5Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you—unless, of course, you fail the test? 6And I trust that you will discover that we have not failed the test. 7Now we pray to God that you will not do anything wrong. Not that people will see that we have stood the test but that you will do what is right even though we may seem to have failed. 8For we cannot do anything against the truth, but only for the truth. 9We are glad whenever we are weak but you are strong; and our prayer is for your perfection. 10This is why I write these things when I am absent, that when I come I may not have to be harsh in my use of authority—the authority the Lord gave me for building you up, not for tearing you down.
I once had a boss who most of my co-workers didn’t like. But, he was one of those bosses who didn’t really care if we liked him or not. He was one who wasn’t afraid to be tough on you or yell at you when you were screwing up. He could be a real pain at times.
I never had much of a problem with him, though. The thing was, I was good at that job, and did what I was supposed to do. Thus, he never had to show his “tough” side, so we got along pretty well.
Paul’s giving a warning here: he can be the tough boss. He doesn’t want to be, but he will do whatever keeps him on the side of the truth. His preference, though, is for the Corinthians to do what is right, and thus the natural reaction to be on of gentleness and joy.
What do you need to do to keep the boss on his “lighter” side? Who do you need to be “tougher” with?
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