The Corinthians had determined that Paul was a loon. But he kept preaching the gospel to them because he knew that this would be the means by which they’d get a new set of eyes. Apart from grace, though, they’d put gospel men in the loser category every time. And they’d fall hard after super-apostles…even to the point of being abused by them. But seeing through a gospel lens would change all that. 

It’s not a good decision to take off your 3D glasses while viewing a movie in 3D. It’ll really mess with your head. It’s disorienting. Everything is fuzzy and out of balance. You can sort of still follow the plot and make out a few of the characters but you’ll miss so many things. 2D eyes in a 3D world leaves you very limited. It makes the movie you paid for just a drab and blurry show.

“From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh.” –2 Corinthians 5:16

I think of those 3D glasses when I read that text. Paul was living and ministering in 3D but they didn’t have the glasses for it. or at least they weren’t wearing them. This is why when it came for picking which ministers they’d follow the chose the flash super-apostles. The humble and constantly suffering apostle didn’t stand a chance. They picked charisma over character, every time.

Until the gospel changes our way of seeing the world we’ll do the same thing. We’ll skip over the runt David and beg God to let us anoint the skilled and savvy. And it’ll bite us every single time. Because character won’t come simply because we thrust someone into a position. How many times do we have to see high-profile (and incredibly gifted) leaders fall before we realize these words of Craig Hamilton are true?

People can pick up skills relatively quickly, but character isn’t something you just pick up. Character is often forged over a long period of time and over multiple experiences, and it only changes with great and sustained effort. It can and does change, but it’s much harder to change your character than it is to learn skills. (Wisdom in Leadership, 48)

The Corinthians had determined that Paul was a loon. But he kept preaching the gospel to them because he knew that this would be the means by which they’d get a new set of eyes. Apart from grace, though, they’d put gospel men in the loser category every time. And they’d fall hard after super-apostles…even to the point of being abused by them. But seeing through a gospel lens would change all that.

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