We don’t always want to speak the truth to other people, because we know what the risk might be. It may mean a separation of relationship. Honestly, separation and distancing is a hard pill to swallow. It’s why we don’t share the truth with others. It’s not just people-pleasing, we concern ourselves with isolation.
This is exactly what happened to Paul. He was their leader. Because he loved them, he needed to write them for their rebuke and correction. A bad situation was happening in Corinth.
The good news? They responded, repented, and dealt with the problem.
The bad news? They stayed connected with Paul via their minds, but their hearts closed to him.
This is a painful part of human existence. It is when people close their hearts to you. But what can you do?
“Make room in your heart for us. We have wronged no one, we have corrupted no one, we have taken advantage of no one. I do not say this to condemn you, for I said before that you are in our hearts, to die together and to live together. I am acting with great boldness toward you; I have great pride in you; I am filled with comfort. In all our affliction, I am overflowing with joy” (2 Cor 7:2-16).
Paul appeals to them to open their hearts. He loves them. His message was for their good, not their harm. They are his joy, his boast, and his source of refreshment. Paul pleads over and over for them to open their hearts.
“For even if I made you grieve with my letter, I do not regret it—though I did regret it, for I see that that letter grieved you, though only for a while” (v. 8).
Then Paul says something very strange to understand.
“So although I wrote to you, it was not for the sake of the one who did the wrong, nor for the sake of the one who suffered the wrong, but in order that your earnestness for us might be revealed to you in the sight of God” (v. 12).
Did Paul care about the wrong that had happened in Corinth? Absolutely. But as he had said, in some ways this situation was a test of their faith. Would they respond to the truth of the gospel? And also, would they respond and respect him as their leader?
This whole incident was a test. It was a revealing of their hearts. They did respond. And yet they closed their hearts to him. They had a fear of the Lord to now respond to the Lord. But now they cut off Paul.
Wounds from a friend are better than kisses from an enemy (Prov 27:6).
How do we respond to people who confront us with the truth? Do we shut our hearts to them, even if we respond?