“Oh, dear Corinthian friends! We have spoken honestly with you, and our hearts are open to you. There is no lack of love on our part, but you have withheld your love from us. I am asking you to respond as if you were my own children. Open your hearts to us!”
2 Corinthians 6:11-13 NLT
Paul’s love and concern for the Corinthian believers ooze from these verses in 2 Corinthians, but the Corinthians have not reciprocated with love. How did it come to this? The essence of the two epistles written to the believers in Corinth was to bring loving correction to a church that appeared to have gone badly wrong. Paul addressed issues such as open immorality, wrong teaching, denial of the resurrection, and more in response to what he had heard about the church in Corinth, and he also answered questions from the believers there. Paul tried to steer them back onto the right track, carefully, but lovingly and firmly, in his letters. Obviously, some false prophets or elders had emerged in the church, subverting the purity of the Gospel message, and relations between the church and Paul and his friends had broken down.
Paul had not held back correction, truth, or affection. He loved the Corinthians deeply, even when it cost him. Earlier in the chapter, he described enduring hardship, suffering, and misunderstanding for their sake. His love was not superficial; it was sacrificial, reflecting the heart of Christ. Jesus does not love us from a distance. He draws near to us. We know that from Romans 5:8, “But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners”. In 1 Corinthians 6:12, Paul wrote, “There is no lack of love on our part, but you have withheld your love from us”. The issue in Corinth was not that Paul had failed them. It was that their hearts had been subverted by issues that brought down a barrier and eroded the relationship. Perhaps some in Corinth were telling lies about Paul. Or people might have been bringing teaching or prophecies that contradicted Paul’s message. But whatever caused the rift, their love for Paul had grown cold. There is a lesson here for us pilgrims. It is possible to receive teaching, correction, prayer, and spiritual care, yet still keep our hearts guarded, love restricted, perhaps due to offence, pride, comparison, or divided loyalties. Jesus warned that in the last days, “the love of many will grow cold” (Matthew 24:12b). Love doesn’t usually disappear dramatically—it slowly constricts.
In the next verse, Paul wrote, “I am asking you to respond as if you were my own children. Open your hearts to us!” What a tender appeal; we can almost feel Paul’s pain, like that of any parent reaching out to a wayward child. Of course, this is not manipulation on Paul’s part. It is spiritual fatherhood. Paul had birthed this church through the gospel, as we read from 1 Corinthians 4:15, “For even if you had ten thousand others to teach you about Christ, you have only one spiritual father. For I became your father in Christ Jesus when I preached the Good News to you”. Paul was not demanding admiration; he was longing for a restored relationship. Churches and fellowships are founded on relationships between believers, as we remember from Acts 2:44-46, “And all the believers met together in one place and shared everything they had. They sold their property and possessions and shared the money with those in need. They worshipped together at the Temple each day, met in homes for the Lord’s Supper, and shared their meals with great joy and generosity”. No sign of a stained glass window or rows of pews. No church organ or complex liturgy required. The only true church is established in the hearts and minds of believers. Anything else comes from a worldly influence that penetrates and distorts the truth of the Gospel.
Paul finished the three verses we started with today with the appeal, “Open your hearts to us!” But what were they opening their hearts to? Well, the truth of Paul’s teaching was there before them, with the correction and encouragement that it brought. Paul’s testimony and what he had shared previously in his letters added some weight to his appeal. Near the start of his first letter, Paul wrote, “I appeal to you, dear brothers and sisters, by the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ, to live in harmony with each other. Let there be no divisions in the church. Rather, be of one mind, united in thought and purpose” (1 Corinthians 1:10). A lack of harmony and division in itself would have developed into confusion and a cooling of the love that Paul initially received when he was there with them. We mustn’t forget that it is God’s love and grace that underpins the Gospel, and as believers, we must show that love and grace to those around us.
What are we pilgrims going through at the moment? Are we drifting along, without any real connection with a church or other believers? Are we sitting in a pew, wondering why we are there because no one ever speaks to us? Or are we actively showing the love and grace of Jesus to those new in the faith or struggling with their own doubts and fears? There is only one way, and although we are not perfect, we can sit and reflect on all that God has done for us through Jesus. Yes, people around us will hurt or irritate us, but that’s okay. We don’t have to respond in the same way. Instead, we follow Paul’s advice, appealing to them with the goal of restoring a relationship that has been lost.
Father God. Thank You for all that You have done for us. Your love and grace know no limits, so please help us to draw down more into our own lives so that we can reach out to those around us. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Being a Pilgrim 