2 Cor. 3:1 “Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or do we need, as some others, letters of commendation to you or from you?”
Introduction
I think most of us will agree that there is a need for commendation today as there was in Paul’s days, for serious mistakes are being made by putting confidence in undependable mortals, or by entrusting responsibilities to fickle eager beavers. That individuals should know our true colors can only be equaled in importance by us knowing theirs; and to demand their credence without providing grounds for it amounts to a preposterous wish.
The Scripture tells us, “confidence in an unfaithful man in time of trouble
is like a bad tooth and a foot out of joint” (Proverbs 25:19). Hence it is imperative to know the person we are about to trust if we want to avoid frustration or even disaster.
Confidence and Knowledge
As much as the Christian faith is established on substantial knowledge, the faith we have towards other people should also be rooted in factuality. When the psalmist writes:“Those who know Your name will put their trust in You” (Psalm 9:10), he is simply stating the vital correlation existing between factual knowledge and trust. Left alone, trust can become as dangerous and idiotic as leaning on a broken reed (Isaiah 36:6). If we want to be trusted we must prove to be trustworthy. Likewise to trust anyone without this vital cornerstone is to gamble with little chance to win.
The context of 2nd Corinthians
I introduced this post with a scripture taken from the second letter to the Corinthians because the epistle offers, in my opinion, the best possible material to introduce the need of valid commendations.
Throughout this epistle Paul defends his ministry, which had been attacked and discredited by impostors who had succeeded in winning the trust of the Corinthians. Paul had spent eighteen months exhibiting God’s commendation to these believers, and now everything seems neutralized and nullified by the verdict of these new teachers.
Who were they? They were false apostles who had come along with impressive letters of commendation and had succeeded in discrediting Paul’s ministry by undermining his authority and integrity. Obviously this was not done in a day. Their accusations must have evolved from subtle insinuations to blatant defamation. When the news reached Paul he was astonished to realize how the Corinthians had swallowed the calumnies and slanders and affiliated themselves with these impostors.
Paul’s answer to the Corinthians
In 2 Corinthians 3:1 Paul expresses his amazement:
Do we begin again to commend ourselves? Or do we need, as some others, letters of commendation to you or from you?”
The “others” referred to in this verse were the deceitful workers who had defamed Paul’s name. Not only they had come to Corinth with letters of commendation, but before leaving they had also required such a certificate from the Corinthians. The sarcasm and bafflement expressed by the apostle emerged because he knew the Corinthians had known him much longer and better than they had known these pretenders. Yet Paul was the one brushed aside as unqualified and unlicensed.
Two methods of commendation
2 Corinthians 3:1 presents two sources of commendation. The first is what Paul calls self-commendation: Do we begin again to commend ourselves? The second is provided by a human third party: Or do we need, as some others, letters of commendation to you or from you? While the first is rather dubious, the second is fraught with danger and can only reach the security corresponding to the factual knowledge its reader has of its author. But unfortunately, such documents often generate trust not because their authors are well known through personal acquaintance, but rather because of the authoritative position they occupy.
The written commendations the Corinthians embraced, for instance, were probably genuine; and to have such convincing effect they must have come from some sort of authority; yet they were unreliable and inaccurate. As a matter of fact, the elders of the Corinthian church seemed to have written such a letter themselves, recommending these deceitful workers as Paul called them in 2 Cor. 11:13.
Paul seems to refer to this letter when he writes: “Or do we need, as some others, letters of commendation to you or from you?” This seems to imply that these ‘others’ had not only come with letters of commendation, but they had also left with one written by the elders of the Corinthian church. As we can see, good intentions are not sufficient, and not all the letters written by authorities are trustworthy. In the case of the Corinthians the letter was a total blunder.
A few words from Jesus and Paul
Referring to self-commendation Paul writes:
For we dare not class ourselves or compare ourselves with those who commend themselves. But they, measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise” (2 Cor. 10:12).
And again:
For not he who commends himself is approved, but whom the Lord commends” (2 Cor. 10:18).
Paul could not have been any clearer. Actually he seems to believe that the only unimpeachable commendation is the one proceeding from God Himself. As for Jesus, He declares:
If I bear witness of Myself, My witness is not true” (John 5:31).
Human commendations
In reference to the commendation written by a human third party Jesus’ words are absolutely conclusive: “ You have sent to John, and he has borne witness to the truth. 34 Yet I do not receive testimony from man, but I say these things that you may be saved (John 5:33–35). Here Jesus points to the fact that John had recommended Him and that his testimony was true. Nevertheless, the Lord’s declaration is univocal: “I do not receive testimony from man”.
Why did the Lord take such a radical stand in reference to human commendation? Could it be He counted them too unreliable to build upon? After all, no mere man can discern the thoughts and intents of the heart. Be that as it may, there is another reason for the Lord’s radical stand which leaves no room for doubts or speculations:
But I have a greater witness than John’s” (John 5:36).
Surely this is a colossal reason. Why should anyone take a second commendation when the first is infinitely superior? What weight a human commendation can add to that which is divine? This is the first question. The second is deduced from the first: What value does a human commendation have when there is no divine commendation in the first place? Either way we look at it, the human commendation seems nearly useless.
Warning!
I am not saying a person should not say what he thinks about somebody—more so if what he thinks is positive—for there are occasions in which our opinion can be useful and edifying. Paul did it occasionally (e.g. 2 Cor. 8:22–24; Col. 4:7–13; Philemon v.17). But in the case of the Corinthians one must notice they knew Paul personally. Their knowledge of him was far from being superficial. They had lived with him elbow to elbow for eighteen months. Likewise Paul knew Titus exceptionally well. Hence what he wrote about him in 2 Corinthians 8:23 carried a great deal of factuality.
The same is true about the epistle to Philemon. The words the apostle wrote to him concerning Onesimus were meaningful because he (Philemon) was well acquainted with Paul. He knew what kind of person the apostle was, and his knowledge was highly substantial. Likewise Paul was well acquainted with Onesimus. He refers to him as his own heart. Consequently his letter was not grounded in mere appearances or inconclusive observations, but in firsthand evidences.
To build without such a factual foundation simply implies too many risks. Unfortunately, the Corinthians had begun this sort of construction and regrettably the practice is still popular nowadays. Let me state it one more time: A letter of recommendation can only carry the weight of the personal knowledge one has of its author, and of the personal knowledge its author has of the person he recommends. Since these two indispensable fields of knowledge are rarely associated with the same letter, most letters of recommendation are as unreliable as a compass on the North Pole. But gladly, there is a more excellent way.
Attribution—photo by Adrian Clark
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