2 Corinthians: 5:6

2 Cor 5:6. Therefore, being always of good courage, and knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord-- 7. for we walk by faith, not by sight-- 8. we are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord.

What is the basis of our "good courage"?

Eternal perspective (Heaven is our hope). Death is better for us.
Sounds macabre huh?

What is meant by "we walk by faith not by sight?

1. We don't see heaven, we haven't been resurrected yet (we still groan in our earthly tent); therefore we are in the realm of trust not sight.
2. Faith is not apart from ideas or truth here - faith is the acting to be consistent with this truth, esp. (biblically) before it's full revelation.

- no kierkegaard!
- action is part of faith here (we walk by faith)

And what of this phrase that we "prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord"?

prefer - the christian has this as motivation.
paul is very consistent about this...

2 Cor 5:9. Therefore we also have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to Him. 10. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.

The judgement seat of Christ? (Raging Opinions! Dueling Christians!)

The Bema Seat

Some Christians argue that there is a rewards judgement for Christians apart from the judgement spoke on in Rev 20:11-15 (called the "Great White Throne" judgement). Rev 20:11-15 :

11. Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them. 12. And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds. 13. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds. 14. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. 15. And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.

It is asserted that this 'Great White Throne' is used for salvation, but that there is an additional judgement (called the "Bema Seat" judgement) where Christ rewards Christians for their lives.
Another group asserts that there is absolutely no such thing as a separate judgement for rewards, and that the only rewards Christians will receive is a "Well done good and faithful servant" (Matt 25).

Personally, I'm not sure. Maybe, maybe not. Like all things 'eschatalogical' there is less biblical evidence than is claimed.
I do think there is some concept of rewards in the Bible. 1 Cor 3:11-15 seems to indicate a concept of varying rewards

11. For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12. Now if any man builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, 13. each man's work will become evident; for the day will show it because it is to be revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test the quality of each man's work. 14. If any man's work which he has built on it remains, he will receive a reward. 15. If any man's work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.

Further, 2 Cor 5:9,10 seems limited to Christians but implies varying outcomes ("each one may be recompensed for his deeds")
Ultimately, we don't really know specifically what will happen.
We do know that :

A. Our motive should be to be pleasing to Christ.
B. We will be recompensed for our deeds.

2 Cor 5:11. Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade men, but we are made manifest to God; and I hope that we are made manifest also in your consciences. 12. We are not again commending ourselves to you but are giving you an occasion to be proud of us, so that you will have an answer for those who take pride in appearance and not in heart. 13. For if we are beside ourselves, it is for God; if we are of sound mind, it is for you. 14. For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died; 15. and He died for all, so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf.

What does the word 'persuade' say about evangelism?

1. This implies an active interest in the salvation of others.

- we are not just there to coldly 'present the truth' and leave. concern is an element of our presentation.

2. Boy, this is going to get me in trouble, but is this an indicator of choice?

i'm one of those nitwits who believe that calvinism (god's choice in salvation ) and arminianism (man's choice for salvation) are both true somehow, so take this as you will. but why bother persuading someone if they've got no part in anything?

3. Persuasion in action

Paul before Agrippa and Festus (Acts 26:24-29)

24. While Paul was saying this in his defense, Festus *said in a loud voice, "Paul, you are out of your mind! Your great learning is driving you mad." 25. But Paul *said, "I am not out of my mind, most excellent Festus, but I utter words of sober truth. 26. "For the king knows about these matters, and I speak to him also with confidence, since I am persuaded that none of these things escape his notice; for this has not been done in a corner. 27. "King Agrippa, do you believe the Prophets? I know that you do." 28. Agrippa replied to Paul, "In a short time you will persuade me to become a Christian." 29. And Paul said, "I would wish to God, that whether in a short or long time, not only you, but also all who hear me this day, might become such as I am, except for these chains."

4. What's that mean for us?

How do we persuade men?

What limits does this have?

What caveats to persuasion does Paul offer?

Though we endeavor to persuade, it is God's approval we care about primarily, not man's.
This is in the context of being "made manifest to God"; the therefore is also right after the section about receiving recompense for our works, whether good or bad.

So, though we wish to persuade men, it's not their opinion of us that drives us. We only wish to persuede them within the context of keeping to God's desires (which he has clearly laid out for us - accurately reveal the "light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ").

How about v13 ("For if we are beside ourselves, it is for God; if we are of sound mind, it is for you.")?

There are a couple ways to read this.

A. Some argue that Paul acted 'out of his mind' in various Christian experiences (tongues etc)
B. Some argue that Paul is saying that he may have seemed 'out of his mind' but was motivated by good desires.
C. Others (myself included, and i believe most commentators) argue that Paul's behavior is constant - he's talking about the perception of others.

In other words, he'll accurately present the Gospel - if he is taken to be crazy, well, that's worth it because God is the boss. If it's accepted and he is taken as being of sound mind, then it's correct to say he's motivated out of concern for them.