1 Corinthians | Chapter 4

1 Corinthians 4:1-5
“Portraits of a Pastor”

I. Intro

Over the last three weeks, we have gone over the truth that we are God’s building. As such, Paul has told us that:

• The ONLY foundation that we can have is Jesus Christ (3:11)
• We have a choice of building materials (3:12)
• These materials will be inspected and only that which passes through fire will be allowed to stay (3:13-15)
• We must be careful to use the right plans, as we are not building our own anything, we are building God’s temple (3:16-17)

Finally, Paul even gave some advice if we discover that we have either been using faulty materials or building using our plans rather than God’s:

• Put down the tools (3:18)
• Do the opposite of what you’ve been doing (3:19-20)

The focus of chapter 4 is off the building and onto the “master builder,” as Paul called himself in chapter 3. The problem in the Church of God at Corinth was divisions based upon which pastor was more popular (1:12, 3:4). These Christians were dividing based upon their evaluations of those who were called to serve them, asking, “Who’s the better preacher and the most popular among the people?” So, Paul is going to give us three things every pastor must be. If you will, these are the measures of the man, and they involve the work to which a pastor is called. In these three things, it might surprise you what is and is not listed. Next, Paul is going to tell us whom it is that gets to measure the man. Let me say that a lot of folks want to line up for that job.

I suppose upon hearing about the contents of chapter 4, you can choose to sit back and say this section of scripture has nothing to do with you. “Pastor, you have been telling me that I have to die to myself for three weeks; it’s about time you got some of your own medicine!” Fair enough, but may I say that we can look at this section in two ways:

• Specifically: As just dealing with pastors. There is no doubt that the context warrants us looking at this section as it specifically relates to pastors, and that would mean I’m going to get both barrels. So be it, I’m ready.
• Generally: As it deals with all us Christians. We are told in Rev 5:10 that he has “made us kings and priests to our God; and we shall reign on the earth.” There is a real sense in scripture that we are all ministers to one another, a fact that is not lost on Paul as he told the Ephesians he was all about “the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ.” With that said, that would mean we, too, ought to look at this section and ask ourselves if we are doing these three things.

II. Vs. 1-2 The Measure of the Man

Vs. 1: Paul has been dealing with the views of the Corinthian believers towards those that God has used to minister to them. The word here, “consider,” in the Greek is “take inventory or make an estimation.” The truth is, the congregation is going to “size up” their pastor. They are going to evaluate him. That’s why Paul instructs them on how to do so. Paul does not say, “Let NO man consider us,” as he knows that it is a natural thing. The problem was not that they were evaluating Paul, Apollos, and Peter, rather the problem was the standard they were using. These Corinthian believers were viewing Paul, Apollos, and Peter the way some folks view sports stars, knowing all their stats and all. So, today, there are many that would evaluate the pastor on the standards of his personality, popularity, education, or experience, and, as important as those things are, they are not, according to Paul, the standard we ought to go by. Instead, he suggests “three marks that make up a pastor.” With that said, I believe these marks ought to be visible in three distinct areas in his life:

• His nature: Before anything else, the man that serves as a pastor must possess these things in his very nature. They are his makeup and serve as his guidelines and standards by which he weighs what he is going to do.
• His responsibility: Secondly, they are his responsibility towards God, as well as God’s people. The pastor won’t serve the body right unless he serves the Lord right, and he won’t serve the Lord right unless he sees himself right.
• His work: It is because these marks are his nature and responsibility that they are his life’s work and that which he practices daily.

If they are only in his work or responsibility, then he is most likely not called to serve the Lord. If they are visible in his nature without being put into practice, then he is serving people rather than God.

The first two verses serve as defining the “Three marks of a pastor”:

1. Servant: “Servants of Christ”: Paul uses an interesting word here for servant. It is “huperetes.” In the Greek, it means literally an “under rower.” In our culture, this word or term would mean nothing, but to the Corinthians, they knew exactly what an “under rower” was. They were a double seaport, so they saw Roman warships all the time. They were “galley ships” with an upper deck where the captain and crew would be. Then, underneath them, were where the under rowers, or galley slaves, were located. It was their task to row when the captain told them to row and to stop when he told them to stop. Their whole business each and every moment was to obey what the captain told them to do. In their world, they were the lowest rank, had the hardest work, and were the least appreciated. Now in Luke 1:2, we are told that the apostles were “eyewitnesses and ministers (under rowers) of the word.” So what does this mark stand for? Well, it tells us the most important thing about the heart of the pastor. It reveals who he works for and who is his captain. Now, some folks think that the pastor works for himself or the church or a particular denomination, but, right here, we are told who it is that he works for, “he is the under rower of Christ!” Before he is to serve the body, he must, in nature, responsibility, and work, be committed to obeying the voice of His captain, Jesus! So that is what you ought to evaluate me on. You want a man who is committed to following the Master not only in his own life but in those he is called to serve Jesus in. There is a funny thing I’ve noticed over 15 years of being a pastor. Some folks really want you to do what they want, but, when it comes to you doing what others want and not what they want, then they accuse you of being a “man pleaser” and not a “master pleaser.” My greatest responsibility is pleasing my master and doing what he wants me to do, even if some of you get mad and leave. You ought to want it no other way!
2. Steward: “Stewards of the mysteries of God”: Here, Paul uses another word to describe the second mark of a pastor, and it is a word that in the Greek means “house manager.” This person was placed in complete control of the master’s property. I suppose the best glimpse of this is found in Joseph who was placed over Potiphar’s house. He owned nothing in the house, but it was his duty to manage the house as if it was all his. Look carefully at what Paul says here, that the pastor ought to be dispensing and managing for his master, “the mysteries of God.” In scripture, a mystery is not something that cannot be known; rather, it is something that was once hidden, but now in Christ is visible.
   • Mark 4:11 Mystery of the kingdom of God: Which was the truth that God has been at work throughout history.
   • 2 Thess. 2:7 Mystery of iniquity: Which explains why mankind can never make any progress in fixing their own problems.
   • 1 Tim. 3:16 Mystery of godliness: Which speaks of the incredible truth that Christ dwells in us.

These are all revealed truths in scripture which the pastor is to dispense to the people of God. These are not my truths. They are not studies of secular research, surveys and opinion polls, or psychological observations. No, they are the truths of the Word of God applied to our hearts! Paul spoke of this to the Ephesian elders when he said that he had “not shunned to declare to you the whole counsel of God.” Paul dispensed all of scripture as he told Timothy that “all of it is profitable.” Therefore, you ought to evaluate as one that gives you all of God’s counsel, not just part of it. We ought not to be “peddling” a program but rather rightly dividing the Word of truth! It is interesting to me that the abbreviation for one of the most watered-down Bible versions ever to be published is MSG. MSG is a man-made flavor enhancer that causes many people to become ill and sickly!

3. Steady: “It is required in stewards that one be found faithful”: Finally, Paul gives the last of the true marks of a pastor, and that is he is found faithful. Trustworthy and consistent is placed as an essential. Notice that it is “required.” This is not a mere suggestion, an “Oh, by the way, it would be nice if he was faithful!” Man, in the Church today, how often is a pastor evaluated upon his brilliance, cleverness, and creativity. The question is, “To whom is the pastor to be absolutely faithful and trustworthy?” Well, he is to be steady to the one who is his master. Again, he is to be a master pleaser and not a man pleaser!

III. Vs. 3-5 Who Measures the Man

Now we can look at this specifically, as dealing with the pastor only, or we can seek to apply this to us Christians generally, and our threefold evaluation would be to ask ourselves:

• Am I Jesus’ servant or my own? Who’s the captain of my ship?
• Am I seeking to apply my master’s word in every area of my life?
• Am I totally sold out to pleasing my master, or do I still want a little action on the side for myself?

Vs. 3: Having dealt with the standards of evaluation, Paul now goes on to speak about those that do the evaluations. He lists four different groups that do evaluations on us. The word here, rendered “judged and judge,” in this verse means to “investigate, question, or evaluate.” Paul says something quite interesting about three of those that do the evaluations. He says, “it is a very small thing that I should be judged.” In other words, he is not all that bothered by some of the three evaluations. This would seem to be very arrogant to say this until you realize why he is not all that concerned about what three of these folks have to say about the “measure of the man.” You see, Paul says that, not because their opinions don’t concern him, but rather compared with what the fourth person’s evaluation of him is. They pale in comparison! So just who are the four that evaluate the pastor as well as you?

1. Vs. 3a “I should be judged by you”: The question is just who is the “you” in this verse? Well, Paul is speaking to the Church of God at Corinth, so the “you” is the Church, and it is a very small thing that they evaluate him. He is not saying he doesn’t care about what the Church thinks about him, but rather it is not as important to him when compared to the fourth person. Let me just say that how you may evaluate must first be in the above three areas: “Jesus’ under rower, rightly dispensing the Word of God to you and always seeking to be pleasing my Master.” 1 Sam 16:7 tells us “the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.” Stuart Briscoe said something very interesting. He said there are three common ways the Church evaluates a pastor:
   • Adulation: Which swells the head! Nothing wrong with encouraging the pastor, but too much of it will cause a swollen head. The best advice I ever heard about this came from Pastor Chuck when he said that we must not touch God’s glory because if you take credit for the good, you must accept the failures as well. I must say that I fear this evaluation more than any other people may give me because nothing will bring down a man and his ministry quicker than a swollen head!
   • Manipulation: Which ties the hands! This is very subtle, but usually follows along the lines of someone being upset at something that has been taught or the way the worship is done. Then the manipulation happens. If it doesn’t change to please them, they are going to leave. So there becomes a power struggle over some area, and those folks had better mend their ways. If the pastor gives into this, then he will be a man pleaser and not a master pleaser.
   • Opposition: Which breaks the heart! Finally, usually after manipulation fails, you get opposition, and people leave because they are all upset, often trying to get others to join them. It breaks my heart to see folks upset and angry. Yet with that said, I would much rather have a broken heart than a swollen head! I’ve never had anything said about me personally that did not have some truth that I could glean from.
2. Vs. 3b “Or by a human court”: The word here in the Greek is “human day or man’s day,” and it means in contrast to the spiritual realm. In other words, Paul is speaking of how society may evaluate the pastor. Again, it is not that we are unconcerned with how society evaluates, but, in comparison to the fourth person, it is a small matter. Paul wrote to Timothy in 3:7 that an elder ought to have a “good reputation with outsiders.” I recently had a discussion with a fellow who does a lot of work with Christians, and he spoke of a Church where he had to threaten a lien against their building project in order to get paid what they owed him. To make matters worse, the person he spoke with at the Church is an elder, as well as vice president of the bank! This Church did not have a “good reputation” as far as he was concerned.
3. Vs. 3c-4a “I do not even judge myself”: Paul clarifies this with the words “I know nothing against myself, yet I am not justified by this.” In other words, we have a tendency of either being too soft on ourselves or too hard on ourselves. I think it is a great thing to be able to say, “I know nothing against myself.” Personally, I have never been able to say those words. I can always see some area of my life where I need to die. Yet, even if I could, this would not justify me as God looks at my heart, and it’s possible that I’ve overlooked some area of my life! What acquits me before the Lord is not that I’m perfect, but rather that Jesus Christ died for all my failures and sins!
4. Vs. 4b “He who judges me is the Lord”: Now we come to why all the above was a small thing. It’s because the one who evaluates the pastor is the Lord! His opinion is far more important and, furthermore, it is far more accurate.

Vs. 5: His evaluation of me is ongoing, as the word “judges” is in the present tense. Paul concludes with an exhortation to those who fit the other three groups who will evaluate: “Judge nothing before the time, until the Lord comes.” No matter how much insight we may have into each other, we still don’t know what lies at the heart of man, not even our own heart. God will bring it out in the open soon enough. Furthermore, Paul lists two areas where we cannot know that He knows:

• “Bring to light the hidden things of darkness”: Those things that nobody sees or knows about but us. This doesn’t mean sinful or evil things necessarily, but rather those things that nobody has seen. That is not a bad thing in some cases, as Jesus admonished us to “not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing.” So rest assured, all those hidden things are going to come out in the open. Personally, this verse brings me more fear than joy, and it shouldn’t!
• “Reveal the counsels of the hearts”: This deals with not what we do, but rather why we do it, or our motives! We can see actions, but we don’t know what is behind the action, and here we see that when the Lord comes He is going to bring to light why I do what I do.

Now Paul concludes with a positive statement, “Then each one’s praise will come from God.” Praise? Oh yeah, praise from God about all those things that you never knew I did and why I did them all for God’s glory and not my own. I tell you, the day we appear before the Lord will be a day of many surprises. I’ll know how you evaluated me and, more importantly, I will know how my master sees me!

III. Vs. 6-7 Questions for Arrogant Answers

Vs. 6: Paul starts out by explaining that what he has just shared about dealing with “three measures of the man” ought to be applied to Apollos and himself. The purpose was to eliminate taking pride in who taught them. The emphasis was upon “style,” and that was going beyond “what was written.” Furthermore, it had a tendency to “puff themselves up.” I think one of the dangers in the Church today is when the Church becomes attached to a “man” instead of the person and work of Jesus!

• Now some of this is because the “man” promotes such worship of himself. We see an example of this in Acts chapter 8 with Simon, who had practiced sorcery in Samaria. Those in Samaria had heard Simon’s own press clippings that “he was someone great and that his power was from God.” But when Philip went there and preached the gospel, many left the influence of Simon and followed Jesus instead, and Simon also did so. He became amazed at God’s power as it flowed through Philip and Peter, seeking to gain back the adulation he once had over the people, and sought to purchase the Holy Spirit from them.
• There are those though, such as the case in Corinth, who do not seek the praise that comes from men and still people seek to follow a man instead of the person and work of Jesus. Paul and Barnabas had experienced this in Lystra as we are told in Acts 14, as the men in the city responded to the healing of the crippled man by bringing sacrifices to the city gates. Paul stopped their worship of them by saying, “We also are men with the same nature as you, and preach to you that you should turn from these useless things to the living God, who made the heaven, the earth, the sea, and all things that are in them.”

Either way, the outcome is pride and conceit, and it is this that has stunted the growth of the Church in Corinth. So Paul says the basis of evaluation in which they had so identified with as they took sides saying they were of Paul or of Apollos was not the standards they ought to be evaluating upon. They ought to have been seeing both of them as ones that were:

• Under rowers of Jesus and not them
• Dispensers of the Word of God
• Master pleasers and not man pleasers

The wrong things in evaluations had left them to see Paul, Apollos, and themselves in competition because of their own personal preferences and prejudices. Why? Because they had gone beyond what was written. The outcome of such evaluations of Paul and Apollos was “inflated” views of themselves. The N.I.V. renders this word “puffed up” as arrogant. Webster’s dictionary gives an accurate definition of the word, as it says that arrogant is “disposition to exaggerate one’s own worth or importance.” These Corinthians were exaggerating their own self-worth based upon whom they identified as their pastor. Man, how tragic that their importance was tied to a mere man instead of the Son of God. Think of it, Christian. Why would any of us want to exaggerate our self-worth based upon anything so temporary as something we find in this world? Don’t you know the truth that Paul spoke of in Romans 5:8 that “God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Now compared with that, nothing we would use to “puff” ourselves up could do anything but diminish our own worth in the eyes of the Lord!

Vs. 7: Now Paul offers them, and us, three questions to ask ourselves when we have a “disposition to exaggerate one’s own worth or importance” apart from how our Lord sees us:

1. Presumption: “For who makes you differ from another?”: In the Greek, this question is a little difficult to translate as the word “differ” can mean two things:
   • It can mean what makes you “different” from another. The implication being that there are no grounds in comparing ourselves with another since any differences would be attributed to God.
   • Or it can mean what “distinguishes” you from another. Here, the implication is upon what grounds they have for boasting.

Either of these ways of interpreting this word still leaves the question to ask ourselves if we find ourselves in an attitude of exaggerating our own self-worth. It is presumptuous of us to compare ourselves with another. I mean, “Who do we think we are to compare ourselves with another?” “Are we saved a different way?” On what basis do we regard ourselves as being superior to someone else in the body of Christ? We are all made of the same stuff and apart from Christ all of our stuff stinks! We therefore have nothing to brag about! There has never been, and there never will be, another person born that was not born a sinner other than Jesus.

2. Ungrateful: “And what do you have that you did not receive?”: Here Paul asks them, and us, another question when we are elevating our self-importance, “Whatever you have that does distinguish you from someone else is of grace.” To act as if what we have, no matter what it is, because of some sort of personal superiority is to be ungrateful to the “Giver” of all things. In other words, what part of our life that has left us exaggerating our self-worth is anything other than a gift? If you have wealth, intelligence, beauty, what part of that do you claim as originating from you? Everything we have and are comes from the hand of God, and to act superior towards another is to be ungrateful to the Person who gave you the qualities that make you feel superior!
3. Ignorant: “Now if you did indeed receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it?”: This question presupposes the answer to the above as being “nothing.” What do I have that I did not receive? NOTHING! So if you possess that which was a gift, then why do you act as if you earned it? If we think we here at Calvary Chapel are better than everybody else and what we have is a gift, then we have nothing to brag about. And to brag about ourselves is to be ignorant. The whole basis of pride is nothing more than a fabrication based upon ignorance.

So when you and I are prone to “exaggerate our own worth or importance,” we are saying three things about ourselves:

• Presumptuous
• Ungrateful
• Idiots

Now don’t you feel better about yourself! Pride is saying to everybody that we are “presumptuous, ungrateful idiots”! Oh, dear Christian, why not say what He says about us that we are the “beloved of God, called to be saints:” (Rom. 1:7). Therefore, it is as Paul would say to the Ephesians in 1:6-8, “to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He has made us accepted in the Beloved. In Him, we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence.”

1 Corinthians 4:8-13

“The Clothes of Christianity”

I. Intro

Paul moved in his letter to the Corinthians from “building” to “builder,” but, in each of these, his focus was always upon the greatest reason for personal, as well as Church failure. The simple answer is a five-letter word – PRIDE! We have no greater enemy than conceit, nothing that will derail our spiritual growth greater than personal pride. As I said last week, Paul addresses this by giving us three questions by which we can assess our attitude:

• Presumption: “For who makes you differ from another?”
• Ungrateful: “And what do you have that you did not receive?”
• Ignorant: “Now if you did indeed receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it?”

To take stock in ourselves and feel that we are something is to be “presumptuous, ungrateful & ignorant.” Furthermore, it is to rip ourselves off from how we are seen in Christ. Paul now addresses how we will know if we have failed the essay questions on the test. Then he is going to give us four attitudes of what a real Christian ought to look like, and, in so doing, he shows them what they looked like. So do you just want to skip this section of scripture and find something less convicting? I say this because this section had me in tears as it peeled back my heart. The study of these verses left me asking myself several personal questions, “Dale, just when did Christianity and your faith in Christ become mainstream and acceptable in the world?” “When did believing in God become what the IN group wants?” “In my rush to find acceptance from those around me, have I settled for a veneer of reality, the rest is particleboard?” The truth is, I’m not so sure that I really want to answer those questions.

II. Vs. 8 The Conscience of Conceit

Vs. 8: Paul is going to use some godly sarcasm to get them to look at their attitudes. Godly sarcasm? Yes, there is such a thing. The word has its origins in the Greek where it means to “tear the flesh.” The English definition means “to speak in such a way as to employ wit that inflicts pain.” But the godly variety is not designed to “tear down” a person; rather, it is designed to tear down the flesh in order to establish the new man. So that is what Paul does here.

Now, as Paul says these words, he is getting at how they view themselves as compared with how they ought to have viewed themselves. I was reading Allen Redpath’s words on this section on how subtle conceit is within, and his words cut deep into my heart:

“Here is where we part company with Paul. Oh, we say amen to his words, but the truth is we want both worlds. Yes, we want a life that does not glory in the flesh and only glories in the Lord, but we would like some recognition for living such a life, a little praise from our fellow Christian for dying to self. Some popularity and notoriety for being so humble, just a little applause so we can say, no, please don’t clap, well, OK, if you must!” Ouch, well that hurt, didn’t it?

In using godly sarcasm, Paul tells them two ways they can know that they have slipped into a conceited attitude. These two things are subtle in our hearts. They are not going to be found on our lips or even in our thought life, but they will be hiding in our attitudes and will manifest themselves in our actions towards others.

1. “You are already full!” Paul uses words in the Greek that mean “to be in a state of completion.” What? Let me state it in a way in which we can understand. You will know that you are conceited spiritually when you have an attitude that “You’ve arrived!” “Yes, I used to be like you, but now I’m THERE!” Paul points out that these Corinthian believers had started to think of themselves as having arrived at spiritual completion! Paul would write to the Galatians, “If anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself.” All sorts of things can be a source of me thinking I’ve arrived, can’t they? We could study our Bibles real well and think that we are better than everyone else. These Corinthians, who were only four years old in Christ and still baby Christians, thought of themselves as superior to everybody else.
2. “You are already rich!” The way in which this is used in the Greek is saying that they have gone on without them. Here is this hidden attitude, “A sense that we don’t need anything or anyone else!” Jesus spoke to the Church at Laodicea by describing their attitude as thinking of themselves as “rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing” to which Jesus tells them they “do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked.” This conceited attitude of thinking that we don’t need anyone or anything blinds us to our true state, doesn’t it?

Paul goes on to say they were in a dream world thinking they were already reigning in Christ. They were already in the millennial period, and Christ was reigning, and they were in their glorified bodies. The only thing is, they had gone on without Paul and the other apostles. To this, Paul comments that he wishes it were true so that he would be reigning with them. Do you see this attitude? They had become smug and self-righteous. They started to see themselves as having arrived and not in need of anything more. Thus, they were better than everybody else. Paul wrote to the Philippians the opposite attitude as it related to himself, “Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” (Phil. 3:12-14)

Hey, Christian, watch out. Guard your heart because there is a subtle attitude that creeps in our hearts that starts us thinking we are better than those we are called to reach. A conceited heart leads to a complacent heart! The deceased atheist, Madelyn Murray O’Hare, looked out at the Church and our smug self-righteous attitude and declared Churches as “Tax deductible country clubs.” Don’t dismiss the quote because you don’t like the author. In all fairness, I’m not all that sure that at times this quote doesn’t fit us! My good friend, Gene Pensiero from C.C. Hanford, had the job of printing up the program for a men’s retreat. The retreat was titled “The Marks of Maturity,” a study in the book of James. To give me a bad time, Gene printed out the program and, under the title, used our logo and my name and, then, in small print, he put the rest of the Calvary’s. Having received it in the mail, I laughed, but I also looked into my heart to see if I felt, in some way, as if we were the “Marks of Maturity.” There are several things that I think today leads Churches into an attitude of thinking of itself as having “arrived” and “not needing anything or anyone.”

• Prosperity: Lots of money and property – a good financial bottom line. Now I’m not saying that this is bad, but oftentimes a Church starts thinking it has arrived and doesn’t need anything or anyone when they have plenty of money in the bank.
• Prominence: Now this one is harder to pin down, as it deals with reputation or what our identity is in. We could have a reputation for being an “others-centered Church.” We may have people think of us as a Bible-teaching, praying Church. Perhaps folks think of us as very friendly. Maybe we are the “cool, what’s happening church,” the place where there is great worship. These reputations are not evil or bad in themselves, but when we begin to think of ourselves as being better than everybody else, then we have slipped into conceit. The Church of Corinth was lacking in no spiritual gift. They had great teaching, but they began to think they had arrived and needed nothing else. I was at the gym when a pastor of another Church started talking with me. As we shared, we found we both were having men’s retreats on the same day. He began to tell me the book and author they were going to go through, and because I don’t read a lot of the same books, I had never heard of him or his books. The look I received was, “Man, you are really out of touch with the cutting edge of Christianity.” He then asked me what we were going to be doing at our retreat, and I said “James.” “James?” he replied! The look he then gave me was one showing he did not have a clue, and I was thinking, “Yeah, you know the half brother of Jesus, five chapters, just before 1 Peter!” My point? Reputation taking pride in what we identify with thinking that we’ve arrived and don’t need anything else. Both of us had been guilty of it, and we had completely different identities.
• Proportions: This is “how large” is your fellowship. The bigger, the greater the feeling that we have arrived and don’t need anything else. “Oh, we are the large Church on the corner with the big buildings!”

Hey, brothers and sisters, this kind of conceit flies in the face of Jesus’ words in Matthew 5:6 where he tells the disciples, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, For they shall be filled.” It is only in recognizing that we are always to hunger and thirst for His righteousness that we are going to be continually filled.

III. Vs. 9-13 What Christians Ought to Look Like

Paul now moves to what true Christians ought to look like and how they were the complete opposite. In so doing, he is going to give them four attitudes that set apart the Christian with a broken heart. These four words are foreign to our concept of a right heart:

• Vs. 9 Spectacles
• Vs. 10 Fools
• Vs. 11-12 Homeless
• Vs. 13 Filth of the world

1. Vs. 9 Spectacles:

The words “For I think that God has displayed us” are interesting ones. They were the words used to describe gladiator shows. There was a grand pageant as the combatants would come out. At the front of the group was the main event, those that everybody wanted to see fight. Then, at the end, were those condemned to death that would fight the lions. Paul says that he and the apostles were those that came out last, condemned to death. They were to be made a “spectacle.” Here, the word used is where we get our English word for theater. Several truths come to mind as I read these words, as it relates to what the attitude of my heart ought to be:

• First, since Paul says that he was a “condemned to death man,” it shows me that I’m to be living a self-dying life. I ought to live with an attitude that is “reckoning ourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Rom. 6:11)
• Second, since the above is true, I ought to have an attitude that is not wasting any time. I mean, if we knew we only had a short time to live, we would not want to waste any time, would we? We would want to squeeze every bit of living in that we could. The author of Hebrews wrote, we ought to “consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.”

So we Christians ought to look like those who are dead to the old nature and who are not wasting any time living for the Lord now!

2. Vs. 10 Fools:

Paul here uses a series of three contrasts between how the Corinthian Christians saw themselves and how the apostles were seen by the world.

• “They were fools for Christ while they were seen as wise in Christ”: Being seen as fools versus being seen as wise. This has to do with teaching, doesn’t it? What could have caused the message of Paul to be thought of as foolishness while the message of the Corinthians was to be seen as wise? Well, back in chapter 1:23, Paul told us that the message of Jesus Christ crucified was foolishness to the Greek thinkers. So that means that these Corinthians had compromised the word of God to accommodate the world. In so doing, the world thought of them as “wise.” Oh, the world didn’t laugh at them anymore because they had adjusted their teaching so they wouldn’t be ridiculed. Hey, you know what, Christian. If you want to go mainstream and want the world to like you, here is what you do: “First, believe in evolution as a fact and deny creation.” “Second, stop being so exclusive; all truth is God’s truth, the Bible isn’t the only truth that there is.” “Third, don’t talk about sin, it makes folks feel bad.” You do that, and people will think Christianity is cool, hip, and even fun!
• “They were weak while the Corinthians were strong”: This has to do with power or effectiveness. The apostles were seen as weak and ineffective, while the Corinthian believers were seen as powerful. “We are Christians, hear us roar with numbers too big to ignore!” How do you do that? Well, take on the world’s agenda and causes and make them yours. Whatever bothers them, become an expert and major in minors, man!
• “They were dishonored while the Corinthians were distinguished”: This has to do with reputation. The Corinthians were cool. They were alright to be part of their group. It was “fun” to belong to them. The apostles’ group was completely without honor and reputation.

So what do all these three things have in common? Well, Paul is saying that Christians ought not to care about how the world sees them; they do not care about being popular or accepted by the mainstream. It seems to me that the Church has become far too concerned about what the world thinks about it. We are trying to gain legitimacy with the world, but the price has been truth and holiness! So Paul says that true Christianity is not concerned with what the world thinks about us. We are not trying to gain votes so we can get elected; we have already been elected!

3. Vs. 11-12 Homeless:

Here, Paul lists another attitude which is best seen in the fact that we Christians live a different lifestyle. He describes it this way: “they both hunger and thirst, are poorly clothed, beaten and homeless.” Yet, lest they misunderstand him, Paul goes on to say that they “labor working with their own hands.”

• The common denominator in all of this is to say that living the Christian life is not to be concerned with the “things of this world.” The Christian lifestyle is different. This is not our world, so the physical things of this world are not what we pursue. We don’t have, not because we are lazy or we think working is beneath us, as we will do any job or work any hours, so we can better serve our Lord.
• Next, Paul says that what the world may think of us doesn’t cause us to think of them with any other view than how the Lord sees them. They may abuse us with words, and we bless them with words. They beat on us, and we just stand there and love them. The words “defamed and entreat” are “vilify and invite.” Wow, Paul says the world “saw them as villains, and their response was to invite them into the kingdom of God.”

4. Vs. 13 Filth of the World:

The world, Paul says, has made them to be the filth that comes off the floor. They are that which is to be swept up and thrown away. They are also the “off scouring.” The word is that which is left on the plate after a person eats. The world had made the apostles out to be the outcasts of the world. The Corinthian believers were trying to be seen as the cream of the crop, while Paul and the apostles were the scum and dregs of society. So, what’s the attitude? Well, Paul obviously didn’t care how the world saw him. He was only concerned with how the Lord saw Him.

The truth is, what life does to us will depend upon what life finds in us! Oh, dear Christian, which one of these two types of Christians do we want to look like?

1 Corinthians 4:14-21

“Correcting God’s Children”

I. Intro

Have you ever written an email or letter and had someone misunderstand the heart of what you wrote? Paul has been addressing these Christians in Corinth in the area of their pride. Last week, he used godly sarcasm to correct their feelings of having arrived and of not needing anything or anyone else. He drew the contrast of what they had become in their own eyes and how the world saw Paul and the other apostles. In the remainder of this chapter, Paul wants to make sure they did not misunderstand his intentions in correcting them. As a parent, nothing we do is more difficult than correcting our children. Our goal is to change behavior that is not beneficial to their development and growth. Yet, we love them and hate to see them hurt, especially when we are the ones that have caused the pain. Because of our strong dislike of correcting our children, we often just don’t do it, and the outcome is that the “inmates end up running the asylum.” I was at a fast food restaurant not long ago when I heard a frustrated mother of three yell at one of her darlings, “This is the last time I’m going to tell you that it is the last time!”

How do we correct? What can we do or say that will help elicit change? That is what Paul is going to reveal to us in the final eight verses of chapter 4. It is important because, in chapter 5, he is going to address outward behavior. So this sets the context of what he has said, as well as all of what he is going to say to them. When I was a goldsmith, I learned how the price of diamonds was established on the four C’s: “cut, clarity, carat, and color.” When the diamond cutter gets a rough diamond, it is his job to get the maximum value out of the stone, so he uses the same four C’s in order to achieve the greatest value for each gem. What does that have to do with correcting God’s children? Well, Paul gives us four C’s that encourage change in order to get the most value out of our lives:

• Convey
• Copy
• Confront
• Choice

II. Vs. 14-15 Convey

Vs. 14: Throughout this section, Paul has used many different jobs to describe the work of a pastor: “servant, farmer, builder, galley slave, house manager.” But here, he uses the most important of them all: “parent or father.” Paul has been stern. He’s used godly sarcasm to tear their hearts away from their pride, but he wants them to know why he has been so tough on them. It’s because they are his beloved children.

In the famous words of Jesus in Matthew 28:19, we are told by Him to “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations.” There is a subtle truth in His words that often gets overlooked as we focus on a call to reach the world. It is the word “disciples.” Jesus does not tell us to go and make “converts” or “church attendees” but rather those who seek to follow Jesus. A convert or a person who comes to Church requires little or no attention after their initial response, but to be involved in making followers of Jesus requires constant effort. Look at the animal kingdom. For the most part, the parents plop out the young and go off and eat. I’m afraid that far too much of Christianity has approached birthing its young in the same way. They come forward, make a profession of faith by repeating after a person as they pray, then it’s “have a wonderful life, see you in heaven!” but not so with Paul. It broke his heart to see these Corinthian believers become impoverished in their faith. Paul wants them to know that his words were not motivated out of revenge because they had disrespected him; rather, he was motivated out of love as being their spiritual father.

Paul gives us four things necessary to correct God’s children in these verses. They are the four C’s that give the greatest opportunity for a person to change:

1. Vs. 14-15 Convey: Having just used godly sarcasm, it is not hard to imagine some of the Corinthians reading this letter and feeling shame. The Greek word for shame carries with it the idea “to turn around one’s feelings.” Something clearly Paul wanted to accomplish. The point Paul is making is that he wanted their feelings of themselves to turn around from pride to humility, but he wanted to make sure that they would not become bitter at his correction. Paul’s goal was correction, not destruction! Think of this a minute, and ask yourself what could make a difference in us receiving something as correcting and not destroying if the words used were the same? The answer, of course, is “who said them!” Thus, the first C of correcting God’s children to change is to convey two equally important things (Love & truth):
• Vs. 14 Love: “But as my beloved children I warn you”: Two words are used here. First, “beloved,” which is “agapao” in the Greek, meaning God’s unconditional love. Then, here, the word “warn” is literally “to put into your mind” and is used in Greek as the instruction a parent gives a child. The first thing we need to do, if we are going to attempt to correct someone, is to establish our unconditional love for them. Paul wanted the Corinthians to know how he thought of them. They were his “beloved children.” They were not just neighbors or people he had met once; no, they were his kids! To read through the first four chapters of 1 Corinthians is to understand that these Christians were not obedient, moral, or mature, but they were still His kids and, as such, they were loved! Every parent has understood this dilemma, haven’t we? We love our children, but we do not approve of their behavior. So we tell them we hate them and never want to see them again. No, of course not. We discipline them! In so putting it this way, Paul reveals that his love for them was not based upon their behavior but rather upon God’s love for them. I have received correction many times in my Christian life, and the times that I’ve received it the best are when I’ve known of the love of the person who is correcting me.
• Vs. 15 Truth: It was because of Paul’s godly love for them that he wanted to see their behavior change. Now notice that Paul wanted to establish his love without denying the truth. Paul draws a sharp contrast from that of just being their nanny or tutor (instructor) and that of the instruction from a parent. They may have many folks that will teach them things, but they will only have one who was used as the instrument for their new birth in Christ. Paul was a father who was involved in their upbringing and training. Spiritually speaking, they were “home-schooled.” Now, Paul is not saying that he ought to be called father “for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel.” Paul was just the instrument by which the gospel, which spoke of the person and work of Jesus, was brought to them. Every person who is born again is brought forth in new life through the power of God in Christ through the Word of God, and the Word of God is delivered by a human instrument.

So, if we are going to correct God’s children, we need to convey our love without denying the truth that they need to change!

III. Vs. 16-17 Copy

Now, the second C in correcting God’s children to change is found in the next two verses. You see, teaching folks to follow Jesus is not only about teaching right principles. It is also about living those principles before them.

2. Vs. 16-17 Copy: Remember, as Paul wrote this letter before them, the truth of how they should live their lives was not written in the Bible so they could easily reference it. Instead, it was witnessed in the lives of those that taught them. But there were two ways in which Paul asked them to copy his behavior:
• Vs. 16 Example: “I urge you, imitate me”: The word “imitate” is where we get our English word for mimic. The best way to instruct anyone is to show them or demonstrate what you want them to do. Today, we call it “on-the-job training.” In a sense, we are all learning how to live the Christian job while we are on the job. Far too much of the time, parents, as well as the Church, take the world’s idea of “Do as I say, not as I do!” Now we ought to be able to say to all, “Do as I do because I do as I say!” Can you imagine what a difference it would make in our correction of bad behavior if what we were trying to correct in someone else, we weren’t doing ourselves?
• Vs. 17 Explain: I love the order of Paul here as he gives the Corinthians first the consistency of his behavior before he reminds them of the truth that he taught. Interesting that Paul says that he was sending Timothy as a spiritual troubleshooter. Paul calls him a faithful son in the Lord, and he sends Timothy to remind them of how he, Paul, lived and taught elsewhere. So? Well, Timothy was a replica of Paul. His life would demonstrate the benefits of imitating Paul’s life and words, as that is what Timothy had done. Hey, if you are trying to make disciples or followers of Jesus, isn’t it a great idea to send a fellow follower who has applied the truths seen and heard? Now it is great here to realize that Timothy was going to not only remind them of Paul’s way and what he taught but also he was going to share with them that what he taught he did so everywhere in every Church! Oft times, when we are trying to instruct our kids, they come back at us with “How come Susie doesn’t have to?” Paul is letting the Corinthians know that he was consistent in what he taught and expected at every Church. He did not just have special rules for certain Christians!

So Paul corrects them by first conveying his love without denying the truth. Then, he tells them to copy his example and follow the Word of God.

IV. Vs. 18-20 Confront

3. Vs. 18-20 Confront: Having established his love and then telling them that he was not asking them to do something he was not doing and that he had not taught everyone else to do, he confronts again the behavior that needs to be changed. They had an “inflated view” of themselves and, since Paul was not there, they had become bold in their attitude against being corrected. You know how it is when Dad is away for a few days, don’t you, Moms? “While Dad’s away, we will play!” These believers became proud of their disobedience and defiant in their attitude. Confrontation is never a pleasant process in the Christian life. I’ve been both the confronted and the confronter, and it is far easier to be confronted. Listen carefully to how Paul lays this out, “I will come shortly…I will know, not the word of those who are puffed up, but the power.” Paul lets them know that, according to God’s will, he was coming, and he will know the truth of where they are, not by what they say but rather how they behave. Then he says that God’s kingdom in our heart is not about talk, it’s about living a transformed life. So what do we learn about confrontation? Several things:
• We learn that we confront to break, but not to destroy: The purpose of Paul’s coming to Corinth was to see if what they said matched how they lived. Talk is easy. Paul wanted to see if they walked their talk! The purpose of any confrontation is to correct and not to destroy. The problem is that many folks think any form of confrontation is to destroy them. When we go to see a doctor, and he tells us that our health is tied to a bad behavior, is he being confrontational? Yes, but not for our destruction rather for the exact opposite!
• We learn that Paul confronted actions and attitudes and not words: The attitude was pride, and the action was how they were living in comparison to the Word of God. Often, when you confront someone, they say, “Hey, don’t judge me, man!” Biblically, we have every right to weigh a person’s attitudes and actions and talk to them about their behavior. I’m amazed at how I want to justify my behavior and attitudes because of some wrong done in my life. “It’s not my fault, I’m the way I am, _____ made me this way!” In our flesh, we all want to find excuses for our attitudes and actions. You know why I behave the way I do at times, why I have a bad attitude? Well, it’s Tom’s fault! No, it’s because I’m not dying to my flesh. I’m choosing to have it my way!

It does us no good in our spiritual lives to get away with sinful attitudes and actions. In fact, it makes us unhappy as well as unholy! The Bible reminds us that:

• “The LORD disciplines those he loves, as a father the son he delights in.” (Prov. 3:12)
• “The Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son.” (Heb. 12:6)
• “God disciplines us for our good that we may share in his holiness.” (Heb. 12:10)

I’m so thankful that the Lord loves me and delights in me as His own enough to share in His holiness to correct my sinful behavior and attitudes. The fact that He does this reveals that we are his children!

V. Vs. 21 Choice

4. Vs. 21 Choice: The final C in correcting God’s children is choice. It must be their choice to change. Paul asks them, “What do you want?” The choice is always the one that is being corrected. In Philemon, Paul wrote to him to receive Onesimus, a runaway slave, back to him. Paul said that he could be “very bold in Christ to command him to do what is fitting,” but he wanted the “good deed not to be done by compulsion, as it were, but voluntary.” The choice must be by grace, not forced. In other words, it would not be a change in action or attitude. Paul was not going to change the truth to accommodate their sin, and it was his desire to come to them in a spirit of love and gentleness, but if they refused to die to self and pride, he would come with a rod. We are told in 2 Corinthians that his coming to them was a very painful visit, as he wrote that in coming to them it caused him great sorrow.

Nothing is more difficult in a parent’s life than to watch their children not follow God’s word to their own hurt and destruction. Jesus looked out over Jerusalem, a nation whom he loved, and said, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!” We are told that as he “saw the city and wept over it.” That’s a parent’s heart that breaks at their children’s rebellion. It so saddens me to see pride in the hearts of those who are called to love him and each other above themselves and don’t. It is for this reason that we need to correct and be corrected. And the way to do it is:

• Convey love while affirming the truth
• Copy, by their example as well as explaining the truth
• Confront the action and attitude, being careful to break but not destroy
• Give them a choice to turn from pride and self to God