1 Corinthians 4:14-21 - A Fatherly Admonition

Introduction

This last week, it was reported that the Archbishop of York (second only to the Archbishop of Canterbury, who is the leader of the Church of England)… he said that the Lord’s Prayer is “problematic.”[i] The problem is, he said, that “the word ‘father’ is problematic for those whose experience of earthly fathers has been destructive and abusive.”

The Archbishop of York also lamented what he called a common “oppressively patriarchal grip on life,” which he argued should be rejected and resisted. In fact, the Church of England has been debating for a long time whether or not to continue using gender-specific language when referring to God (calling him “Father” and “Him”) since this implies a sort of male-dominated idea of religion and society.

But I want to argue (as Christians have done for centuries) that the solution to the abuse of authority… and the solution to bad fathers… is not the absence of fathers or the de-masculinization of them… but the presence of good fathers.

If you’ve experienced abuse or oppression… or if your dad neglected or abandoned his duties… then I want you to know that’s not ok. It is wrong. It is sinful. It ought not be.

But I also want to invite you to consider with me this morning the importance of good fatherly figures in our lives. In fact, I believe such a thing is so important that God has designed the local church to function as a sort of spiritual family… wherein church members treat each other as brothers and sisters… and pastors possess and exhibit a fatherly love for their church members.

Today we are picking up with our study through the book of 1 Corinthians. We’ve covered a bit of ground already, but we’re going to read this morning a sort of summary of the opening of this letter… and a fatherly admonition from the Apostle Paul to a church he loved quite deeply.

Let’s consider this passage together, and let’s try to hear and apply this counter-cultural (and thoroughly practical and beneficial) word from the Lord.

Let’s stand together as I read 1 Corinthians 4:14-21.

Scripture Reading

1 Corinthians 4:14–21 (ESV)

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?

Sermon Summary

Main Idea:

Pastors are to exhibit a fatherly love for their church members, which ought to motivate them to be exemplary disciples that others can and should imitate.

Sermon

1. Fatherly Admonition (v14-15)

Our passage is the conclusion of this letter’s first substantial section. The first 9 verses contain Paul’s opening or greeting, and then he immediately gets to the heart of his main plea – “I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment” (1 Cor. 1:10).

Then, for the next 2 chapters, Paul rebuked the Corinthians for their “divisions” (1 Cor. 1:10) and their “quarreling” (1 Cor. 1:11), and he exposed them as “infants in Christ” (1 Cor. 3:1) who were relying on the “wisdom of men” (1 Cor. 2:5) and not on the “wisdom” and “power” of God (1 Cor. 1:25, 2:5).

Now, in our passage, Paul is summing up his opening rebuke by making his motives plain. He is not only trying to “shame” them (v14), but ultimately to “admonish” them (v14) or to “warn” them (KJV) or to “correct” them (NET) as “beloved children” (v14). I say “ultimately” because Paul’s admonition is the final destination, but shame is most definitely a stop along the way.

In fact, Paul makes it clear that it is precisely his intention to “shame” them… for their disordered behavior and for their immature way of thinking. Two times in this letter, Paul says, “I say this to your shame” [same word] (1 Cor. 6:5, 15:34). And in both cases, he’s talking about specific ways in which they were acting sinfully – in their personal lives and in the life of the church.

Friends, not all shame is bad. On the contrary, shame can be a very useful tool in getting sinners like us to stop a minute and think about what we are doing. In our culture, the concept of shame has fallen on bad times. And we are right to want to protect the dignity every person as a fellow image-bearer. But we must not try to remove all of the shame from bad thinking and talking and acting.

Bad deeds are shameful! It was shameful that the Christians in Corinth were acting like non-Christians; and it is shameful when Christians today do the same. When we see Christians acting badly, we must not prioritize their sense of pride over the discovery of the truth or the affirmation of it.

It is not loving to pretend that sin is not shameful. It is not loving to protect our sin or the sin of others from seeing the light of day. And it is not loving to make it our goal that no one ever experience shame. As a matter of fact, real love will motivate us to call sin out for what it is, to point out that foolish behavior is foolish, and to urge one another to repent from sin rather than hide it or overlook it.

Anyone who has ever had children will know that shame is often warranted. Shame or guilt or remorse… this is actually one of the things I’m looking for in my own sons when they disobey or act foolishly. And Paul’s posture toward the Corinthians was that of a loving spiritual “father” (v15).

We see him say as much in v15. Paul says he was their spiritual “father” (v15) in the sense that he was the one who invested 18 months of his life “teaching the word of God among them” (Acts 18:11), even in the face of persecution and hardship. His was not a distant relationship with them, even though he was not physically present at that time. Rather, he had a fatherly concern for them – that they would turn from their foolish ways and embrace a godly way of living.

And that was the purpose of Paul’s letter. He was sending them a fatherly “admonition” (v14). And it was his fatherly relationship with them that provoked such an “admonition” (v14) in the first place.

That’s what Paul is getting at in v15. They had “countless guides” (v15) or “ten thousand instructors” (KJV), but they “do not have many fathers” (v15). In other words, they had many teachers or instructors or guides who wanted their attention or their support or their affirmation. But they had very few fatherly shepherds who were centrally interested in their spiritual good and growth.

Friends, a mark or feature of fatherly love is “admonition” (v14). And good pastors or shepherds will sometimes speak a word of rebuke or correction.

In a fallen world, not even pastors have perfectly pure motives, but good pastors will love their church members enough to tell them when there is concern, confront them in their sin, and call them to repentance… not to attack or harm them, and not merely to shame them… but out of a loving desire to see them grow.

2. Fatherly Example (v16-17)

Because Paul is their spiritual “father” (v15), and not just an instructor or guardian, his aim is for the Corinthians to “be imitators” and not mere listeners (v16). He says, in v16, “I urge you, then, be imitators of me.”

Now, there is a sense in which being an “imitator” of Paul is unique. Paul was a capital “A” Apostle. And he was also a uniquely disciplined and self-sacrificing and godly man. Anyone can read Paul’s writing and appreciate that imitating his words and deeds – his theology and practice or his believing and behaving – would be a remarkable goal for Christian living.

While none of us will be quite the figure Paul was in Church history, we all would do well to follow his instruction to “be imitators” of him (v16). At its most basic level, this is what it means to be a disciple. A disciple is a follower, a learner, a student… but not just a student of information… a student of a way of life.

Jesus took to Himself 12 disciples, and these men learned from Jesus (1) by hearing Him teach and (2) by watching Him live. Jesus explained the OT, He helped them understand the meaning of God’s word and how to live in light of it, and He showed them what it looks like to live as a perfectly obedient son of God.

Jesus was the unique Son of God, of course (both truly God and truly man), but He called His disciples to “follow” after Him (Matt. 4:19). And this same call is what Jesus gave to others who were not His disciples. When a particular young man asked Jesus, “What… must I do to have eternal life?” (Matt. 19:16), Jesus said, in essence, “Come, follow me” (Matt. 19:21).

In our passage, Paul (as an extraordinary follower of Jesus) is calling other Christians to follow or “imitate” him as well (v16). And this is what Christians have been doing since the beginning. Jesus’s first disciples followed or imitated His words and deeds, the disciples who came after them followed or imitated those who went before them, and this has continued down through the centuries.

This is what all Christians should do – follow godly examples… and be godly examples that others might follow. But particularly, in local churches, Jesus has established a formal way to recognize those who are publicly set apart as godly examples to be imitated. Pastors and deacons are those who are recognized by the congregation as exemplary Christians of good character (1 Tim. 3:1-12).

Both pastors and deacons must provide godly examples to follow, and pastors are also tasked with the additional role of teaching. This is what Paul implies “Timothy” will do in Corinth in v17. In Paul’s absence, he “sent” Timothy to “remind” the Corinthians of his “ways” (v17) or his “way of life” (NIV) “in Christ” (v17), which is what Paul “taught” “everywhere… in every church” (v17).

In other words, Timothy would repeat and exemplify Paul’s own teaching and living. As a pastor, Timothy would watch his own life and doctrine, and he would “remind” the church members of what Paul taught and did as well (v17).

In Paul’s second letter to Timothy in the NT, when Timothy was one of the pastors of the church in Ephesus, Paul told him to do this very thing. Paul wrote, “Remind them of these things [i.e., what he had “heard from” Paul (2 Tim. 2:2)]… [and] Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth” (2 Tim. 2:14-15). And, “You… have followed my teaching, my conduct, my aim in life, my faith, my patience, my love, [and] my steadfastness… continue in what you have learned… [and] preach the word” (2 Tim. 3:10-11, 14, 4:2).

And the reason Timothy was qualified to fill this pastoral a role (both in Corinth and in Ephesus) is because he was not only a “beloved… child” of Paul (v17), like the rest of them (v14), but he was also a “faithful child in the Lord” (v17). Timothy was a trustworthy and reliable disciple; therefore, his life and teaching would “remind” the Corinthians of Paul’s own “ways in Christ” (v17).

Friends, this is what good pastors do, and this is God’s intent for every local church. Good pastors provide faithful examples (imperfect, for sure, but faithful on the whole). And church members listen to their teaching and watch their way of life, and they become “imitators” of those good men… in so far as those good men are “imitators” of Christ and of other good Christians before them.

I thank God for the good pastors we have, and I pray that we will all benefit from their godly example… as we imitate the good in their lives and words.

3. Fatherly Discipline (v18-21)

Paul intended to get to the bottom of it all in Corinth and to correct their errors. “Some,” he said (in v18), “are arrogant [or “puffed up” (KJV)], as though I were not coming to you.” This likely means that they were still boasting in their wealth or knowledge or social status… or even in their apparent spiritual gifting.

“But,” Paul says (in v19), “I will come to you soon, if the Lord wills.” It was Paul’s intention to “come” to them and to get there “soon,” but he knew that the Lord sometimes has different plans.

If it would be the Lord’s will that Paul should come again to Corinth, Paul was planning to “find out not the talk [or “words”] of these arrogant [or “puffed up”] people but their power” (v19). “For” or “Because” (v20), “the kingdom of God does not consist” [it is not “demonstrated” (NET) and it is “not in” (KJV)] talk [or “word” (KJV)] but in power” (v20).

This is the sort of language that a mother might say to her unruly kids. “You just wait ‘til your dad gets home. He doesn’t care about your pleading, and he won’t listen to your excuses. Your daddy just wants to know, ‘Did you obey?’”

It is interesting, though… when we read about this contrast between “talk” and “power” (or word and ability) we might be tempted to imagine some sort of miracle duel… Paul on one side and the arrogant Corinthians on the other, with a display of competing miracles in the middle.

But that’s the exact opposite of what Paul has been talking about, and it’s the opposite of what Paul keeps on talking about throughout this letter. The Corinthians were putting all their emphasis on what we might call today “virtue signaling.” They wanted to seem spiritual and look virtuous and sound smart, but they weren’t focused so much on actually thinking and living like Christians.

They were all about “lofty speech” (1 Cor. 2:1) and “the wisdom of men” (1 Cor. 2:5) and “pronouncing judgment” based on worldly measurements (1 Cor. 4:3-5). In their “arrogance,” they even celebrated sin as evidence of God’s grace (1 Cor. 5:1-2), and they “despised” and “humiliated” one another to such a degree that they turned “the Lord’s Supper” into a time of public hypocrisy instead of church unity (1 Cor. 11:17-22).

And Paul says, in v19, “I’m going to ‘come’ and ‘find out’ what’s really going on… I’m going to expose ‘these arrogant people,’ and we will see what they really believe and what they are really about… not by listening to them ‘talk’ some more… but by looking at the ‘power’ of God at work in their lives.”

Because, Paul says, “the kingdom of God” (v20) does not “consist,” it is not “demonstrated,” it is not “in” word only, but “in” power [i.e., the power of God] (v20). This is saying what we all know is true… that Christians who are “imitators” (v16)… Christians who are “faithful… in the Lord” (v17)… Christians who remember the “ways” of godly living and obey them as “taught” (v17)… these are the ones who are genuine citizens of “the kingdom of God” (v20).

Right here, the Apostle Paul and the NT letter from James line up perfectly! Sometimes people try to pit James and Paul against each other, as though they contradict each other on the doctrine of justification. But that’s just not true. James emphasized consistent living, and Paul usually emphasized correct believing.

But here, in our passage (and throughout most of this letter to the church in Corinth), Paul puts the emphasis on the same note as James. James says, “be doers of the word, and not hearers only” (James 1:22). “For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror… and goes away and at once forgets what he was like” (James 1:23-24).

James goes on, “What good is it my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works [or “deeds” of obedience and love]? Can that faith save him?” (James 2:14). The question is, “if someone only says he or she is a Christian, but he or she does not live in keeping with what the Bible says a Christian is and does, then is that statement alone sufficient to save?”

And James answers, “No!” “Faith by itself [i.e., only the statement or words “I believe”], if it does not have works, is dead… You see… a person is justified by works and not by faith alone” (James 2:17, 24). And in our passage this morning, the Apostle Paul says, “Amen!”

The “kingdom of God does not consist in talk [alone] but in power [i.e., the power of a transformed and faithful way of life]” (v20).

But what do you do when your words and your works don’t line up? When we’re confronted in or by our hypocrisy, how do we react?

Well, at least “some” of the church members in Corinth (v18) were reacting with more “talk” (v19) and persistent “pride” (v18-19). And Paul’s concluding warning in the first section of his letter was a sobering question in v21: “What do you wish? [or “How do you want to do this?”] Shall I come to you with a rod, or with love in a spirit of gentleness?”

Either way, fatherly discipline was necessary and on its way. The church in Corinth was in chaos, and they were in desperate need of recovering order – right teaching and right living. They needed order in the church, order in their homes and marriages, and order in the use of their Christian freedom and spiritual gifts. And Paul (as a loving father) was coming to bring the order they needed.

But they also needed to choose how they would receive his fatherly discipline. Would Paul come to them with a sharp tone and a biting rebuke? He would if they kept on being arrogant! He would if they denied their faults and doubled down on their claims to success.

But if they would humble themselves, if they would admit their errors, and if they would recommit themselves to being “imitators” of those who are “faithful… in the Lord” (v16-17), then Paul would come “in a spirit of gentleness” (v21). He would still bring to bear on them his fatherly admonition, but if they were willing to hear it and obey it, he would bring it gently and not severely.

Conclusion

Friends, today we’ve been considering a very practical passage. We’ve been reminded of the sort of relationship that exists between church leaders and church members. And we’ve read a passage that gives us all quite a bit to strive for.

For church leaders or pastors, we must strive to lead with fatherly love and care. We want to grow in love for our fellow church members, and we want to love them… enough to strive for their good. Both in our teaching and in our living, we want to give them good examples to follow, and we want to lovingly call them to do just that – to follow the good examples in front of them.

For church members, we must strive to receive fatherly admonitions with humility. We also want to grow in love for our pastors and in love for our fellow church members, and we want to love those who lead us… enough to trust and to follow their leadership. We must strive to remember that Christ has given us pastors for our edification (or our upbuilding), and we must strive to receive both their instruction and their correction with humility.

For those of us who are not members of a local church, and for those who may not be consciously trusting and following Christ, you are confronted with the reality that the Scripture today describes a relationship and a benefit that you do not presently enjoy. Who is taking responsibility for the care of your soul? Who has this kind of fatherly love for you? And who is willing and able to speak into your life with this kind of spiritual authority?

If you’re a Christian, then get connected with a local church, where other Christians and reliable pastors will come along side you in love… where they all will teach, admonish, and encourage you… and give you good examples to follow.

If you’re not presently trusting in and obeying Christ, then count the cost. There is a cost to living outside of the family of God in this present world – the loss of the sort of fatherly care and Christian fellowship we’ve been talking about this morning. And there is a cost to living outside of the family of God in the world to come – the final and irreversible loss of all that God has promised as an inheritance to those who look to Christ with repentance and faith.

Friends, we want to be at the Christian family table, where spiritual fathers lead, where spiritual mothers nurture, and where spiritual siblings all enjoy the benefits that our heavenly Father has provided for life in this world… for our growth and for our good… so that we might persevere all the way to the end.

Endnotes

[i]See a good summary and response to the Archbishop’s statements here: https://calvinrobinson.substack.com/p/the-church-of-england-finds-our-father

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