Boasting Like a Fool

In 2 Corinthians 11:16-21, Paul is confronting a church that has developed what I call spiritual Stockholm Syndrome. The Corinthians were bonded to false apostles who were exploiting them, enslaving them, even striking them in the face. And instead of rejecting these men, the Corinthians were defending them. Why? Because those apostles were preaching what the Corinthians already wanted: self-glory dressed up as spirituality. Worldly success with a religious veneer. A God who blesses the impressive and the credentialed.