Verse 11

"Whether, then, it was I or they, this is what we preach, and this is what you believed."

As Paul closes out the opening section of the chapter (more accurately, of his line of thought), he returns to the message he preached and the message the Corinthians believed: the Gospel.

In particular, Paul's credibility had come under fire in Corinth and the church there was filled with infighting about teaching, doctrine, and leaders, so Paul addresses the question of teachers, in part, here. He doesn't care who preaches the message, he doesn't care if the Corinthians give him his due respect. The message is too important to get caught up in all that.

So he says, "whether, then, it was I or they" . . . the messenger isn't of any consequence, but "what we preach" and "what you believed", that is of huge importance!

Paul lays aside his pride, his position, and his role because the message is the most important thing.

It seems simple, but I don't think it is.

How do you respond when your authority is challenged? By your toddler? Or your teenager?

When someone passes you over? At work? Or on the highway?

Generally, I don't take it so well. But, for Paul the message is more important. And wherever he went he carried the message of Christ, that Jesus came, lived a perfect life that we could not live, and died a death to pay a price we could not pay to bring us to God.

And the message is more important.