1 Corinthians 4

1 Corinthians 4

Corinth had a lot going for it;  50+ years before the area laid in ruins by Rome during a little thing with Sparta and had been established again by Rome for an area for Roman veterans.  It has 2 sea ports within miles of each other, Isthmian Games, unlimited water springs, clay and lime.  “Great thinkers, orators, where ‘how you said it’ was more important than the truth.

 Prestige was everything, even if you were the one to promote yourself! 

A city of great wealth and resources,  where you could become rich, self made. Many made their own moral rules, etc.

The Nature of True Apostleship

 ¹ This, then, is how you ought to regard us: as servants of Christ and as those entrusted with the mysteries God has revealed.(servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God)

Let men so consider us: Paul asks that he, and the other apostles (us) be regarded by the Corinthians as servants. Paul had a real problem with the Corinthians; they tended to look down on him and not respect his apostolic authority. In carefully chosen words, Paul will show the Corinthians how to have a proper regard – not too exalted, and not too low – of himself and the other apostles.

There are several different words in the language of the New Testament to describe a servant. Here, Paul uses the word hyperetas, which describes a subordinate servant functioning as a free man. He does not use the more common New Testament word for a servant (doulos) which designated a common slave.  The word hyperetas literally means an “under-rower,” in the sense that someone is a rower on a big galley ship. So, though it is not the most lowly word for a servant, it certainly not a prestigious position.

Morgan describes this “under-rower” as “one who acts under direction, and asks no questions, one who does the thing he is appointed to do without hesitation, and one who reports only to the One Who is over him.”

And stewards: In addition to a servant, Paul asks to be considered as a steward, who was the manager of a household.  In relation to the master of the house, the steward was a slave, but in relation to the other slaves, the steward was a master

Whenever Paul would hear criticism of his style or manner, he could simply ask “Did I give you the truth?” As a good steward, that’s all he really cared about.

² Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful. ³ I care very little if I am judged by you or by any human court; indeed, I do not even judge myself.

⁴ My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me. 

Paul says’ This is the one I'm concerned about. I don't care what you say about me. I do, but so what, I can't help that. I'm not even concerned about my own opinion of myself. But I am deeply concerned of the Lord's opinion of me. You may judge me for what I've done, it doesn't bother me. I may judge myself, that isn't important. I stand before the Lord and He is my judge, and that is the judgment that I am concerned with, what is the Lord's opinion of me and what I have done.

Romans 2:13  ¹³ For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous in God’s sight, but it is those who obey the law who will be declared righteous.  WALK THE TALK!

⁵Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait until the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of the heart. At that time each will receive their praise from God.  
In other words, wait for the day of God's judgment

The Bible says everything is naked and open before Him with whom we have to do. "Oh Lord, I really didn't mean it." "Oh you didn't? Let's take a look." And God will be able to project what was in your heart and mind as you were doing it on a screen.

Now A sarcastic rebuke of Corinthian pride.

 ⁶ Now, brothers and sisters, I have applied these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, so that you may learn from us the meaning of the saying, “Do not go beyond what is written.” Then you will not be puffed up in being a follower of one of us over against the other.

1Corinthians 1:12  ¹² What I mean is this: One of you says, “I follow Paul”; another, “I follow Apollos”; another, “I follow Cephas^[a]”; still another, “I follow Christ.”

 ⁷ For who makes you different from anyone else? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?

What makes you so different? Why are you so puffed up? What makes you different? "Well, I thank God I'm not like he is." Well, what makes you different than him? Do you have anything of value? Do you have anything of good? Do you have anything of worth? Where did it come from?

 ⁸ Already you have all you want! Already you have become rich! You have begun to reign—and that without us!

“My, you Corinthians seem to have it all! Isn’t it funny that we apostles have nothing!”  Though Paul is using strong sarcasm, his purpose isn’t to make fun of the Corinthian Christians. His purpose is to shake them out of their proud self-willed thinking.

Revelation 3:17-18  ¹⁷ You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. ¹⁸ I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see.

How I wish that you really had begun to reign so that we also might reign with you! ⁹ For it seems to me that God has put us apostles on display at the end of the procession, like those condemned to die in the arena. We have been made a spectacle to the whole universe, to angels as well as to human beings.

The image of verse 9 is either from the coliseum, or the parade of a conquering Roman general, where he displayed his armies first, the booty second, and at the end of the procession, the defeated captives who would be condemned to die in the arena. And, just as before going into the arena, the gladiators would say, morituri salutamus (“we who will die salute you”), so Paul now salutes the Corinthian Christians!

The Corinthian Christians had two problems: they were proud of their own spirituality, and they were somewhat embarrassed of Paul because of his “weakness” and humble state. Paul is trying to address both of these problems!

 ¹⁰ We are fools for Christ, but you are so wise in Christ! We are weak, but you are strong! You are honored, we are dishonored!

Acts 17:18  ¹⁸ A group of Epicurean and Stoic philosophers began to debate with him. Some of them asked, “What is this babbler trying to say?” Others remarked, “He seems to be advocating foreign gods.” They said this because Paul was preaching the good news about Jesus and the resurrection.

¹¹ To this very hour we go hungry and thirsty, we are in rags, we are brutally treated, we are homeless. ¹² We work hard with our own hands. When we are cursed, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it; ¹³ when we are slandered, we answer kindly. We have become the scum of the earth, the garbage of the world—right up to this moment.

Today, the church is heavy with this same attitude of the Corinthian Christians.

They were concerned about the image of worldly success and power, and many of them despised Paul and the other apostles because they did not display that image.

Today, there is no shortage of ministers who want to display the image of worldly success and power, and no shortage of Christians who will value that in their minister.

The Corinthians, in their love of Greek wisdom, embraced the Greek idea that manual labor was fit only for slaves. It would offend them that one of God’s apostles would actually work with his own hands!

To some who heard the Gospel, Christ was a failure on the Cross.  Many today act that way.  The cross is a stumbling block to the dying.

Paul’s Appeal and Warning

 ¹⁴ I am writing this not to shame you but to warn you as my dear children. ¹⁵ Even if you had ten thousand guardians in Christ, you do not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel. ¹⁶ Therefore I urge you to imitate me.

The first reaction of many of the Corinthian Christians would probably be horror.

“Imitate you, Paul? You are regarded as a fool, as weak, as dishonored; you are hungry and thirsty and poorly clothed, homeless and beaten; you work hard to support yourself with manual labor. People look at you and see filth and the offscouring of all things. And you want us to imitate you?”

And Paul says; “Yes, imitate me. Not because of all these difficulties, but despite them, and often because of them, the glory and power of Jesus Christ shines through me.”

¹⁷ For this reason I have sent to you Timothy, my son whom I love, who is faithful in the Lord. He will remind you of my way of life in Christ Jesus, which agrees with what I teach everywhere in every church.

 ¹⁸ Some of you have become arrogant, as if I were not coming to you.

Some Corinthian Christians were so arrogant as to think that Paul was afraid to visit them. When they thought Paul was afraid of them, it made them all the more proud in their hearts.

¹⁹ But I will come to you very soon, if the Lord is willing, and then I will find out not only how these arrogant people are talking, but what power they have. ²⁰ For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power. ²¹ What do you prefer? Shall I come to you with a rod of discipline, or shall I come in love and with a gentle spirit?

1 Corinthians 4  The Message version (Read straight through and get a different perspective)

 ^1-4Don't imagine us leaders to be something we aren't. We are servants of Christ, not his masters. We are guides into God's most sublime secrets, not security guards posted to protect them. The requirements for a good guide are reliability and accurate knowledge. It matters very little to me what you think of me, even less where I rank in popular opinion. I don't even rank myself. Comparisons in these matters are pointless. I'm not aware of anything that would disqualify me from being a good guide for you, but that doesn't mean much. The Master makes that judgment.

 ⁵So don't get ahead of the Master and jump to conclusions with your judgments before all the evidence is in. When he comes, he will bring out in the open and place in evidence all kinds of things we never even dreamed of—inner motives and purposes and prayers. Only then will any one of us get to hear the "Well done!" of God.

 ⁶All I'm doing right now, friends, is showing how these things pertain to Apollos and me so that you will learn restraint and not rush into making judgments without knowing all the facts. It's important to look at things from God's point of view. I would rather not see you inflating or deflating reputations based on mere hearsay.

 ^7-8For who do you know that really knows you, knows your heart? And even if they did, is there anything they would discover in you that you could take credit for? Isn't everything you have and everything you are sheer gifts from God? So what's the point of all this comparing and competing? You already have all you need. You already have more access to God than you can handle. Without bringing either Apollos or me into it, you're sitting on top of the world—at least God's world—and we're right there, sitting alongside you!

 ^9-13It seems to me that God has put us who bear his Message on stage in a theater in which no one wants to buy a ticket. We're something everyone stands around and stares at, like an accident in the street. We're the Messiah's misfits. You might be sure of yourselves, but we live in the midst of frailties and uncertainties. You might be well-thought-of by others, but we're mostly kicked around. Much of the time we don't have enough to eat, we wear patched and threadbare clothes, we get doors slammed in our faces, and we pick up odd jobs anywhere we can to eke out a living. When they call us names, we say, "God bless you." When they spread rumors about us, we put in a good word for them. We're treated like garbage, potato peelings from the culture's kitchen. And it's not getting any better.

 ^14-16I'm not writing all this as a neighborhood scold just to make you feel rotten. I'm writing as a father to you, my children. I love you and want you to grow up well, not spoiled. There are a lot of people around who can't wait to tell you what you've done wrong, but there aren't many fathers willing to take the time and effort to help you grow up. It was as Jesus helped me proclaim God's Message to you that I became your father. I'm not, you know, asking you to do anything I'm not already doing myself.

 ¹⁷This is why I sent Timothy to you earlier. He is also my dear son, and true to the Master. He will refresh your memory on the instructions I regularly give all the churches on the way of Christ.

 ^18-20I know there are some among you who are so full of themselves they never listen to anyone, let alone me. They don't think I'll ever show up in person. But I'll be there sooner than you think, God willing, and then we'll see if they're full of anything but hot air. God's Way is not a matter of mere talk; it's an empowered life.

 ²¹So how should I prepare to come to you? As a severe disciplinarian who makes you toe the mark? Or as a good friend and counselor who wants to share heart-to-heart with you? You decide.

TABLE TALK QUESTIONS

I.       Have you been faithful in the call of God on your life?                          It's required of stewards that they be found faithful.

II.     These three questions should prompt other questions in my heart:

·        Do I truly I give God the credit for my salvation?

·        Do I live with a spirit of humble gratitude?

Seeing that I have received from God, what can I give to Him?