1 Corinthians 4:1-13 - Stewards of God's Mysteries

Introduction

Last week I attended the annual meeting of the Souther Baptist Convention. This happens once a year, and church leaders and members from cooperating Baptist churches from across the country gather for a two-day business meeting to hear reports from various entities and make decisions about how to use the pooled resources of thousands of churches to spread the gospel, plant new churches, and generally promote the Great Commission.

One big agenda item for this year centered on the fact that some churches that have been associated with the SBC have decided to affirm females as pastors. The confession of faith for Southern Baptists expressly states, “While both men and women are gifted for service in the church, the office of pastor/elder/overseer is limited to men as qualified by Scripture.”[i]

The SBC has not been aggressive in finding and removing churches that do not adhere to our stated beliefs, but two churches in particular have been quite vocal and public in their celebration of female pastors. Thus, the convention was scheduled to vote on whether to uphold a decision to remove their affiliation.

There were about 12,000 messengers present (representatives from SBC churches), and the vote was about 90% in favor of removing those two churches. And, unsurprisingly, the news headlines following the meeting have been pretty negative.

CNN described it as “concerning,” “sad,” and “restricting.”[ii] The Longview News Journal ran a piece in the “Religion” section that also painted a negative picture, and they also published an opinion article by Bill Tinsley wherein he said that he was “mystified” by what Southern Baptists decided.

From one perspective, the decision to disfellowship churches with female pastors from the SBC is foolish. It certainly doesn’t make Southern Baptists appear kind or loving to those in the world who see restrictions of all sorts as stifling. And there is a case to be made that it makes ministry to our non-Christian friends and family much harder.

But from another perspective, the decision was actually a humble submission to the clear commands of Christ Himself. From this perspective, it was a genuine show of real love and care for men and women who need to know that Jesus actually cares about what we believe and how we live. And there is a case to be made that the decision last week will make ministry to our non-Christian friends and family much clearer.

The reason I’m telling you about this today is because we are going to study a passage this morning that urges us to measure success in ministry (especially pastoral success)… not by the world’s perception or by the results we can immediately see… but by another standard… faithfulness to God’s word.

We’re picking up with our study of the first biblical letter from the Apostle Paul to the church in Corinth, and we have come now to some application of what Paul has been reminding them about thus far. How should we regard those in pastoral leadership in the church? What does it mean that church leaders are stewards of God’s mysteries? And what reward is there for faithfulness?

Let’s consider this passage together, and may God help us to benefit from our efforts to understand and apply it today.

Scripture Reading

1 Corinthians 4:1–13 (ESV)

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 receive it?

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.

Main Idea:

Pastors are to be regarded as servants of Christ; therefore, pastors are required to be faithful stewards of the word of God in both teaching and practice.

Sermon

1. Regarding Leaders (v1-2)

Some of you will remember that in 1 Corinthians 3, Paul wrote a lot about the church and its leaders. He said there that the local church is God’s “field” (v9), God’s “building” (v9), and God’s “temple” (v16-17). Paul also taught us that the leaders of the church are like “workers” (v9) and “builders” (v10-12).

Now, the Apostle Paul is moving toward a direct application of these analogies. He says, in v1, “This is how one should regard us” (1 Cor. 4:1).

The “us” is especially “Paul” and “Apollos” (v6), as well as “Timothy” (as we will see later in chapter 4, v17), and other leaders of the church in Corinth. This is the way that the original readers of this letter would have understood it.

But the description of the “us” and the requirement of the “us” are applicable to the leaders of other churches as well… not just the church in Corinth. In other words, Paul was telling the Corinthians how leaders or pastors or elders of any local church ought to be “regarded” (v1). As we talked about some time ago, all those who take up the formal responsibility of shepherding among a local church are the “workers” (v9) and “builders” (v10-12) Paul was talking about in chapter 3.

So, how does Paul want the church of Corinth to “regard” or “reckon” or “think about” (NET) their leaders or pastors?

Well, Paul says they are “servants of Christ” (v1)… and “stewards of the mysteries of God” (v1)… who are “required” to be “found faithful” (v2) when “the Lord comes” (v5). And the rest of our passage this morning explains and applies these three descriptors: (1) what it means to be Christ’s servants, (2) what church leaders (and church members, for that matter) are stewarding, and (3) what it often looks like to be faithful in a world that is bent on foolish and arrogant rebellion.

Friends, our passage today focuses heavily on what church leaders or pastors are and what they must do, and the next portion of chapter 4 has more of an emphasis on what church members ought to do, but there’s a lot of overlap. This is one long letter, after all, and it’s an unfolding argument that builds as it goes.

That said, all of us today can benefit from thinking through the content of these 13 verses. How should you regard the pastors of this church (or whatever church to which you belong)? What should you expect from your pastors? If they are to be examples for the rest of us, then what should you imitate about them? And, if you do have pastors who give themselves to lead faithfully (as this passage describes), then how might you pray for and encourage them in the task?

Let’s unpack those 3 descriptors in v1-2 (servants, stewards, and faithful) by walking through the rest of the text as it appears.

2. Christ’s Servants (v3-5)

Verses 3-5 are all about “judgment.” The word translated “judge” or “examine” (NASB) or “evaluate” shows up four times in three verses. The Corinthians were “judging” or “evaluating” Paul and other church leaders by the standards of worldly wisdom (v3), but Paul says that it is the Lord’s “judgment” that ultimately counts (v4).

Paul says, in v3, “with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by any human court.” The last phrase here is literally “human day” (v3). Paul is talking about any and all assessments of him or his ministry by the standards of men, and he could not care less about it. And the word translated “very small thing” is a single word that is the superlative of small (i.e., the tiniest).

It’s as though Paul says here, “the judgment of men means absolutely nothing to me.” In fact, Paul even says that he does not “judge” himself (v3). The point is not that he or his ministry cannot be “judged” or “evaluated” at all, but that church leaders or pastors cannot be judged by the typical measurements or worldly standards… of success or progress or effectiveness… those we would normally use to evaluate the leaders of most any other organization or institution.

We can judge the success of a teacher by measuring how well students do in her class as compared with others. We can judge a finance manager by measuring the average return on investment. And we can judge a mechanic by measuring the how much it costs me to keep my vehicle out of his shop and on the road. But what measurements do we use to judge a local church leader or pastor?

I’m going to dip my toe into the last point of my sermon for just a second here, but the biblical measurement of pastoral success is faithfulness… faithfulness in his doctrine and his devotion… faithfulness in his correcting and his repenting… faithfulness in his teaching and in his practice.

And faithfulness in pastoral ministry simply cannot be measured by any of the typical standards we use in other contexts. And that’s why Paul says in v5, “do not pronounce judgment before the time” (v5). Before what “time”? See it there in the text: “before the Lord comes” (v5). It is at that time, that the Lord “will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart” (v5). And at that time, “each one will receive his commendation [or his “praise” or “approval”] from God” (v5).

Now, as we will see in just a moment, Paul is not saying here that we have to wait until the last day (when we all will stand before the Lord and receive His judgment) to know whether or not a church leader or pastor is being faithful in his ministry. There is a standard by which to measure faithfulness!

But the point here is that the Corinthians were not measuring pastoral success in light of the last day or the return of the Lord. They were assessing success or effectiveness by public approval, social status, and religious respect.

Some of the folks in Corinth respected religious discipline, so Peter’s emphasis on the Mosaic traditions were respectable, even if their neighbors didn’t believe that Jesus was the Christ.

Many Corinthians were enamored with philosophy and rhetoric, so Apollos’s public speaking and orations were respectable, even if their neighbors didn’t agree with Christian doctrine.

And still some others in Corinth loved to hear of God’s grace, so Paul’s emphasis on the completely unearned favor of God through Christ was respectable, even if their neighbors had no intentions of obeying any of Christ’s commands.

Friends, if we’re honest, we are prone to do exactly the same thing today! It comes so naturally… and sometimes we may think and speak and act as though our churches and our church leaders are only as successful or effective as our non-Christian friends or neighbors or family members perceive they are.

And even pastors themselves are tempted to think like this. I can speak from my own experience, and I have heard several other pastor-friends say the same. Pastors can sometimes think that their church is too small, that their budgets are too thin, and that their ministry is too weak to actually register as anything remotely close to successful or effective. And this is true of some of the best pastors I know… who are faithfully and actively and lovingly shepherding the members God has placed under their care.

This perspective is based on the way church members and pastors measure ministry by typical worldly standards… numbers… usually baptisms, budgets, and buildings. And this kind of measurement is almost always just assumed.

The pastors and churches with big numbers often look down on those with fewer. Fundraising organizations (missions agencies, youth and children’s camps, and the like) almost always market themselves to potential donors or participants by using the measurement of numbers. And I can’t tell you how many emails or snail-mail advertisements I get each week from people who want to help me “grow our attendance” or “increase our baptism ratio” or “multiply our giving”.

But, brothers and sisters, we must not “pronounce judgment before the time” (v5). We (all of us) must resist the urge to measure our success by those dimensions we can see right now. The Lord will build His church as He sees fit, and He “will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness” when He “comes” on the last day (v5). And The Lord Himself will be the “judge” of what churches and pastors were successful in this present world… and He will distribute “commendations” according to His own assessment of things (v5).

In the meantime, we should “regard” church leaders or pastors as “servants of Christ” (v1), charged with the task of shepherding and leading according to the Lord’s “judgment” (v5). And, as servants of Christ, pastors must aim to be faithful stewards of the word of God, which restrains us, corrects us, and makes us wise.

3. God’s Stewards (v6-7)

Back in v1, Paul said that church leaders should be regarded as “servants of Christ” and as “stewards of the mysteries of God.” And v6-7 describe what it is that church leaders (and church members, for that matter) are stewards of.

The concept of “the mysteries of God” (v1) has already been introduced earlier in 1 Corinthians. It was in chapter 2, when Paul talked about his pastoral ministry among the church of Corinth… and even the content of his teaching before they were a church at all. Paul contrasted the “plausible words of wisdom” or the “lofty speech” of wise “men” (1 Cor. 2:1-5) with the simple and direct message of the “crucified” Savior (1 Cor. 2:2), which is the profound “wisdom” of God on marvelous display (1 Cor. 1:30-31).

And Paul described the “wisdom of God” as something that was “secret” or “hidden” or “mysterious” (1 Cor. 2:6-8) to those who are “natural” (1 Cor. 2:14) and also to those who are “spiritual… infants” (1 Cor. 3:1-3).

All of this is to say that the basic truths and storyline of Christianity are at once “mysterious” and even “foolishness” to the unbeliever and yet to the believer the gospel and Christian doctrine are the basic stuff or substance of spiritual growth and the highest “wisdom” there can ever be.

For the one who believes the gospel – the message that God has become a man and offered Himself as the substitute for sinners (both in His life and His death), and that in the death of Jesus (who is God in human flesh) the wrath of God was poured out upon Him so that guilty sinners might be free from the penalty of their sin, and that in the resurrection of Jesus from the grave the promise of resurrection was guaranteed for all who look to Jesus with repentance and faith – for the one who believes this gospel, it is a message so powerful that it converts sinners to saints and it continually transforms their lives in this world.

This gospel or “the mysteries of God” (and all the doctrine and teaching that comes along with it) is the stewardship that has been entrusted to the “us” Paul is talking about in this passage (v1). Therefore, it is right for us to understand that church leaders or pastors have a particular responsibility to “steward” or “manage” or “keep” that which has been entrusted to them.

The Apostle Paul wrote to his young pastor friend, Titus, about the qualifications for those Titus should appoint to be “elders” among each church in Crete (Titus 1:5). And Paul said that a man’s character as well as his ability to “give instruction in sound doctrine” (Titus 1:9) were both critical qualifications precisely because “elders” or “overseers” are “God’s stewards” (Titus 1:5, 7).

Paul wrote something very similar to Timothy, another young pastor. Along with a nearly identical list of qualifications for pastors, Paul told Timothy, “what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses [i.e., Paul’s teaching] entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also” (2 Tim. 2:2).

For a long time now, in American Evangelicalism, we have emphasized what’s commonly called “the soul competency” of each individual. E.Y. Mullins was the president of the SBC from 1921 to 1924, and he was the president of the denomination’s flagship seminary from 1899 to 1928.[iii] In a book he published in 1908, Mullins wrote “the doctrine of the soul's competency in religion under God is the distinctive historical significance of the Baptists” (emphasis added).[iv]

Protestants believe in the “priesthood of believers,” and Baptists (one kind of Protestant) believe that only believers should be church members and that of their own voluntary desire and commitment. These are based on the belief that every person has the basic competence and responsibility to know the gospel, to believe it, and to distinguish between the true gospel and all other imposters.

We believe every person that can read the Bible in his or her own language can understand the big truths of Christianity and can learn to apply them.

However, another Baptist historian and theologian (Winthrop Hudson) wrote 50 years after Mullins, saying that “the practical effect of the stress [or emphasis] upon ‘soul competency’ as the cardinal doctrine of Baptists was to make every man’s hat his own church.”[v] That is, the church (if a Christian needs such a thing at all) has become merely a sort of theological or therapeutic or philanthropic buffet… where independent and self-governing Christians meet… in order to pick and choose what doctrines and practices agree with their existing sensibilities.

Friends, we see and hear this all the time in East Texas. People will claim to be Christians without any connection to a local church. People will claim to be followers of Christ, while they believe false things about Jesus and while they make no efforts to actually follow Christ’s commands about anything. And people will go church shopping with a list of preferences that have no biblical warrant.

And the worst of it is that they are confident! They are confident in their own sense of an individual and utterly personal relationship with Jesus. But, friends, this is foolish; not to mention unbiblical. We most definitely need to have an experiential relationship with Jesus (I need to know Jesus as my Savior and Lord!), but there is no such thing as a private or individual relationship with Jesus.

No Christian can get along without fellow church members; and no Christian can get along without pastors or shepherds. Friends, church-shaped Christianity is not one kind of Christianity; it is Christianity. If your Christianity is not church-shaped, then I just have no idea what you mean by “Christianity.”

It is clear in our passage this morning that church leaders or pastors have a particular responsibility to “steward” or “keep” that which has been entrusted to them. Paul says, “This is how one should regard us [i.e., the leaders of the church in Corinth], as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God” (v1).

And this in no way diminishes the fact that we all (every Christian) share in the general responsibility to steward the word of God. Look with me at v6.

Paul says, “I have applied all these things [i.e., the responsibilities of service and the trust of stewardship] to myself and Apollos for your benefit, brothers…” (v6). In other words, Paul wants the Christians in Corinth to see him and Apollos not only as servants and stewards, but also as examples to be followed in their service and in their stewardship.

And how are the church members in Corinth supposed to follow the example of their leaders? Look again at v6. They are to “learn by us not to go beyond what is written” and to avoid being “puffed up in favor of one against the other” (v6).

If Paul and Apollos (and all church leaders) are simply serving Christ and stewarding God’s mysteries as they lead their congregation toward spiritual growth and maturity… by teaching them how to understand and apply what God has “written”… then the church members have no reason to “favor” one leader or pastor over another (since each is contributing to the same overall goal by stewarding the same written word)… and the church members have no reason to “go beyond what is written” (since even their leaders or pastors don’t do that).

Thus, both in their teaching and in their practice, pastors are required to show themselves to be faithful stewards of the word of God (1) because they are Christ’s servants and God’s stewards and (2) because they are examples to the congregation they lead, teaching them by word and by action to live as stewards of God’s word as well.

4. Faithful Fools (v8-13)

I already gave my punchline away earlier when I said that the biblical measurement of pastoral success is faithfulness… faithfulness in doctrine and devotion… faithfulness in correcting and repenting… faithfulness in teaching and in practice. But with this last point I want to look with you at our last 6 verses and consider the reality that faithfulness often goes unrewarding in this world.

In v8, Paul says, “Already you have all you want! Already you have become rich! Without us you have become kings!” It seems to me that Paul is using here one of his most powerful literary tools – sarcasm. He does this many times in his letters, and it is especially effective when he uses sarcasm to contrast the boast of his opponent with the reality of his own experience.

The fact was that none of the Corinthians were kings, and very few of them were rich. In first-century Rome, there was no social or economic or political advantage to being a Christian. But the Christians in Corinth really wanted the respect of their non-Christian neighbors. Or they at least wanted to think of themselves as the best and brightest among their own Christian sub-culture.

But Paul mocks their desire by contrasting it with the experience of truly faithful church leaders. He says at the end of v8, “I wish that you did reign as kings right now(my paraphrase)… so that we might share the rule with you!” But in fact, Paul says in v9, “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” (v9). In other words, the chief leaders of the first-century Church (the Apostles) were set on the stage of the world as a “spectacle” or a “display” of “last” men, not ruling men… of “dying” men, not successful men.

And the mocking continues in v10. Paul already reminded the Corinthians in chapter 1 that they were not “wise” or “strong” or “honored” among the world (1 Cor. 1:26-29), so his affirmations here of these exact three attributes are sarcastic. But what are the Apostles? Paul says, “we are fools for Christ’s sake,” we are “weak,” and we are “in disrepute” or “disgraced” or “shamed” (v10).

And then in v11-13, Paul launches into a list to describe the experiences of the most faithful and vocal and authoritative Christians in the first-century world. They “hunger and thirst” (v11). They are “poorly dressed and buffeted and homeless” (v11). They “labor” with their “own hands” to support their ministry to others (v12). They “bless” when they are “reviled,” they “endure” when they are “persecuted,” and they “entreat” when they are “slandered” (v12-13). In short, they are perceived as “the scum of the world” and the “refuse of all things” (v13).

And friends, doesn’t this match up with exactly what Jesus said about being a follower of His in the world? Didn’t Jesus say, “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you” (Jn. 15:18)? Didn’t Jesus warn His disciples, saying, “If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you” (Jn. 15:20)?

But Jesus also said, “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world” (Jn. 16:33).

Brothers and sisters, we are not the first Christians to want a theology of glory and not a theology of suffering… or as Martin Luther called it, a theology of the cross. The Christians in Corinth are not that different from us, and so too have there been many Christians throughout history who have wanted to live their best life now. But this simply cannot be our expectation.

The Lord may decide to give us social prestige or economic affluence or political power, and we ought to steward these gifts with wisdom and humility if and when we have them. But God has not promised any of this to us. In fact, God has warned us… both with clear teaching and by exemplary Christians who’ve gone before us… that we should expect to be perceived as fools in the world.

It is not for us to decide the times or the circumstances of our lives. It is for us to strive for faithfulness. And for church leaders or pastors, faithfulness is measured by their adherence to and ministry of God’s word.

Do your pastors aim to know and to live according to Scripture? Do your pastors give themselves to teaching you to know and to live according to Scripture? Do your pastors faithfully teach and rebuke and encourage those under their care… by pointing them again and again to Scripture?

If they do, then praise God for such a gift as faithful pastors! If they do, then encourage them to persevere in faithfulness. Pray for them, that God might keep them from giving in to the temptation to compromise, to avoid looking foolish in the world, or to give up entirely.

Conclusion

As I said earlier, there is a stronger emphasis on what church members ought to do in the last portion of chapter 4, but our passage today places the emphasis on church leaders or pastors. The text teaches us to regard them as servants of Christ. And it teaches us that pastors are required to be faithful stewards of the word of God in both teaching and practice.

The Apostle Peter said it well when he wrote, “I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and witness of the sufferings of Christ… shepherd the flock of God that is among you… being examples to the flock. And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfolding crown of glory” (1 Pet. 5:1-4).

May God grant us faithful pastors at FBC Diana. May God raise up faithful pastors among our church and many others… both near and far.

And may God help us all to measure pastoral and church success, not by worldly standards, but by faithfulness to the word of God.

For the Lord Himself shall hand out His own commendation in the end.

Endnotes

[i] See article 6 on The Church here: https://bfm.sbc.net/bfm2000/#vi [ii] See the full article here: https://www.cnn.com/2023/06/21/us/southern-baptist-convention-women-pastors-react-cec/index.html [iii] For a great introduction to E.Y. Mullins, see Albert Mohler’s essay here: https://albertmohler.com/2009/07/16/e-y-mullins-the-axioms-of-religion [iv] E. Y. Mullins, The Axioms of Religion: A New Interpretation of the Baptist Faith (Philadelphia, PA: American Baptist Publication Society, 1908). 56-57. [v] Winthrop Hudson, ed., Baptist Concepts of the Church: A Survey of the Historical and Theological Issues Which Have Produced Changes in Church Order(Philadelphia, PA: The Judson Press, 1959). 216.

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