1 Corinthians 4 - Faithful Servants of Christ

Introduction

Opening Illustration: Well Done Good & Faithful Servant

There is a story told in the Gospel of Matthe w, in chapter 25. A very memorable passage in which Jesus teaches the Parable of the Talents. To paraphrase, Jesus likens the final judgment of mankind to a story of a man who entrusted the assets of his estate to servants of his to manage while he was gone. To one he gave five talents, to another two talents, and to another one talent. The master goes on the journey and returns and questions his servants of what they have done with the master’s wealth while he was away. The master discovers that while he was gone the servants who had been entrusted with the two larger portions had doubled the money in his absence. They had invested it wisely. To each of them, the Master says

Matthew 25:21 “21 His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’”

The third servant however begins to make an excuse of why the single talent he was given had not produced anything. He says,

Matthew 25:24-26 “24 He also who had received the one talent came forward, saying, ‘Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you scattered no seed, 25 so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here, you have what is yours.’ 26 But his master answered him, ‘You wicked and slothful servant! You knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I scattered no seed?”

Personal

Every follower of Christ has been called a servant of Christ. Servants are those who have been instructed with a very particular set of responsibliity upon which they will be judged. Every Christian has been given varying degrees of talents to be invested in this life. Varying degrees of money to steward, relationships to steward, gifting to steward, responsibilities to steward. Christians are called to invest the Lord’s resources. How are you investing what God has entrusted you with? Is the allocation of Kingdom assets that has bestowed upon you bearing fruit for the King? Or are his talents lying buried, just wasting away?

Context

Today we continue through 1 Corinthians. If you recall last week we began this section in chatpers 3 & 4 where Paul looks at the main issues that were causing division and partisanship in the Church. And last week we saw that much of what was traced to an unholy vision of Church Leadership, an obsession personalities within the Church that was leading to a divided body. And Paul reminded them that they are the New Temple, where the glory of God dwells, and that within the Church it is infantile to place too great a sense of worth on any one person. Rather we are the body of Christ, each person vitally responsible for the furthering of the Kingdom. Today he develops this theme a little further. The main idea of chapter 4 is ‘Strive for that ‘Well done good & faithful servant’. How do we do that? I want to pull from this text three Reflections on Living as faithful servants.

Reflection 1: Faithful Servants Live With an Audience of One (1-7)

First, faithful stewards live with an audience of one.

1 Corinthians 4:1-7 “1 This is how one should regard us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. 2 Moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found faithful. 3 But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by any human court. In fact, I do not even judge myself. 4 For I am not aware of anything against myself, but I am not thereby acquitted. It is the Lord who judges me. 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. 6 I have applied all these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, brothers, that you may learn by us not to go beyond what is written, that none of you may be puffed up in favor of one against another. 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 recei…”

Faithful Servants & Stewards (1-2)

Right in the initial verse of this chapter we see Paul identifying himself with two very similar and yet distinct terms. He calls himself a servant of Christ and a steward of the mysteries of God. A servant is one who does the work the master asks him to do. A healthy servant does not double guess the master, he does not partially serve the master but partially serve his own agenda. A servant’s work is to do whatever the master tells him to do. The second term steward refers to a person who has been assigned both assets and a particular responibility with those assets. Another term similar to stewards is manager. Stewards manage the master’s resources. This is why in verse 2 Paul says they must be found faithful. Faithfulness in this sense has one definition. A faithful servant, and a faithful steward must manage the master’s resources according to the Master’s wishes.

The Only Thing That Matters is What God Thinks of Me (3-4)

In verse 3-5 Paul develops this idea of being found faithful. Apparently there were some in Corinth who at least in some degree were accusing Paul of being unfaithful. They were judging him according to some standard that they had set. They looked at his ministry and said , “he’s not cutting it.” Perhaps that is how some of the divisions began in the first place. I love the strength of this man’s character. Only a person who is deeply rooted in Jesus can do what Paul does with that idea. In verse 3 he says, “What they think about me, means nothing to me.” Then in verse 4 he says, “What I think about me, means nothing to me.” Neither their opinion (which is probably skewed one way), nor my opinion (which is probably a little skewed the other way) means anything. The only thing I’m concerned about is God’s judgment over my life. I have an audience of one.

God Will Have His Day In Court (5)

And he culminates this idea in verse 5 by saying that at the end of the day, God is going to have his day in court. I’ll be held accountable to him for what I did with the time I had on this Earth. I’ll be held accountable for how I spent my money, how I used the gifts he gave me, how I invested in people, how I cared for the poor, the orphan, the vulnerable. Whether or not anybody thinks I’m doing a good job of balancing all the responsibilities I have, says Paul, makes no difference to me. All that matters is that one day, I’m going to stand before my holy God. And on that day I will be found righteous not because of my performance, but because of the free gift of grace offered to me by Jesus Christ on the cross. My salvation is secure. But beyond my salvation the Lord will judge the inner purposes of my heart. He will lay my motivations out, and what I did with everything he gave me. And whether or not I receive greater or lesser reward for the work I do is not dependent on you or me. It is depedent on the Lord, who judges according to His standard.

Who Sees Anything Different In You

I love how he closes this section. He says, “I’ve tried to apply these principles in my life.” But then he turns it on them and says in verse, “When you behave as our human judgment of each other is the defining motivation of your life, “who sees antything different in you?” In other words there are two mistakes we can make, two sides of the same coin, that will hinder greatly your saltiness to the world around you. On the one hand when you judge according to man made human standards, you play the same game as the world around you. On the other hand, when you seek to people please and play into their judgments, you play the same game as the world around you.

Illustration: New Philosophy: Comparing Ourselves to Others

I was reading recently of a new movement among philosophers. Philosophers are always debating what are the primary driving motivations of humans. Why do we behave the way we behave. One of the newer movements is that deep down inside each of us, the primary motivator that drives why we behave the we behave in all of our decision making, is one thing, Comparing ourselves to others. Essentially what that says is that which we are worshiping in reality, is the opinions of others and the opinions of ourselves as we compare ourselves to others. When I read that, there is something inside of me that says, “That’s probably not too far off.” I’ve see this play out over and over again in my own life and in many other’s lives that I have gotten to pastor.

Some folks will physically get ill or be unable to fall asleep when they feel that someone is thinking wrongly about them in any way

Some folks will become almost paranoid, and seek to call around and confirm their story with everyone when a bad word is being said about them.

Some folks its more subtle, but deep inside, there is this personal woundedness. Some folks just shut down and cut people out. The moment something feels off, they run.

The Solution is the Gospel

What’s driving this behavior? It’s a faulty worship. It’s a misaligned sense of identity. I believe the only solution to this false worship, is realigning our worship in the right direction. Christians must live with an audience of one. That one person that we aim to please, that we are concerned about their opinion of our actions and our motivations, is the Lord Jesus Christ. He knows you fully, all of your sin and weakness, and yet He loves you fully. He loves you to the point of dying for you on a cross. Two things happened on the cross. One, Christ took all of your sin on his shoulders. Two, Christ applied all of his righteousness to you. So when you believe in Christ not only area your sins forgiven, but God sees you clothed in Christ’s righteousness.

This Worship Realignment, solves both the problems previously stated. On the one hand it removes worry about other’s opinions of you, because you’re not aiming for their opinion. On the other hand, it creates a very humble person without an overly self-exhaulting way about them, because they are truly concerned with the idea that one day all of their hidden motivations will be laid bare before their God, and they want nothing more than to be found faithful by him.

The first reflection as we strive for that, “Well done good & faithful servant,” is that we live with an audience of one.

Reflection 2: We Are Often Hated By the World (8-13)

Second reflection from Paul is that we are marked as peculiar by the world. You’ll notice this idea is directly connected with the previous idea. Its a bit like a ladder that builds on itself.

1 Corinthians 4:8-13 “8 Already you have all you want! Already you have become rich! Without us you have become kings! And would that you did reign, so that we might share the rule with you! 9 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. 10 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. 11 To the present hour we hunger and thirst, we are poorly dressed and buffeted and homeless, 12 and we labor, working with our own hands. When reviled, we bless; when persecuted, we endure; 13 when slandered, we entreat. We have become, and are still, like the scum of the world, the refuse of all things.”

If we have any writers in the room, you will recognize that what we just read is a phenomenal piece of passionate prose, filled with biting irony. What I would like to do is walk through each of these ideas quickly so that we don’t miss the words and phrases and what they mean, and then draw this out this idea that faithful servants will be marked as peculiar by the world.

Already you have all you want (8): The verb here is often used to describe being full on food. It’s getting after the idea that they are behaving as if they have all the spiritual food they need already. They are satisfied. Perhaps this is best contrasted against Jesus’ words in Mathew 5:6, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness.”

You have become rich/You have become Kings (8): In other words the Corinthians felt themselves secure, in want of nothing really. This is a loose play on a philosophy that was well known in Paul’s day, and in some ways is alive and well in our day today. It was Stoicism back then. One of the famous catch phrases of this pagan philosophy was, “I alone am rich, I alone reign as king.’ Stoicism highlights the ideal of self-sufficiency, the person who needs nothing. Paul is poetically saying, “Your ideals reveal that you are living with the pagan idolatry of self-sufficiency in your heart.”

Apostles are like men sentenced to death/spectacle to the world (9): Paul then turns it on himself and examines his life and what God is doing in his life. He says that he is like a man sentenced to death. This is certainly a reference to the gladiotor games of 1st century Rome where condemned criminals would be marched in front of a crowd to be killed by wild animals and war chariots for entertainment. When people looked at the gladiators, they felt no pity, they were simply a spectacle to behold. He’s saying, “It seems to me that when you see my life and judge my life, you put me in the category of spectacle… some bizarre theatre for you all to go home and talk about in the comforts of your home.”

We are Fools, but you are wise (10): If you know the early 1st century philosophy that ruled the days, wisdom was at its core. Paul is not saying that the Corinthians are actually wise, he’s rebuffing them for thinking they are wise. What he’s really saying is that the Corinthians are on dangerously good terms with the pagan world around them.

We are weak, you are strong/honored & disreputed (10): Again Paul always boasted in his weakness. But here the Corinthian, it seems from Paul’s perspective, is very content in their strength, in their achievements. There seems to be a sort of contended boasting in the fact that they are honorable and strong people.

We Hunger, thirst, poorly dressed, buffeted, homeless… (12-13): Verses 12-13 are a long list of words that nobody I know wants to be associated with. Again, a number of the items in this list were extremely odd to the Greek Stoic world around them. Manual Labor was often thought of as lowly, the Greeks despised it. Not responding to insults and standing your ground, was considered a sign of weakness, a lack of manliness by the Greeks who prided themselves on strength. In this whole passage Paul is emphasizing all the traits that the Greek culture around them in the 1st century would have found peculiar, perhaps even despicable. And it culminates in verse 13, “We are the the scum of the world, the refuse of all things.” These words were often used by 1st century Pagan religions to describe the weakest in society, those whos lives were of such little value to society, that pagan religions would often kill them as sacrificial offerings to false gods. Paul is saying, “the world doesn’t even think I deserve to be alive.” Reading this reminds me a bit of Jesus as described by Peter in 1 Peter 2:23.

1 Peter 2:23 “23 When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly.”

Illustration: They Serve Me Tea

I recall hearing one pastor say, “It deeply troubles me that wherever Paul went, a riot followed. But wherever I go, I’m served tea.” I want to do two things here. On the one hand I want to get us off the hook. On the other hand I want to deeply challenge. First, getting us off the hook. One of the big differences between the Apostle Paul’s situation and ours, is that Paul was living in a Pagan society in which Christianity was a brand new emerging minority. That’s not our case. We live 2,000 years later and frankly Christianity and its ethic and its cultural imperatives have shaped the modern Western world so that in some ways many of the underlying assumptions and presuppositions that shape the modern Western world are derived from the Christian mindset. What that means is that in some ways to live an honest Christian life will get you much further in our society than it would have in Pauls. Secondly, let’s challenge us. We are reapidly moving, especially in big cities like Chicago, towards a post-Christian society. We’re not there yet, but all around us it is very clear that we are racing towards that reality. Christians who really live Christianly are increasingly the refuse and the scum of society. Christians who refuse to bow to the cultural ideas of the day, and who instead stand firmly and unwaveringly on God’s truth, are increasingly marginalized. Now, that comes with a caveat. It’s possible to be persecuted as a Christian simply because you’re behaving like a dummy and not wisely engaging with the culture around you. Totally possible, and that happens. But, this is the direction we are going.

The Question Is For You

And so the invitation is before you. Do you long to be found a faithful servant on your judgment day, who hears those precious words from your savior, “Well done good and faithful servant?” If the answer is yes, be prepared at times, to be hated by the world. And in those moments, cling to the reality that you have an audience of one, and He is where your strength comes from.

Reflection 3: Faithful Servants Live Lives Worthy of Imitation by Other Christians (14-21)

Third reflection. Faithful servants live lives worthy of imitation.

1 Corinthians 4:14-21 “14 I do not write these things to make you ashamed, but to admonish you as my beloved children. 15 For though you have countless guides in Christ, you do not have many fathers. For I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel. 16 I urge you, then, be imitators of me. 17 That is why I sent you Timothy, my beloved and faithful child in the Lord, to remind you of my ways in Christ, as I teach them everywhere in every church. 18 Some are arrogant, as though I were not coming to you. 19 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. 20 For the kingdom of God does not consist in talk but in power. 21 What do you wish? Shall I come to you with a rod, or with love in a spirit of gentleness?”

A Fatherly Admonishing(14-15)

Paul closes this section by reminding them, his aim is not to shame them, but rather to lift them up, to remind them of their calling and their purpose in Christ. The word ‘Admonish’ means to warn, or to advise someone concerning dangerous consequences if they continue down a certain road. And in verse 15 he pulls back and reminds them of the tone which they are to read this. He is like a father to them. He loves them. He’s speaking these things not so they will be discouraged, but so that they will reflect and grow. He wants the best for them.

Be Imitators of Me and Timothy

And then he says, “Imitate me. And if that’s too hard for you because I’m not with you all the time, then imitate Timothy your Pastor. That’s why you have him. Look to his life and model your own after what you see in his. Just a personal note here. My highest aim is much more than simply to preach sermons. My aim as a Pastor is to live like Timothy among you. That my pursuit of Jesus, my hunger for Christ, my leading of my family, my shepherding my children, my navigating of the cultural issues, my boldness to speak publicly for Christ, would be a life worth imitating. I readily confess that like Paul and like Timothy, I have so far to go. But my heart is to give you an example to chase after.

Is Your Life Worth Imitating

The question I have for you is simple on this one. If someone were to begin imitating you, what kind of person would be reproduced. The answer to that question will tell you a lot about the way you have ordered your life. If that person were to imitate you, and they looked at your bank accounts and your transaction how would they manage their money? Would they see every penny they have as God’s penny, which you have been assigned as a steward to manage? Would they become a person who increasingly gives sacrificially or someone who increasingly stores up abundantly. If they were to imitate your marriage, who would they become? Would their home be full of the Holy Spirit? Would they find you praying for your spouse, and with your spouse? Would they see that clearly this home and this marriage is firmly established on Jesus alone? If they were imitate your work habits and ethics, who would they become? Would they become Christ like in their love of other people? Or would they essentially have not much difference with the world around them? If they were to imitate your leisure activities, who would they become? Would their minds be filled with the garbage of Rated R films and hours lost on social media? Or would they find a person desiring to renew their mind in Christ. This list could go on.

This final reflection as we strive for that, “Well done good & faithful servant,” is that we live lives worthy of imitation.

Closing

Permit me to close with what I believe is an admonition straight from the text. One day each of us will pass away. And shortly after that moment you will stand before the King of Kings. And a book will be taken out that has a list of names. These are the names of those who have been covered by the blood of the lamb. These are the names of those who were chosen before the foundation of the Earth by God Himself to receive Jesus by faith. These are the names of those who’s sins have been forgiven in full not because of any works they have done, but simply because grace was offered to them by Jesus Christ. And if your name is on that list, and you have received Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, then the next step is you will give an account for what you did with your time on this Earth, with the resources that God gave you to steward. Rewards will be doled out accordingly. And on that day, there is one phrase that will make every sacrifice you ever made on this Earth worth it a thousand times over. The Lord Jesus Christ after searching of your motivations of your heart will say, “Well done good and faithful servant, you have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’” May you be found a faithful servant on that day.