If you were applying for a job pastoring a church, what would you put on your resume? Your preaching skills? Your Biblical knowledge? Your counseling experience? Your history of involvement in projects like soup kitchens or Habitat for Humanity? Paul doesn’t mention any of these things.

He doesn’t even boast in his impeccable Jewish pedigree (he was from the tribe of Benjamin, a fact that he mentions in Philippians 3:5), or the fact that he had studied with the famous rabbi Gamaliel (he drops this name in Acts 22:3). These were the sorts of details that Christians of Jewish descent would find most impressive, but Paul refuses to brag about them here.

In fact, Paul doesn’t want to boast about his pastoral credentials at all – in verse 21 he indicates that such boasting is foolishness. In verse 23, he goes so far as to say it’s actually insane to compare himself to some other people who had come to Corinth, calling themselves apostles, however impressive they might have seemed to be. No, he is only talking about himself in order to help the Corinthians understand the true qualifications of an apostle, one who has been sent to bear witness to Christ and to His gospel.

So, what does Paul think is the most important qualification for an apostle? The fact that he has shared in the sufferings of Christ. But why would that matter so much?

In the first place, his willingness to be beaten and stoned rather than deny the truth of Christ’s death and resurrection was a sure-fire measure of his sincerity. No one would endure such abuse for something he knew to be a lie. Paul’s scars thus proved that he was no snake-oil salesman – what he preached is what he believed.

But his sufferings also went a long way toward proving how much he cared about the Corinthians, and indeed about the other people to whom he carried the gospel. Why would Paul put himself through such labor and hardship, why would he be so concerned about the sins of his people unless he truly loved them?

But the last reason may be the most important – Paul valued his sufferings precisely because they highlighted his weakness. He was no superman, no hero – but he did preach about One Who is. Paul was thus happy to appear weak so that the strength of Christ could be seen more clearly. He wanted the people who listened to his preaching not to be impressed with him, but to be impressed with Christ.

So, what kind of pastor should we all want? And what kind of witness to Christ should we all seek to be? One who believes the truth with all his heart, one who loves other Christians with all his heart, and one who is willing to risk it all so that Christ might receive all the glory for everything he does. What better credentials could any of us desire?

II Corinthians 11:16-33 (ESV)

16 I repeat, let no one think me foolish. But even if you do, accept me as a fool, so that I too may boast a little.
17 What I am saying with this boastful confidence, I say not as the Lord would but as a fool.
18 Since many boast according to the flesh, I too will boast.
19 For you gladly bear with fools, being wise yourselves!
20 For you bear it if someone makes slaves of you, or devours you, or takes advantage of you, or puts on airs, or strikes you in the face.
21 To my shame, I must say, we were too weak for that! But whatever anyone else dares to boast of– I am speaking as a fool– I also dare to boast of that.
22 Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they offspring of Abraham? So am I.
23 Are they servants of Christ? I am a better one– I am talking like a madman– with far greater labors, far more imprisonments, with countless beatings, and often near death.
24 Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one.
25 Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea;
26 on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers;
27 in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure.
28 And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches.
29 Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is made to fall, and I am not indignant?
30 If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness.
31 The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, he who is blessed forever, knows that I am not lying.
32 At Damascus, the governor under King Aretas was guarding the city of Damascus in order to seize me,
33 but I was let down in a basket through a window in the wall and escaped his hands.