in danger of rejecting Paul's Jesus. And to reject the message of Jesus which Paul taught is to walk away from salvation. It is to reject the God who sent Paul as his messenger. So he writes to defend himself.
Don't take my word for it. Let's have a look at a few verses. At the end of the book, in chapter 11, Paul writes this in verse 3:
Paul (quoted): "I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent's cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ. For if someone comes to you and preaches a Jesus other than the Jesus we preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the spirit you received, or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it easily enough. I do not think I am in the least inferior to those super-apostles."
You see Paul's concern? He's concerned that this church is drifting away from Paul towards super-apostles, but in so doing they're actually drifting away from Jesus and accepting a different gospel.
Christians have always been at risk of spiritual drift. All of us are likely to feel at some point in our Christian life this pull away from Jesus. It's not a unique experience. So if you're here tonight and you realise, oh my goodness, this is me — you are not alone. And I hope that you will learn with me from this letter of 2 Corinthians about how to avoid the drift and stick with Jesus.
Two lessons from 2 Corinthians 1:12–2:11
In these particular verses which Abby read for us, there are two lessons I want to draw your attention to. There's something we must do and something we must not do in order to avoid the drift.
Lesson one: Do stay connected to Christian leaders of integrity
The first is a do. Do stay connected to Christian leaders of integrity.
As we've seen, the Corinthians were attracted to flashiness. They were wooed by leaders who had money, leaders who were popular, leaders who were inspirational speakers — but leaders who did not teach a faithful message about Jesus. And I think that's a temptation for us, isn't it? To be attracted to the impressive, the successful, and the powerful leader, not just in the world but in the church. But if we're going to stick with Jesus and not drift, we mustn't give in to that temptation to be attracted to the flashy. Rather, we must stay connected to the faithful.
The American business tycoon and billionaire Warren Buffett once said this: "In looking for people to hire, I look for three qualities — integrity, intelligence, and energy. And if they don't have the first, the other two will kill you." So if they've got intelligence and lots of energy but don't have integrity, they'll kill you. The most important thing is integrity.
I think he's right, isn't he? We hate leaders who lack integrity — leaders who say one thing publicly but then do another thing privately. And the damage that such leaders can do in the church is sadly all too common. I suspect many of us will be able to tell stories, maybe personal stories, of Christian leaders who have lacked integrity and done things and said things that are so hurtful. Leaders who have used their positions of authority in the church to hide sin. Leaders who have bullied the weak, abused the vulnerable. Leaders who have preached one thing publicly but then privately lived a secret life of scandal. And as a result, so many of these leaders have caused the drift of people away from Jesus.
I was asked at Life Course just two weeks ago by someone who's exploring what it means to follow Jesus. They asked the question: how do I trust Christianity when I have been so hurt by Christians? I think that's a really sad question, isn't it? But it's a good question to ask, because sadly it's the reality — that Christians misrepresent Christ whom we follow. It happens when we lack integrity, when our private life and our public life don't match. And that is especially tragic when it happens in the lives of our leaders.
And I think what that can do is lead to a very cynical view of leaders. When you hear about leaders who fall from grace and lack integrity, you think, we just can't trust leaders anymore. You can't trust anyone these days. No leader is perfect, so don't trust any of them. But I put it to you that that's very dangerous. We think perhaps that not trusting leaders makes us more discerning and wise, when in fact at times it actually makes us more vulnerable. When we only trust our own judgment and refuse to trust the judgment of leaders, we are actually more likely to be swept away by conspiracies and popular narratives.
Better than becoming cynical of all leaders, what we ought to do instead is remain connected to godly leaders of real integrity. God's design for his church is that she is led by godly leaders — people who preach Jesus faithfully and people who follow Jesus with godly sincerity.
Paul's defence of his integrity in chapter 1
Now don't take my word for it. Let's have a look down at chapter 1 and see how the Apostle Paul calls the Corinthians away from flashy leaders towards godly integrity. Have a look at verse 12. Paul says, "Now this is our boast. Our conscience testifies that we have conducted ourselves in the world and especially in our relations with you." Paul is requiring this connection between his preaching and his practice. He says, I've got a clear conscience. When it comes to how I've treated you in Corinth and how I've conducted myself in the world, he wants the Corinthians to demand that kind of integrity in their leaders as well. He wants the Corinthians to be drawn to that kind of integrity and godly sincerity, because he knows that if they do, they will see him and be drawn to him. If they value integrity and faithfulness over flashiness, then they will value Paul over the super-apostles. They will trust Paul and his message.
And so Paul would want us here at Latimer to do the same — to value integrity in our leaders and to stay connected to godly leaders who have integrity. Now, that doesn't mean our leaders won't sin against us, or make mistakes, or disappoint us. We, like Paul, are jars of clay. That's the word he uses to describe himself — weak. There's a weakness in every human leader, of course there is. And I am very aware of my own failings as a leader. I'm very aware that there are people in this church that I have disappointed, people in this church that I have sinned against, people in this church that I've let down. And it is true, when you stop and think about it, that only Jesus has perfect integrity. Our faith is not in Christian leaders — it is in Jesus, who is the perfect leader. We follow Jesus before we follow any human leader.
So yes, our leaders will disappoint us and hurt us at times, even leaders of integrity. It's clear as we read chapter 1 that Paul has disappointed and hurt the Corinthians — not due to any sin against them, but he has disappointed them by changing his travel plans on them. That's a bit mundane, but that's what's happened. He said he was going to visit them, and he hasn't. And his change in travel plans has led the Corinthians to doubt his integrity.
And so in verse 16, he acknowledges the change in his plans. He says, "I wanted to visit you, Corinthians, on my way to Macedonia" — which was north of Corinth. He wanted to come and see them, then go on to Macedonia, and then come back and visit them again on his return trip. But he didn't. He changed his mind. And so Paul asks in verse 17, "Was I fickle when I intended to do this? Or do I make plans in a worldly manner so that in the same breath I say yes, yes, and no, no?" In other words, he's saying, am I a Kiwi? Yeah, nah — you know, we love that phrase. He's saying, did I mix my words? Am I an untrustworthy person who said I was going to come and didn't? Am I fickle? That's what the Corinthians accused him of — a man without integrity.
Well, Paul's answer is not at all. What we get in the rest of the chapter is Paul's defence of his integrity, and he does it by showing that there is a connection between his word and his walk. There is a connection between the message Paul preached and the way that he practised his ministry. There's a connection between his message and the way he lived his life. And so he defends his message — his word — and then he defends his ministry and his walk.
Paul defends his word: God's promises are "yes" in Christ
First he defends his word. Have a look at verse 18. He says, "As surely as God is faithful, our message to you is not yes and no. For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us — by me and Silas and Timothy — he was not yes and no, but in him it has always been yes. For no matter how many promises God has made, they are yes in Christ. And so through him the amen is spoken by us to the glory of God."
You see what he's saying? Paul's message, the message he proclaimed, was one of integrity. He preached a message about the living God who always does what he says he will do. God is full of integrity. Paul preached a God of integrity. All of God's promises, says Paul, have their yes in Jesus.
For hundreds of years before Jesus, God made promises. And all of those ancient promises — every single one of them — were kept in Jesus. Jesus is God's yes to his promise to crush the serpent's head through an offspring of Eve in Genesis chapter 3. Jesus is God's yes to God's promise to bless all nations through Abraham's family in Genesis chapter 12. Jesus is God's yes to his promise to King David to establish his throne in a kingdom that will reign forever. Jesus is God's yes to God's promise to Isaiah that he will come and comfort his people, that he will free the captive, that he will tend the brokenhearted. Jesus is God's yes to his promise to deliver his people from the grave. Jesus is God's yes to God's promise to lead and shepherd his people himself. Jesus is God's yes to his promise to pay the penalty for our sin and be punished for our iniquities. Jesus is God's yes to his promise to never leave or forsake his people.
No matter how many promises God has made in the Bible, all of them have their yes in Jesus. Our growth groups, which are meeting together as small groups reading the Bible together this year, are doing a Bible overview — working their way through the Bible — and this is what they're seeing, right? Time and time again, God promises to deliver his people, to save them from their sin, to redeem them from slavery, to reign over them forever. And every single one of those promises, Jesus fulfils.
Sometimes people think Christianity is a "no" religion — like it's just full of no's. You're not allowed to do that, you're not allowed to do that, you're not allowed to do that. That's what Christianity is all about, people think. But here we are told that Christianity is the great "yes" religion. Christianity is the religion that answers all of our deepest longings as human beings. All the things we long for as people have their yes in Jesus. Meaning and purpose is found in Jesus. Life and life to the full is found in Jesus. Freedom from sin and shame and guilt is found in Jesus. Satisfaction and everlasting joy is found in Jesus. Hope that carries us not just through this life but through death and into the life to come — it's found in Jesus. Everything we long for has its yes in Jesus.
And if you're here tonight as someone who's not yet started following Jesus, not quite sure what you think about him — I'm really glad you're here. And I want you to hear this: Jesus is the answer to all the deepest longings that you have. He's the answer to all of your questions about life. He is God's big yes.
And so in verse 20 we're told that through Jesus the great amen is spoken by those who trust him. Those of us who are Jesus' people, who have trusted him, we join together with Paul and every Christian throughout the ages to say amen to the promises of God. Amen is a word that has a Hebrew origin, and it simply means "so be it." It's a statement of confirmation and agreement. It's not just a strange word we say at the end of a prayer — it means I agree, amen, so be it. And so when we hear this news that all of God's promises are kept in Jesus, and you've experienced that yourself, what do you say? Amen. God keeps all of his promises in Jesus, and so all God's people say amen. That's what Paul is saying here. God is a God of integrity. God always does what God says he will do. Amen.
God is faithful, says Paul, and he's not just faithful in abstract, distant kinds of ways — he's faithful to you as a person, individually. So have a look. It goes on in verse 21: "Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his spirit in our hearts as a deposit guaranteeing what is to come."
Notice all the things God has done for us. Do you think God's never done anything for you? Read those verses again. God makes us stand firm in Christ. No matter how weak you feel as a Christian, no matter how far you've drifted away from Jesus, God will hold on to you and he will never let you go. God has anointed us to his service, chosen us to be his people. God has set his seal of ownership on us. You know those old wax seals — where the person who owns it stamps it in wax and puts it on the envelope as a sign that this carries the authority of the one who has sealed it? Well, if you're a follower of Jesus, we're told here that God has sealed you. He owns you. You belong to him. He loves you. He'll protect you because you're his.
And we're told that God has given us his spirit as a deposit guaranteeing what is to come — like a down payment on a house. Once you've paid the deposit, it hurts. But once it's paid, the house is yours. It's secure. The rest is to come. Here we're told God has paid a deposit by sending you his spirit, and the rest is yet to come. God dwells with us now by his spirit, and one day we can be absolutely certain we will dwell with him physically, face to face.
Paul defends his walk: why he changed his travel plans
So here is the message that Paul preached to the church in Corinth — a message about a God who is full of integrity, a God who is faithful, a God who always does what he says. And then in verse 23 through to chapter 2, verse 4, Paul shows the connection between this word he preached and the way that he walked. He walked what he taught. He practised what he preached. He preached a message of integrity and so he was a man of integrity.
Here he explains why he didn't visit them, despite having previously said he would. Verse 23: "I call God as my witness, and I stake my life on it, that it was in order to spare you that I did not return to Corinth. Not that we lord it over your faith, but we work with you for your joy, because it is by faith you stand firm."
Paul says, I did change my mind, but I did it for your sake. I did it in order to spare you. You've got to understand a bit of the context, so bear with me as I explain what's going on. At the end of the letter of 1 Corinthians, Paul tells the church in Corinth that he will visit them twice — once on his way to Macedonia and then once on his way back. But his plans start to come apart when Timothy, one of Paul's co-workers, visits the church of Corinth on Paul's behalf. Timothy finds the church in absolute disarray, with little or no progress in response to the letter of 1 Corinthians. Paul had written the letter calling them to change, to repent, but they responded badly. Timothy sees it. And so Timothy goes straight back to Paul in Ephesus, and Paul in turn goes straight to visit Corinth. We're told it is a painful visit. Paul finds the church in bad shape. Paul faced personal and public criticism and abuse from a church member. Paul called the church to repentance and they didn't like it. He leaves the city and returns to Ephesus.
And then instead of returning to Corinth on his way to Macedonia as he said he would, he decides instead to give it some time and only make the visit on his way back. Here we're told in chapter 2, verse 1, that the reason he did so is that he didn't want to make another painful visit. The first visit was so painful. He said, I don't want to come back and have that again. I need to give you time — time to be able to hear what I've said, time to respond in a godly manner and to repent, time to heal so that when I do come, you can actually welcome me with open arms.
And so yes, he did change his mind, but he did it out of love for them. His integrity is seen by the way he's always acted with their best interests at heart. He doesn't lose his integrity by changing his mind. He has a clear conscience. He loves the Corinthians. And everything he's done has been for their benefit. He changes his plans in order to benefit them. And so the change in his plans is actually a sign of his sincerity and his love for the Corinthians.
You see this connection between Paul's word and Paul's walk. His integrity matters because he preaches a God of integrity, and he wants the Corinthians to see it. Not to be attracted by flashy leaders, but to stick with Paul, the faithful leader who loves them.
Now we've got to understand this clearly: it is God who will keep his people from spiritual drift. It is God who makes us stand firm in Christ. It is God who has sealed us with his spirit. It is God who will hold on to you when you're tempted to drift away from him. Your perseverance as a Christian does not depend upon the faithful leaders of God's church. Your perseverance as a Christian depends on God alone. And praise God that that is true.
But one of the means by which God does hold on to us — one of the ways he keeps us from drifting away from him — is actually by using faithful leaders of integrity. Leaders like the Apostle Paul and his co-workers Timothy and Silas.
Sometimes one of the first signs of spiritual drift is a distancing between the person drifting and the spiritual leaders who point them to Jesus. Maybe it's seen by them no longer joining the gatherings — they keep themselves away from the gathering of God's people, no longer sitting under the teaching of the Bible. Or maybe it's seen by no longer letting the people in their growth group speak into their lives because they stop going to growth group. They just drift away from godly leaders and are attracted instead to something flashy and impressive.
Do you see the warning? Paul's lesson for the Corinthians and for us here tonight: if we are going to avoid spiritual drift, stay connected to Christian leaders of integrity. Leaders who preach Jesus and leaders who practise what they preach.
Lesson two: Don't mistake tough love for being unloved
The second lesson, more briefly, is a don't. Don't make the mistake of thinking that when you experience tough love, you're being unloved.
The Corinthians have faced some tough love from the Apostle Paul. There's been a tough visit. There's been a tough letter. Paul has rebuked this church for their sin and called them to repentance. God has used Paul to teach them, to warn them, to correct them. God has used Paul to bring discipline and order to the church in order to stop them drifting away — and it was tough. But notice how many times Paul reminds them that his tough love was indeed love. He really did want what was best for them and for their souls.
He says in verse 23, "It was in order to spare you." He says in verse 24, "I am working for your joy." He says in chapter 2, verse 4, "I wrote out of great distress and anguish, not to grieve you, but to let you know the depth of my love for you."
Friends, you can be sure that if you are beginning to drift, the Lord will graciously bring warning and discipline into your life to keep you from further drift. If we live with the impression that the Christian life is always just rosy and polite and nobody ever challenges us — that no one should be able to challenge me or rebuke me or correct me — then when we do experience the discipline of the Lord that comes through godly leaders who love us, we'll think something strange is happening. It'll confuse us and hurt us. We'll question, why would God's people treat me like this, confront me like this? What kind of church is this? And we'll be tempted to drift even further away — tempted all the more to run to leaders who will impress us because they'll tell us what we want to hear and won't challenge us or say the hard things.
If you want to avoid the spiritual drift that happens to all of us, we actually need to surround ourselves with people who will lovingly rebuke us, correct us, warn us, and urge us to keep trusting Jesus. We need to place ourselves in relationships where there's permission for us to do that for each other. And when that challenge comes, we must not make the mistake of thinking that it's a sign that we are unloved — when it might just be tough love.
I was chatting with a friend recently who has four beautiful children. He told me about an event that happened not so long ago in his family where he was standing beside the road with his daughter — who was only young — and she suddenly ran out into the middle of the road into oncoming traffic. He loves his daughter. So what does he do? He grabs her and pulls her back to safety. But he can't get a proper grab on her, so he just grabs her by the arm. That's all he could get. Now it hurt. But it was love, wasn't it? Of course he intended to love her. He was saving her. Saving her from death. From destruction.
Friends, make no mistake — that is where spiritual drift leads to. It leads to death and destruction. Love warns a person who is going towards death and destruction. Love calls them back. All of the promises of God have their yes in Jesus. And so if you drift away from Jesus, you miss out on all of God's promises. Without Jesus, there's no hope. There's no forgiveness of sins. There's no peace with God. There's no everlasting joy. There's no heaven. There's only hell. And so if you're walking away from Jesus, the most loving thing that someone can do for you is to call you back, to warn you and correct you. Don't mistake tough love for being unloved.
We live in a society that tells us real love is only seen in affirming a person. If you really love a person, you'll just let them do whatever they want with their life. You won't judge them, you won't try to change them, you'll just love them. You've heard that kind of narrative? Friends, that is profoundly untrue. Real love is sometimes seen in tough love — calling people out of drift and towards Jesus.
So let me ask you this, just to reflect on for a moment. Who in your life at the moment is able to rebuke you? Who would you listen to should they correct you and challenge you in the Christian life? Whose tough love will you trust as being real love? Because if, as you think about that, you find that there is no one, then you're in a very dangerous position. We're all prone to drift. And so I urge you to fix it. Surround yourself with godly people, godly believers, who will speak the truth in love. Place yourself under the leadership of godly leaders with integrity. And don't mistake tough love for being unloving.
Forgiveness as the proof of love: chapter 2, verses 5–11
Now, our love for each other — as we show this kind of tough love and call each other to follow Jesus and correct and rebuke — our love will be seen in speaking what is hard to say, but also in our willingness to forgive each other when there's repentance. We ought to be the kind of community where grace and truth flow together.
And notice that that is what Paul tells the Corinthians to do. Have a look at chapter 2, verse 5. He says, "If anyone has caused grief, he has not so much grieved me as he has grieved all of you to some extent — not to put it too severely. The punishment inflicted on him by the majority is sufficient. Now instead, you ought to forgive and comfort him so that he will not be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. I urge you, therefore, to reaffirm your love for him."
We don't really know the details of this person that Paul refers to here. It seems that there was one particular person in the church who drifted into sin in some way. Undoubtedly they'd faced some tough love from Paul and from the whole church in Corinth, being called to repentance. And praise God, they responded positively. They repented. They listened. And so now Paul tells the church to forgive them, to welcome them back, to comfort them and to affirm their love for them — just as Paul himself is ready to do. It's a wonderful picture of a grace-filled community, isn't it? Correction, repentance, forgiveness. And our forgiveness will be the evidence that the tough love we showed them really was love.
The spiritual battle against drift
The Christian life is full of temptation — temptation from the world, which pulls us away from Jesus and tells us that real happiness is found in money or relationships or pleasures. Temptation from within ourselves, from our own sinful desires. Sin is tempting because it looks good, it feels good. And temptation from the schemes of Satan.
Notice Paul's awareness that the spiritual life is a spiritual battle. In verse 11, he says he doesn't want them to be unaware of Satan's schemes. Have you ever thought about that? Satan schemes. He plans. Right now he's planning how to outwit you, how to stop you trusting Jesus. The fight to stay on course and keep trusting Jesus is a spiritual fight. We need godly leaders with integrity to help us, and we need each other. We need correction, we need tough love. We need to be quick to forgive.