Ready for the Test? - 1 Corinthians 4:1-21

Sermon Series: Confused?

Can you remember that feeling you had right before it was time for a test? You know, that uneasy, anxious question that’s running through your head, “Am I ready for this?” It was the moment of truth in which we were going to find out if we were really prepared, if you really knew the material, and if you could really demonstrate that to someone else. I remember having that feeling for almost every single test I took, big or small. I had that feeling if it was a small pop quiz that wasn’t going to have a big impact on a particular grade and having that feeling before I took the SAT which was going to play a huge part in regards to college acceptance. I had that feeling before my driver’s exam to get my driver’s license and I had that feeling before I went before an ordination council to become an ordained pastor.

It’s funny how our confidence can change in the moments right before a test. The day before our parents, teacher, or peers may have asked us if we were ready for the test and most of the time we confidently assured them that we were. We wanted them to believe that we had studied well and that we had been responsible in preparing for the test. But in that moment when the teacher told us to put away your things we realized that we, our teachers, and our parents, were going to find out just how responsible we had been and just how well we had prepared.

One of the great things about getting out of school and getting into a career is that you don’t have to take tests as often. We get that feeling that we’ve paid our dues and that testing is behind us. We start to think that tests are no longer needed, that we have arrived in regards to our wisdom, and we no longer have anything to prove to anyone.  It's true that certain careers do require continuing education but for many whose careers no longer require education and testing it seems that they settle into a way of thinking that says, "I no longer have a need to measure where I'm at.  My degree (or my career) speaks for itself.  It says that I have arrived in regards to wisdom and there is no longer any need for me to continue to prove myself to anyone else (or even myself)."  But by not testing ourselves and not continuing to measure how we are doing, might we really be guarding against the revelation that things might not be okay?  Isn't this in fact why our doctors urge us to come in yearly for physicals when we get older.  They want to examine us and test us to see if everything is okay; and if it is not, to help us correct the unhealthy issues.  Testing has an incredibly important value to us, not just in regards to our wisdom, understanding, or physical health, but also spiritually.  And my great fear is that when many of us come to faith in Jesus as Lord and Savior we say, "Our forgiveness and eternity is secure!  I'm good now!  There's no need for any more testing!"  But by hiding behind statements like this we may be in fact living in unhealthy ways which neither help us grow in our walk with Jesus nor rightly proclaim the Gospel with which we have been entrusted.

Chapter 4 begins with Paul going back to the servant imagery he made use of in 3:5. While he possessed the title of apostle and while he had authority to teach, to instruct, and to rebuke, he didn’t want that title to promote an unhealthy understanding of his (and our) most basic role as followers of Christ. He and Apollos and every other follower of Jesus are servants of Christ. Believers in Christ don’t belong to other individuals, nor do they serve other individuals. Every believer in Christ, regardless of their calling, position, or title is a servant of Christ. And as servants of Christ we are to understand that the thing with which Christ has entrusted us and the thing which we are to be stewards of is the Gospel (i.e. “the mysteries of God;” the “secret and hidden wisdom of God” from 2:7). Paul reminds the church at Corinth that our primary responsibility is to “be found trustworthy” with that good news.

This is a huge responsibility! It’s not just a responsibility to proclaim the good news of Jesus to those who don’t know Christ as Savior and Lord – it goes far beyond that. As parents we have to put the Gospel on display for our children in the way we parent, in the way we discipline, and in the way we live on mission with our family. As employees we have to put the Gospel on display for our employers and our co-workers. We have to treat our employers with respect and submit to their authority, we have to love our co-workers with the love of Christ, and we have to be quick to forgive when we are wronged or mistreated. As neighbors we have to be pursuing those around us, whether it’s the people in the house across the street, the individuals who work out with us at the gym, or the cashier at the grocery store we shop at. In our churches we have to be laboring together to create a place where the Gospel is celebrated and proclaimed, a place we where we can gather together to make disciples and scatter from to make an impact on our communities. As stewards who have been entrusted with the Gospel, we are to be found trustworthy, not in some areas of our lives, but in every area of our lives. The news of Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection doesn’t just transform some spiritual compartment in our lives that is isolated from all the other parts – it transforms and changes every part of our lives, which means that the Gospel should be having an impact on every part of our day and routine. So we have to do our best to view everything through the lense of the Gospel and then to respond accordingly. This is what it means to be found trustworthy.

Paul understood this responsibility and he had been instructing those who were a part of the churches that he planted to live this way. But some in the church at Corinth, in their pursuit of worldly wisdom, had become proud and arrogant. They had made themselves loyal to Apollos, and their loyalty towards Apollos had become so strong that they had actually begun to oppose Paul and look for opportunities to judge and condemn him (specifically in the regards to his handling of the Gospel). But in verses 3 and 4 Paul gives the church at Corinth further instruction concerning the judgment of one’s faithfulness with the Gospel. Paul says, “But with me it is a very small that that I should be judged by you or by any human court. In fact, I do not even judge myself. For I am not aware of anything against myself, but I am not thereby acquitted. It is the Lord who judges me” (4:3-4). Paul says that in regards to judging one’s faithfulness with the Gospel, only the One who actually entrusted us with the Gospel is able to judge us in regards to our faithfulness. So Paul isn’t bothered by the judgment of others – they aren’t in a position to discern if Paul is being faithful with the Gospel or not. Paul says even he, himself, can’t judge his own faithfulness. As far as he knew there wasn’t anything that stood out in his life as an accusation or as a condemnation, but even he wasn’t in the position to discern that. It was only God, the One who had entrusted him with the Gospel, who was able to stand as judge concerning Paul’s handling of the Gospel. So Paul goes on to say to the church at Corinth in 4:5, “Therefore do not pronounce judgment before the time, before the Lord comes, who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart. Then each one will receive his commendation from God.” Paul exhorted those in the church at Corinth who were pronouncing judgment on him to stop. Christ was coming back, and on that day He would expose all things – not only our faithfulness with the Gospel entrusted to us, but our motives as well. This ought to be a very humbling truth for all of us who are believers in Christ. There are probably many of us who hear Paul’s declaration to stop pronouncing judgment on one another and immediately have someone come to mind, someone we feel like is judging and condemning us. That individual ought not to be standing as final judge concerning your faithful handling of the Gospel (although at times we do have the responsibility of exhorting and challenging one another in grace and love if others see areas in our lives where we are not being faithful stewards of the Gospel). But of even greater concern ought to be the reality that God, Himself, who has entrusted us with the good news of the Gospel, is watching to see how we are living as servants and stewards. He’s not watching, looking for opportunities to condemn and judge us, but He is watching to discern if we are allowing the Gospel to impact every area of our lives and examining the motives driving our stewardship. We aren’t going to have to ultimately give an account to others, but to God, Himself. So here are a couple of questions we ought to be asking ourselves: (1) Are we being faithful with the Gospel that God has entrusted to us? (2) Is our faithfulness coming from our gratitude for God’s work in our lives and a desire to see His name glorified? (3) Who is it that we are wrongly judging and condemning for what we perceive is unfaithfulness or wrong handling of the Gospel? Our greatest concern ought not to be with the faithfulness of others, but with our own faithfulness.

In the verses that have preceded these Paul has done his best to correct some of the wrong beliefs and understanding of some who are a part of the church at Corinth. He’s addressed the overemphasis of wisdom and how it has led them to wrongly follow individuals. He’s proclaimed that there is wisdom of God that leads us to understand that God’s plan for salvation comes through a crucified Christ and that that wisdom isn’t achieved through worldly pursuits but is received as revelation from the Holy Spirit. And he’s used metaphors to help clarify his and Apollos’ roles as servants and the expectations for those who are a part of the church to labor together to build the church - not to cause divisions that may tear apart and destroy the church.

In the verses that follow Paul is going to go a little harder after those in the church at Corinth who are provoking the divisions and who are so strongly opposing him. As an apostle and the founder of the church at Corinth he has both the authority and the responsibility to address and correct this kind of behavior. So you’ll notice a greater intensity through the remainder of chapter 4. Paul says in verse 6 that he has applied the earlier metaphors of chapter 3 to both himself and Apollos so that the church at Corinth could learn from their lives and examples. The church could benefit greatly from seeing two ‘leaders’ who embraced the role of servants and who were laboring together to build the church. The church could benefit greatly from seeing the humility of two leaders who rightly recognize that any wisdom they did possess was wisdom that was revealed to them through the revelation of the Holy Spirit. And the church could benefit from seeing examples of those who might have reason for pride and arrogance living and serving in humility and cooperation with one another. Why? Because when some in the church at Corinth looked at themselves they presumed that others saw them as special and different; and they presumed that most (if not all) of what they possessed was something that they had earned or achieved on their own. But Paul fires back with a couple of humbling questions in verse 7, “For who sees anything different in you? What do you have that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it?” Paul implies that while some of the individuals who made up the church at Corinth presumed that others saw them as special and gifted, this wasn’t really the perception others had of them. He also implies that any special giftedness they did have as believers in Christ wasn’t theirs because they earned it or had worked hard for it - it was given to them as a gift. Therefore there was no room for boasting, but they needed to respond with gratitude for God’s gracious provision in their lives.

In verse 8 through 13 Paul focuses in on the failure of these “puffed up” individuals to live a life that communicates a right understanding of their calling as followers of and servants of Christ. “Already you have all you want! Already you have become rich! Without us you have become kings!” In Corinth, obtaining great wisdom often lead to material wealth and prominence. So as these individuals sought to wed the Gospel and worldly wisdom they found themselves in pursuit of wealth and prominence – and some had actually obtained it. Paul on the other hand, while he was well known by many, hadn’t come into possession of great riches or worldly prominence, and so these individuals in the church at Corinth used this against Paul as further evidence that he was not one worthy of their allegiance and following. But Paul was employing sarcasm as he made mention of these accomplishments in verse 8. These individuals thought they had all that they wanted, they thought that they had become rich, and they thought that they had achieved great status on their own. But Paul knew better. Paul then goes on to highlight their self-elevated status by contrasting their ‘perceived’ position with his ‘real’ position. “And would that you did reign, so that we might share the rule with you! For I think that God has exhibited us apostles as last of all, like men sentenced to death, because we have become a spectacle to the world, to angels, and to men.” In those days when kings would conquer other lands they would lead processions back into their great cities to celebrate their accomplishments. The kings would lead the way with their army behind them – the victors and the ones deserving of praise being celebrated and lauded at the front. Those who had been captured would bring up the rear of the procession. They were evidence of the successful conquest and their involvement in the procession was meant to be an act of humiliation as they were put on display as a spectacle for all those who resided in the conquering city and kingdom to see. Paul was saying that those prideful ones in the church of Corinth saw themselves as the leaders to be celebrated, while Paul likened himself to the captives who were made a spectacle for all to see. But Paul is also subtly alluding to and likening himself to One other individual who was sentenced to death and made a spectacle to the world in a humiliating procession and murder. Yet it’s unclear if these ‘wise’ individuals were able to discern what exactly Paul was alluding to. Paul continued in verses 10-12, “We are fools for Christ’s sake, but you are wise in Christ. We are weak, but you are strong. You are held in honor, but we in disrepute. To the present hour we hunger and thirst, we are poorly dressed and buffeted and homeless, and we labor working with our own hands.” Paul compares and contrasts his own perception of himself with the perception these individuals in the church of Corinth have of themselves. But Paul continues to saturate these verses with sarcasm. Paul says in verse 10 that these individuals are ‘wise,’ ‘strong,’ and ‘held in honor.’ But earlier in the letter Paul had reminded them that in reality none of them possessed these characteristics. Paul said in 1:26, “For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth.” Paul knew this to be the truth of who we all are and describes himself with characteristics such as foolishness, weakness, and disrepute. Yet these individuals had forgotten their real nature and were attributing to themselves characteristics that they really did not possess. Paul sets himself and the other apostles/teachers of the Gospel in continued contrast by saying that they ‘hunger and thirst,’ ‘are poorly dressed,’ and are ‘buffeted and homeless’ which stands in contrast to how Paul had described them in verse 8, having all they wanted (as opposed to hungry and thirsty), having become rich (as opposed to being poorly dressed), and having become kings (as opposed to being buffeted and homeless). In all of these descriptions Paul sets himself apart from these individuals in the strongest terms.

Having contrasted their attributes, Paul concludes the paragraph with the rest of verse 12 and 13 contrasting their response to unfavorable treatment, “When reviled (i.e. cursed), we bless; when persecuted, we endure; when slandered, we entreat (i.e. humbly make an appeal). We have become, and are still, like the scum of the world, the refuse of all things.” The remarkable difference between Paul and these “wise” individuals in the church at Corinth is unmistakable. But what they have failed to realize is the attributes and characteristics that Paul and the teachers of the Gospel possess are far more similar to the Person and example of Jesus than the attributes and characteristics of the ‘wise’ who are a part of the church at Corinth. Paul’s life was following the course of Jesus’ life and teaching. In John 15:18-20, Jesus said, “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you.” Paul and the other teachers of the Gospel were experiencing the truth of Jesus’ earlier declaration. And yet when treated that way they were responding with grace, and truth, and the love of Christ. Possessing great worldly wisdom (and receiving riches, status, and title as a result) isn’t a marker that one has arrived at great Christ-likeness, in fact the very opposite may in fact be true. The way of thinking, the behavior, and arrogance of this group within the church at Corinth was not the way of thinking, behavior, or humility that meshed with a good and right understanding of the Gospel. So Paul uses strong language and sarcasm to point out the problem in ways that would hopefully grab the attention of these misguided individuals.

Chapter 4 concludes with verses 14-21 and on last metaphor change. Paul says to the church at Corinth that this letter wasn’t written with the intent to shame them, but rather to admonish them. Paul looked at the church at Corinth in the same way that a father looks at his children. When one’s children aren’t behaving in an appropriate way it’s right for the father to come along side of them, to encourage them to change their behavior, and to also provide them with a model to follow. And that’s exactly what Paul is doing, addressing the sinful behavior and urging those individuals to follow his example. “I urge you, then, be imitators of me” (4:16). The way of life that they had been looking down on, judging, and opposing is the kind of life that they should have been leading. Paul says to this church, you’ve got to follow my example; you’ve got to follow my lead. That they would have a change of heart and follow his example is in fact the very reason that he sent Timothy to them. “That is why I sent you Timothy . . . to remind you of my ways in Christ, as I teach them everywhere in every church” (4:17).

The last thing Paul says in this chapter is perhaps the most challenging. Most of us when we read stories (whether biblical or not) like to identify ourselves with the good guys and not the bad guys. We like to think about the ways in which we are similar to or have had similar experiences as the hero of a story. So naturally, when we read this text our tendency is to want to identify ourselves with Paul. We like to think about the ways we are “persecuted” for our faith and how we faithfully endure in a Christ-like manner. But the truth is, we are probably far better off trying to identify ourselves with the villains in stories – especially when we read the Bible. The truth is, most of us are probably far more like the arrogant, “puffed up” individuals in the Corinthian church than we are Paul. Most of us probably live lives that look like we have all we want and that look like individuals ruling and reigning over most of the areas in our lives. We think of ourselves as wise, as strong, and as honorable, and probably more often than not we would like to identify ourselves with those who are at the front of a victory procession rather than at the back. In our conversations and in the way we talk about church we are often quick to act and talk like we have all the answers, while there is often very little fruit to accompany it. So listen to these hard hitting words of Paul and then ask yourself if perhaps you need to pay attention to this warning. “Some are arrogant, as though I were not coming to you. But I will come to you soon, if the Lord wills, and I will find out not the talk of these arrogant people but their power. For the kingdom of God does not consist in talk but in power. What do you wish? Shall I come to you with a rod, or with love in a spirit of gentleness” (4:18-21). Verse 20 is one of those verses that gets right to our own reality. It is the test that we need to be giving ourselves regularly! For by it we see how we are doing, how we are measuring up. How much of our ministry efforts are accompanied with great power, and how much quite honestly is just talk? Are we really sharing the good news of Jesus with others or are we just talking about it?  Are people around us having the opportunity to receive or reject the news of the Gospel, or do they never clearly hear it?  Are we seeing the lives of our wives and children being changed and transformed because as spiritual leaders in our homes we are constantly leading them in the Gospel?  Is the Gospel transforming our work places and co-workers or are we just the 'moral' or 'religious' person in the company?  Are our neighbors experiencing love and encouragement from us and our families that they  don't experience anywhere else because they are encountering the Gospel through our family? When we are really living as faithful stewards of the Gospel, shouldn’t we see fruit being born because of the powerful work of God? But if all we have to show for our ministry efforts is our own talk and opinions on how we think things ought to be done – might that not be evidence that we are counting too much on our own worldly wisdom and ways?

The power of God on display OR mere talk - that's what it boils down to.  Arrogant, prideful, and worldly wise believers in Christ do a lot of talking because they think they have the answers.  Whereas those who are daily being transformed by the news of the Gospel understand their humble estate, understand their dependence upon God, and are on their knees pleading with God to do what only He can and end up seeing God work in power so that His Name and glory will spread.  Are you ready for test?  Are you willing to take it?  Will you look critically at the areas of your life and ask the question, "What is it that I see on display in my family, in my workplace, in my neighborhood, and in my church?  Is it the power of God on display, or is it my own talk?"  If the answer is the latter it may be time to repent of our arrogance and pride and ask God to re-capture our hearts with the truth of the Gospel.  Then we need to (in humility and dependence) do our best to allow the Gospel to shape the way we live each day, so that God's power and the truth of the Gospel might be put on display for all those around us. 

Connection Point Questions for Discussion:

1. Is there a particular test in your past that stood out from all the other tests that you have taken as the one for which you were the most nervous or anxious?  If so, tell us about it.  What was the test for?  What makes that test stand out from all the others?  Why were you so nervous or anxious?

2. As brothers and sisters in Christ and individuals who are part of the same church we have definite responsibilities to one another.  Part of this text may be a little confusing for some of us in regards to judging others and their stewardship of the Gospel.  Paul said to the church at Corinth in 4:5, "Therefore do not pronounce judgment before the time . . ."   How might this exhortation potentially confuse some believers regarding their responsibilities towards one another?  What is our responsibility in regards to confronting one another with sin?  Do you have any Scripture to help support your answer?

3. Paul characterized the 'wise' in the church at Corinth as those who had all they wanted, were rich, and who had become kings (see 4:8).  He likened them to the kings who would lead victory processions through great cities after they had conquered an enemy.  The he characterized himself as one who was last of all, like an individual sentenced to death, and a spectacle the world (see 4:9).  He likened himself to the prisoners paraded in at the end of a king's victory procession.  Given a choice, how do we like to think about and characterize ourselves?  Which of these groups do we want to look more like?  Why?  What does it mean for us to imitate Paul (4:16) if this is how he lived?  How will this look in our own lives?

4. Paul gave us a great litmus test in 4:20, "For the kingdom of God does not consist in talk but in power," to help us determine if we are being good stewards of the Gospel in humble dependence upon Him, or if we are living puffed-up and arrogant lives based on our own wisdom and achievements.  What would it look like to see God's power in your marriage, family, work place, neighborhood, and church?  Are you seeing those things in your life and ministry?  If not, is God revealing any arrogance that you need to repent of?