Listen for God’s word to you from 1 Corinthians 4…
This, then, is how you ought to regard us: as servants of Christ and as those entrusted with the mysteries God has revealed. 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. 5 Therefore 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.
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. 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?
8 Already you have all you want! Already you have become rich! You have begun to reign—and that without us! 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. 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! 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.
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. 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.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?
As we noted a few weeks ago, Paul brings into play eight metaphorical pairs to talk about Christian leadership and followership in 1 Corinthians 3 and 4. We talked about the first five of these metaphorical pairs a few Sundays ago. That leaves us three to talk about this week...
I. Servants & Stewards (4:1-7)
The first metaphorical pair in chapter 4 is servants and stewards. Paul’s words here are so close to those of Jesus, and yet Paul, so far as we know, was not aware of any of the earthly teachings of his Master. Jesus said,
You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. 43 Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, 44 and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. (Mark 10:42-44)
Jesus talked about servant leadership 2000 years ago, and he modeled it. He lived it out. Paul did the same. 2000 years later, the leadership gurus of the world are beginning to talk about servant leadership. But the Church should have known all along that this is what Christian leadership looks like—service.
The word is a very evocative one in Greek: ὑπηρέτης (hypērétēs). Literally it means an under rower. It refers to the rower (or crewman on a large boat) who mans the oars on a lower deck. Thus, figuratively, the word is used to refer to a subordinate executing official orders.
What a word picture for Paul to use to describe himself as a Christian leader! He viewed himself as being merely an under-rower on a very large ship. And who was he taking his orders from? None other than Jesus Christ.
The other key word Paul uses here is “steward”. He sees himself, and all Christian leaders in the Church, as those entrusted with the mysteries God has revealed. An οἰκονόμος was a manager of a household. This person could be a slave or a recently freed slave. A house manager was someone managing goods and people that were not his own. Paul saw himself and other Christian leaders as managers of the house of God, Christ’s home, the Church.
As Margaret Thrall writes, “A steward was expected to be trustworthy. He managed an estate or a household on his master’s behalf and possessed a certain amount of authority. He was responsible only to his master, to whom he had to give an account of the way he carried out his duties.”
Specifically, what did Paul see himself as managing? Of what was he a steward? He tells us that he was entrusted with the mysteries God has revealed. What were those mysteries?
The word is an interesting one in Greek: μυστήριον. When 1 Corinthians was translated into Latin, the word became sacramentum from which we get our English word: sacrament. Thus, many have thought that Paul was talking here about the sacraments of the Church, specifically baptism and communion. However, the word is used some 28 times in the New Testament, and it never specifically refers to the sacraments as we think of them.
Jesus talked about the mysteries of the kingdom (Matthew 13:11; Mark 4:11; Luke 8:10). When he said this, he was explaining the meaning of his parables to his disciples.
The word mystery is used often in Paul’s letters. There is the mystery of the hardening of Israel in Romans 11:25, the mystery of the inclusion of the Gentiles (Romans 16:25-26; Ephesians 3; Colossians 1:27), and the mystery of the Gospel (1 Corinthians 2; Ephesians 6). The person speaking in tongues utters mysteries known only to God (1 Corinthians 14). There is the mystery of our future resurrection (1 Corinthians 15), the mystery of God’s will (Ephesians 1), the mystery of marriage—a great mystery indeed (Ephesians 5), the mystery of God which is simply Christ (Colossians 2; 4:3), the mystery of lawlessness (2 Thessalonians 2:7), the mystery of the faith (1 Timothy 3:9), and the mystery of godliness (1 Timothy 3:16). So, one might say that the Christian leader is a steward of all these mysteries of God, a house manager over a rich storehouse of treasures to be used appropriately.
It is sometimes a hard position to be in as a Christian leader, to be a steward of the mysteries of God. People often want clear, concise answers to difficult problems. But God does not always offer us such. Yes, sometimes God reveals some of the mysteries of the universe to us. But most often he invites us to trust him even when we don’t know all the answers.
It is natural that Paul should move in this section to speaking of judgment. Because as a servant and a steward Paul viewed himself as answerable to one Master—the Lord Jesus Christ. There will come a day when we must all give account of our life to that one Master. It does not matter, ultimately, what others think of us, or what we think of ourselves. What really matters is what Christ thinks of us.
II. Kings & Paupers (4:8-13)
The second metaphorical pair Paul employs in chapter 4 is kings and paupers. It becomes obvious as we move along through this chapter that the Corinthians really had the wrong idea of Christian leadership. They thought of themselves as already having arrived. They thought of themselves as kings, reigning with Christ. And there is a sense in which this is true.
In Ephesians 2:6 Paul says, “And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus…” So, there is a sense in which all Christians are already reigning with Christ.
But what Paul is telling the Corinthians is that this reign with Christ doesn’t look the way they think it should look in this world. The kingdom of God is, as Paul says, not about talk, but power. At the same time, the kingdom is “now” but “not yet”. Christians are not always wealthy, not always successful in this life. Instead of being in line first, Paul says the apostles are in line last, being paraded into the coliseum condemned to die, to be fed to the lions.
William Barclay explains: “When a Roman general won a great victory he was allowed to parade his victorious army through the streets of the city with all the trophies that he had won; the procession was called a Triumph. But at the end there came a little group of captives who were doomed to death; they were being taken to the arena to fight with the beasts and so to die. The Corinthians in their blatant pride were like the conquering general displaying the trophies of his prowess; the apostles were like the little group of captives doomed to die. To the Corinthians the Christian life meant flaunting their privileges and reckoning up their achievements; to Paul it meant humble service and a readiness to die for Christ.”
By the way, one of those generals who marched into Rome triumphant was Titus after conquering Jerusalem in AD 70. He later became emperor. His “arc de triomphe” stands in Rome to this day.
Paul’s picture here of the Christian life should act as a check on our inevitable pride in our affluent society. As David Prior says, “It is no sociological or circumstantial phenomenon that the Christian church is growing most noticeably amongst the poor in Third World countries: this growth reflects accurately the way these Christians approximate more closely to the pattern of Christian life and ministry described in the New Testament.”
Paul calls himself and other Christian leaders “a spectacle”, “fools for Christ”, weak, dishonored, hungry, thirsty, in rags, brutally treated, homeless. This is not a picture of success but rather of poverty.
As Mother Theresa once said, it is not our job to be successful, but rather to be faithful. And that is what Paul was. He worked hard with his hands. When he was cursed, he blessed others. When he was persecuted, he endured it. When he was slandered, he answered kindly. Imagine, say, a political leader acting in this way today.
Then Paul goes even further. He says that he and other true Christian leaders had become the scum of the earth, the garbage of the world, literally, the rubbish left over on a plate at the end of a meal, fit only to be scraped off into the trash. What a dramatic statement!
Michael Green has written, “We are not called to constant success. We are not called to instant glory now. We live between the ages; heirs to all the failure and frailty and fallenness of this age, heirs too to the power and life and love of the age to come. We live at the cross roads. The Master suffered…and rose. So will his apostolic church…and only that.”
So, if you are coming to Christ hoping for a rosy picture, an easy life, Paul warns that you will be sorely disappointed. Christian leaders are not those who lord it over others with worldly pomp and power. Christian leaders are to serve like the lowest of the low. They are stewards. They are paupers.
III. Fathers & Children (4:14-21)
The third metaphorical twosome that Paul employs in 1 Corinthians 4 to describe Christian leadership is “fathers and children”. Paul speaks to the Corinthians as his spiritual children. He says that in Christ he became their father through the gospel. He reminds the Corinthians that while they may have had many tutors, they have only one spiritual father.
In ancient Greek culture, boys were put into the hands of pedagogues (παιδαγωγός) who had to be carefully screened. These pedagogues were slaves, but they ruled over free boys. The pedagogue was like the private tutor of more recent days, and philosophy was the main element in the education of boys.
Socrates once told of the education of a prince at the Persian court. Four of the best pedagogues were chosen to instruct the young prince. The wisest of these gave instruction in the fear of God and in kingship.
Paul reminds the Corinthians that they may have others who act as their tutors (including Apollos no doubt), but he, Paul, is their only spiritual father because he introduced them to Christ through the preaching of the gospel. Furthermore, Paul says he is sending Timothy to the Corinthians. Timothy was another one of Paul’s sons in the faith. Timothy will remind the Corinthians of the nature of Christian leadership being like fatherhood.
When I think of this biblical image for Christian leadership being like fatherhood, I think of Jesus’ parable about the father with two sons. The one son asks for his inheritance early, basically wishing his father was dead. Then he goes off and wastes his inheritance in wild living. When he comes to his senses, he realizes his father’s servants have it better than he does because after wasting his inheritance he is reduced to eating pig slop. So, he composes a repentance speech, and heads back to his father’s home, ready to ask his father to receive him back, not as a son, but as a slave.
Well, we all know the story. The father has been scanning the horizon every day since his younger son left home. He has been longing for his son’s return. And when he sees him still far off, the father runs to his son (something no father in oriental culture of that time would ever do). The father embraces his son, welcomes him home, not as a slave, but as a son, and he throws a party for him.
We often neglect the last third of the story. The elder son is jealous. He feels ill-treated. He has stayed home, faithfully serving his father all along. Yet his father never threw a party for him. So, he refuses to come into the party. And at the end of the parable, we see the father pleading with his elder son “to come home”, to enter into the party and celebrate with him and his son who was lost and now is found.
I think we can all identify with this story in some way. There are times in my life when I have been like the younger son. There are times I have been like the elder son. But what I am just beginning to see is that God calls me to be like the father in the story welcoming the prodigal home, pleading with the elder son to come into the party.
Christian leaders are not to be like managers in our secular world today. Christian leaders are not bureaucrats. Christian leaders are to act like fathers. And that is because the Church is not primarily an organization, or even less, a business. The Church is a family. And so, Jesus’ parable and Paul’s statement in 1 Corinthians 4, both challenge me to ask myself: “What kind of father am I being?”
I wonder too: where do you see yourself in Jesus’ parable? Are you like, the younger son right now, or are you like the elder brother? And could you ever see yourself being like the father who gives away love with reckless abandon? Personally, I think God wants us all, not just pastors, but he wants us all in the Church to be moving in the direction of becoming like the father in Jesus’ parable. In short, we are called to be little copies of Christ. We are called to imitate him in running after other lost sons and daughters, whether they be children lost at home or in the world.
Am I challenging you to be a leader? In a way, I am. That is my invitation to you today.
“But,” you say, “I am a follower, not a leader. Leadership is not my gift.” It is true, some are gifted and called to be leaders in the church and in the world in unique ways. But I think there is a way in which we are all called to be leaders as well.
Think of leadership this way: think of it as simply influencing others in a positive direction. We all have the opportunity to do that in some way, at some time, in some places, with some people. You have opportunities given to you by God to influence others in a positive direction in your home, in your family, in our church, in our community, and in the wider world. The only question is, will you see and accept those opportunities and seek by God’s grace and power to live out a form of Christian leadership where you are right now? Will you be a servant, a steward? Will you have the audacity to take the lowest place and to serve others like a loving father or a loving mother, embracing the prodigals of our world and welcoming them into God’s home, the family of Christ, the Church?
Comments