2 Corinthians 2:5 Now if anyone has caused pain, he has caused it not to me, but in some measure—not to put it too severely—to all of you.
There was a problem person in Corinth that had caused pain to Paul and the church. These verses do not say what this person did. People have speculated that this was the same man mentioned in 1 Corinthians 5 who had sexual relations with his father’s wife. Although this is possible, there is no way to know for sure. Any number of issues could have led to this painful and challenging situation. Rather than speculate about the specific cause of this passage, it is better exegetically to focus upon what the passage clearly states. Whatever this “anyone” has done–if indeed it is a specific person and not just a hypothetical situation–this person has caused a problem in the church.
It caused Paul pain even though he was far away. Paul was so involved emotionally and spiritually in the Corinthian situation that when something was not going right, he felt it deeply and personally. We can suffer with people even though we are far away. This happens when we identify ourselves with these far away people. We become one with them. We have somehow and in someway involved ourselves in their lives. Paul wrote earlier in 1 Corinthians 5:3, “For though absent in body, I am present in spirit.”
This situation also brought pain within the church. Pain results within a community when one or more members go against the norms or expectations of that community. Community relationships run smoothly when people are following the same rules and moving in the same direction with the same goals. The Corinthians had problems with unity because certain persons in the church had deviated from Paul’s teachings and the message of holiness and love he preached. His first letter clearly shows the problems within the church. Spiritual maturity does not come quickly and behavior does not change immediately. It may be possible that certain individuals still had problems changing after reading the first letter. They were conforming too much to the world and not be transformed and recreated into Christ’s image by listening to the Holy Spirit. Paul will take up these topics throughout this letter (3:18; 5:17; etc.).
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