Odgovori na optužbu
1Ja, Pavao, preklinjem vas s blagošću i krotkošću Kristovom, iako neki kažu da sam odvažan kad sam daleko od vas, ali popustljiv kad sam među vama, 2nemojte da moram biti vrlo odvažan, kao što sam odlučio biti prema onima koji pogrešno drže da mi postupamo iz ljudskih pobuda. 3Istina, živimo u tijelu, ali ne služimo se zato tjelesnim oružjem. 4Služimo se Božjim moćnim oružjem, a ne ljudskim, da rušimo utvrde. 5Obaramo mudrovanja i svaku oholost koja se podiže protiv spoznaje Boga te zarobljujemo svaki razum da se pokorava Kristu. 6Pripravan sam kazniti svaku nepokornost kad vaša pokornost bude savršena.
7Vi vidite samo vanjštinu! Ako tko sebe zasigurno drži Kristovim, neka zna da smo i mi Kristovi kao što je i on. 8Ako sam se malo više i pohvalio vlašću koju nam je Gospodin dao, ne stidim se toga. Jer on nam je tu vlast dao za vašu izgradnju, a ne vama na propast.
9Govorim vam to da ne biste pomislili kako vas svojim poslanicama želim prestrašiti. 10Jer neki kažu: “Poslanice su mu ozbiljne i stroge, ali kad je osobno nazočan, onda je slabić, a i slab je propovjednik!” 11Oni koji tako govore, neka znaju da ću, kada dođem, biti isti kao i u svojim poslanicama!
12Ne usuđujem se, razumije se, izjednačiti ili usporediti s onima koji vam sami sebe preporučuju. Ali oni sebe procjenjuju samo vlastitim mjerilima i međusobno se uspoređujući! Nerazumno postupaju.
13Mi se ipak nećemo hvaliti vlašću koju nemamo. Cilj nam je mjeriti se prema Božjoj nakani za nas, koja obuhvaća i naš rad s vama. 14Ne idemo predaleko tvrdeći da imamo određenu vlast nad vama jer smo bili prvi koji smo vam donijeli Radosnu vijest o Kristu. 15Ne hvalimo se prekomjerno pripisujući sebi tuđe zasluge. Nadamo se, naprotiv, da će vaša vjera rasti, tako da i naše djelo među vama uvelike poraste. 16Tada ćemo moći naviještati Radosnu vijest i u drugim krajevima, gdje još nitko ne radi; tada nitko neće postavljati pitanje zašto djelujemo na tuđem području. 17Kao što piše u Svetome pismu:
“Ako se tko hvali,
neka se hvali jedino time što je Gospodin učinio”.10:17 Jeremija 9:24.
18Kad se tko hvali samim sobom i dobrima koja je učinio, ne računa mu se mnogo. Ali kad Gospodin nekoga preporučuje, to je nešto drugo!
Paul’s Defense of His Ministry
1By the humility and gentleness of Christ, I appeal to you—I, Paul, who am “timid” when face to face with you, but “bold” toward you when away! 2I beg you that when I come I may not have to be as bold as I expect to be toward some people who think that we live by the standards of this world. 3For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. 4The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. 5We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. 6And we will be ready to punish every act of disobedience, once your obedience is complete.
7You are judging by appearances.10:7 Or Look at the obvious facts If anyone is confident that they belong to Christ, they should consider again that we belong to Christ just as much as they do. 8So even if I boast somewhat freely about the authority the Lord gave us for building you up rather than tearing you down, I will not be ashamed of it. 9I do not want to seem to be trying to frighten you with my letters. 10For some say, “His letters are weighty and forceful, but in person he is unimpressive and his speaking amounts to nothing.” 11Such people should realize that what we are in our letters when we are absent, we will be in our actions when we are present.
12We do not dare to classify or compare ourselves with some who commend themselves. When they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they are not wise. 13We, however, will not boast beyond proper limits, but will confine our boasting to the sphere of service God himself has assigned to us, a sphere that also includes you. 14We are not going too far in our boasting, as would be the case if we had not come to you, for we did get as far as you with the gospel of Christ. 15Neither do we go beyond our limits by boasting of work done by others. Our hope is that, as your faith continues to grow, our sphere of activity among you will greatly expand, 16so that we can preach the gospel in the regions beyond you. For we do not want to boast about work already done in someone else’s territory. 17But, “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.”10:17 Jer. 9:24 18For it is not the one who commends himself who is approved, but the one whom the Lord commends.
