¹²For we are not bold to class or compare ourselves with some of those who commend themselves; but when they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they are without understanding. ¹³But we will not boast beyond our measure, but within the measure of the sphere which God apportioned to us as a measure, to reach even as far as you.

Don’t mistake Paul’s boldness in his letters, he writes to the Corinthians. And the message for today’s interpreters remains the same: don’t misunderstand what Paul is doing here in his boasting. One could say he is using a boasting motif to drive his point home, so his apparent boasting about himself should not be taken literally or seriously. In other words, don’t miss his poignancy.

Boasting has its root in comparing oneself with others, and Paul states explicitly that his boldness does not rest in such appraisals. As believers who still are subject to the temptations of self-centeredness, we often find ourselves comparing ourselves with others, and finding our value and significance as it measures up to the accomplishments or gifting of others. The Corinthians struggled considerably by exalting their sect as following the teachings of Peter, Apollos, and Paul (see 1 Corinthians 1:12). Some saw their clique as spiritually superior to other groups, a sort of religious elitism. Invariably, there were others, we presume, whose comparison left them feeling inferior.

In all this, Paul writes, a lack of understanding is clearly exposed. One needs only to read the first letter to the Corinthians to remind oneself of the reality that we are all members of one body, and all are important and needed for the full experience of body life that God calls the church. Paul is not saying anything new here, but just approaching their egoism from a different entry point to the issue. “You just don’t understand, and that is why you are so engaged in boasting about yourselves in comparison to others.”

The term “themselves” can, on the one hand, refer to the kind of people who are slaves to comparison with others and thus compare themselves with themselves (others who are the same kind of people who make such comparisons). But an individual given over to comparing himself with others can also end up comparing himself with himself, an easy standard to succeed at but superficial at best.

Paul is measured in his use of boasting. He does it just enough to accomplish his purpose, namely to reach the Corinthians. And he does it with this extreme (“as far as”) means of boasting.

Lord, when I see others boast, may I never fall into the same pattern.