April 6, 2008
First Church of the Brethren
H. Kevin Derr
1 Corinthians 4:1-21
“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. 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 till the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of people’s hearts. 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?
Prayer:
I. Paul writes to the church at Corinth to see that church united as one body, without division and factions.
a. He says, 1 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 till the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of people’s hearts. At that time each will receive their praise from God.
b. This then is how you ought to regard us: Who is the us, it would seem in this case it is Apollos and Paul, perhaps even Peter.
i. Those who are called apostles are considered to be servants of Christ, slaves of Christ.
1. As such, they are entrusted with the mysteries God has revealed. Namely Jesus who is the Christ.
2. Those who are so entrusted must prove themselves faithful.
a. Not by the courts of Rome or the people at Corinth
b. But only by God.
c. Not even by himself
i. He states that his conscience is clear
ii. That however does not mean that he is without sin. That is the Lord’s to judge.
ii. When the time of judgment comes, then God will bring to light what is hidden, and will expose peoples motives, and at that time each will receive from God their reward.
1. Human acknowledgement does little good for us, in fact it may create more problems than it is worth, it puffs us up and makes us think we are more important than we are.
2. Some of this is that we have misplaced our worth, the source of our personal value. Is it the approval of the masses or is it the approval of God that we seek?
iii. It is God’s to judge and to reward.
c. The nature of the struggle at Corinth seems to be centered not between Paul and Apollos, but between factions in the church that have aligned themselves with these two leaders. There is a real picture here of any internal conflict in a congregation. One group goes one direction and another groups moves off in another direction.
i. Paul writes: 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?
1. Paul is writing here, it seems on behalf of himself and Apollos. He has applied the previous chapter to himself and Apollos. It seems that Paul is saying, in effect, he and Apollos are equals. Not to leaders in conflict, but two leaders attempting to bring healing and order to the church at Corinth.
2. He says specifically that he is doing this so that they might learn “not to go beyond what is written”
a. so that they would not become puffed up.
b. so that they would not claim to be a follower one or the other
c. The point? People receive a letter from one of them and them and then that group feels that they are in the right, and infers from the letter new things to do. They go to excess, likely to prove their allegiance to the author of the letter.
i. Paul says don’t do this
ii. This is not a completion!
ii. Are these two leaders saying different things? Paul says no. Each has given something essential to the church at Corinth. They are no different than any other member of the church. In fact, they all have been given the gift of faith, not by special revelation from Jesus, but from one of those who has passed through the Church, Paul, Apollos, Peter or another. So, don’t make like you didn’t get it the same way.
II. Paul’s comments begin to take a new turn here. He writes: 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!
a. Already you have all you want? Is this a church that is prospering? It may be, it may be that the people here are wealthy. Corinth was indeed a wealthy city.
i. Already you have begun to reign – that is without us!
1. The church is growing?
2. The church is wealthy?
3. It cannot be that the church is spiritually mature, that much we know.
4. It seems that at present the church is enjoying some economic prosperity. It may be that they have followed the patter of the Jerusalem church and were holding things in common, or at least sharing a great deal of their resources with each other.
ii. But from this point, we know that Paul and Apollos do not share in whatever is going on at Corinth. So, we can assume that it is not spiritual maturity.
b. Paul continues, 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!
i. Now Paul is speaking of apostles, in the plural. He has included Apollos in this before, and may well here also. Along with the others.
1. he says God has put us on display at the end of a procession, like those condemned to die in the arena
2. He is not making reference to apostles being taken into the arena for execution, but something else.
3. We have been made a spectacle for the whole universe, angles and humans. Their existence is open to the universe to all of humanity to see.
a. They are seen as being fools, as been weak, and dishonored
b. The whole time the church at Corinth is seen as being wise, strong and honored.
i. It seems as though the church at Corinth is enjoying some public favor and respect
ii. They have wealth and are honored.
iii. But, the whole time they are actually behaving in a spiritually immature manner.
c. At the same time, the apostles are in a different position: Paul says it is like this for us: 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.
i. At present Paul says, we are hungry, thirsty, naked, harshly and brutally treated. In the face of such treatment and poverty we bless when cursed, when persecuted we endure it, when slandered we speak peace. We have become like the garbage of the world, even now.
ii. So, while the church at Corinth is enjoying food and drink, clothes and are treated respectably, they divide the church claiming one leader or another. While the apostles live a different life.
III. Paul does not do this to point out that he is suffering while they enjoy a nice life, rather he is saying, it may not always be like this. He writes: 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.
a. Paul defines his relationship with the church at Corinth in this manner, of a parent and children.
i. I write to you as a father writing to beloved children.
1. Even if you do have may people who watch over you, there is indeed a special connection between Paul and this church.
2. He says I urge you to imitate me.
a. We brethren to humble to say such a thing, and not feel guilty. But, isn’t this the point of a mentor, of an older sibling in Christ who helps us find the way to follow Jesus faithfully.
b. How do children learn, by imitating the things that they see their parents do?
c. What is the natural way for new believers to learn how to follow Jesus, by following the example of a mature saint?
ii. So, Paul says, I am sending you Timothy, one who knows my way of life and will remind you of how I followed Jesus. I’m sending you some to mentor you in how you follow Jesus. This is what we mean when we say that Jesus is our example, but in reality we ought to be examples for others to follow as well. If we are uncomfortable with someone learning about Jesus by shadowing us for a few months, then we have some areas of our lives that need attention.
b. We do not find the closing paragraph of this chapter comfortable. Because we are not comfortable with authority, holding it or being under authority.
i. Every congregation is autonomous in the Church of the Brethren, we answer to no one, but to ourselves. We do not like being told what to do, or how to do it. We chafe under authority. It was not so in the ancient world, it was assumed that someone had authority over you.
ii. Paul writes as one who has authority over the church at Corinth, he states: 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?
iii. It seems that there are those at Corinth that are saying, Paul has no power or authority over them. These are the ones that Paul says are becoming arrogant.
1. They talk about power, but what power do they have? The implication is none.
2. So, Paul asks, shall I come with a rod of discipline or in love with a gentle spirit.
a. Pick, he says, and you shall receive
b. Paul has no problem exercising authority over the church, he considers it his responsibility and as such he also considers himself answerable for what happens in that congregation.
