<p>6:4 <i>But in everything, commending ourselves as servants of God, in much patience, in afflictions, in necessities, in distresses- </i>An &quot;ambassador&quot; (5:20) was a servant. The authentication of him as an ambassador was in all the troubles he had experienced for the sake of that work, and his patient response to them. &quot;Patience&quot; or endurance was and still is the foremost qualification and characteristic. All the afflictions, necessities etc. were endured and did not stop Paul from continuing- for the idea of &quot;patience&quot;, <i>hupomone</i>, is of &quot;endurance&quot;. This is what authenticates a servant of God- keeping on keeping on, rather than a brief impressive mission trip or moment of sacrifice. We are not only Jesus to this world but also effectively we are the witness to God Himself. We minister His care to others; to the extent that Paul could write both that he was a minister of God, and also a minister of the church (2 Cor. 6:4; Col. 1:24,25). It is primarily <i>people</i> who communicate, not words or ideas. Personal authenticity is undoubtedly the strongest credential in our work of communicating the message. Thus Paul could speak of his afflictions as being his credentials (2 Cor. 11:21-33; 1 Thess. 2:1-4; 2 Tim. 3:10-12). And God&rsquo;s true servant commends himself by the endurance of opposition (2 Cor. 6:4,5).</p>