What does 2 Corinthians 12:6 mean?

Fourteen years before writing this letter, Paul had an incredible experience. He has shared it to help the Corinthians understand that he is a legitimate apostle of Jesus, meaning that his message about salvation through faith in Christ is valid.

The experience was this: He was "caught up" to the third heaven, where God dwells, and shown things he is forbidden to talk about. To reduce the focus on himself, Paul has described the experience as happening to a man he knows. Now, though, he says that it would not be foolish for him to boast about this since it really did happen to him. In truth, it would not be boasting, at all, but simply telling a true story.

Still, Paul does not want the story to put the spotlight on himself. He refuses to boast about it and will describe the experience only as something that happened to "a man" or "this man." Why? He apparently doesn't want to be given personal glory for an unverifiable story about a supernatural experience. In saying this, he may have been warning the Corinthians not to give glory to the false apostles based on such stories, either.

Instead, Paul wants to be judged on what he says and what he does--on how he lives. He would likely want the Corinthians to judge the false apostles on the Christlikeness of their character, as well.