“Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day.” 2 Corinthians 4:16 The Bible makes a distinction between the inner man and the outer man. In 2 Corinthians 4, Paul explains that the outer man can decay and deteriorate, but the inner man can be strengthened. The weakening and deterioration of our outer man is the result of missional engagement and/or aging. The glimpse we get of the apostle Paul’s life helps us understand that his physical outer man was extremely weakened as a result of missional living. He was afflicted in every way, perplexed, persecuted, and struck down. Paul was beaten with rods three times, stone
There is no task more noble than making Christ Jesus known to the world. We must be laser focused on making sure our lives are offered to God so our time, energy and resources might be used to preach Jesus Christ as Lord. Paul stated in 2 Corinthians 4:5, “For we do not preach ourselves but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your bond-servants for Jesus’ sake.” The child of God must be committed to Christ proclamation and not self promotion. Paul explained in 2 Corinthians 4:5 that he was not interested in preaching or promoting himself. Rather, he was called and compelled to preach Christ Jesus as Lord. John the Baptist seemed to have a great handle on this concept claiming in Joh
