Something to Boast About

Boasting is everywhere. Last weekend, as Billy Crystal puts it, there was a huge gathering in Hollywood, where millionares gave one another gold statues. Hollywood is a rather easy target for conservative Christians, but what about the country music industry (indeed the Christian music industry), and even local artists (wherever you may be)? It is all to easy to fall into self congratulatory patterns. I am reminded of 1 Corinthians 13 which states, among other things, "love does not boast." Jesus' words, in contrast to  his currently politically correct repackaged image, were harsh on the matter: "How can you believe if you accept praise from one another, yet make no effort to obtain the praise that comes from the only God?"(John 5:44) This kind of self-congratulatory praise is not in accordance with the love of God which is freely given, freely recieved and freely passed on to others. A self-oriented focus is an enemy of intimacy with God and others (even if the focus is negative).

All that being said, it may come as something of a surprise in Philippians 2 that Paul comes out and says that he longs to boast. After all, he is the same apostle who penned the words "love does not boast." As is often the case in Scripture, there is a time for everything...even boasting!

Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe as you hold out the word of life--in order that I may boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor for nothing. (Philippians 2:14-16)

Paul's labor, which he goes on to describe as an offering, was on their behalf and to the glory of Jesus. Yet, he is motivated to boast that these labors created lasting ripples for the Kingdom. As he states elsewhere, every soldier wants to please the one who enlisted him. He was enlisted by Christ on the road to Damascus. He longs to hear--well done, good and faithful servant, come enter into your reward.

I think it is safe to conclude that it is not a selfish thing to think in terms of eternal rewards. Whatever they are, they are tossed at the feet of Jesus anyway. But the words well done are ours to keep even as we remember it is God who works in us, both to desire and to do the good works he has prepared for us.

There is another aspect here that needs mention. Those who came before us and invested in us deserve our best--they count on us to do everything without arguing or complaining and to shine like stars holding out the word of life--so that their labors on our behalf will not be in vain. So much rides on our attitudes, and Paul focuses on the eternal ramifications of them here. Jesus will tell many "performers" to go away because he never knew them (there was no loving abiding relationship, only deeds). Here, Paul focuses on the heart of the matter: Christlike humility and love flowing through us for the benefit of others. As we serve others and see this heart duplicated in them, we definitely have something to boast about!



I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.  3 John 1:4

Love and Boasting on the Road Home

When attempting to describe something to someone who has never experienced it, we sometimes resort to its opposite: Snowy climates are not hot, the desert is not humid, and agape love does not boast.

In I Corinthians 13:4, as Paul was talking to the church in Corinth, the church body was being split into factions. They were tempted to see levels of gifts that the Holy Spirit never intended, placing some believers above others. The implications were far reaching. The temptation to boast was all too apparent. Paul's concern was that this boastful attitude was incongruent with the agape love of the Holy Spirit.

The one who is boasting (about gifts or anything else) is not loving. Such a person has become like a sounding gong or a clanging cymbal. Lots of noise and attention, but not much real ministry going on. The word for boasting here, interestingly, is used only here in the New Testament.

It is no accident, I suspect, that Paul places this phrase so strategically after the phrase about envy (see last weeks post). We are prone to boast about the same things we are prone to envy. The particular flavor of our boasting is likely determined by the social setting (if we are sensitive to such things at all). So, if we are carnal folks, surrounded by worldly friends and family who openly live for today and live by the motto "he who dies with the most toys wins" we will brag about our toys. If, on the other hand, such boasting is not kosher in our circle of "spiriutal" friends, we may still quietly hoard and covet such things, inviting friends and family to see them, then boast in the success of our ministries or gifts and our special relationship with Jesus.

This matter can challenge us because it comes down to motives that nobody else can see-- nobody but you and Jesus. Hopefully, we want to glorify Him. We want to share with others the great things He is doing in our lives and ministries. If we are not very careful, our hearts can cross the line, and it becomes about the great things we have done, or even the great things He has done with us, his special pets. We can easily find ourselves saying, in the depths of our hearts--"Can I sit on your right hand in glory?"

There is no boasting in love. The fingernail does not boast that it is more visible than the toenail. It just does what the body tells it to do because it is integrated to the finger which is also doing what it is told in submission to the brain, etc.

Each part, each person, is necessary. Jesus is the great one. If we boast at all, let us boast in Him.


1 Corinthians 13:4 "Love ... does not boast."