Untitled Sermon (7)
Paul’s Paternal Care (4:14–21)
In the closing passage of this section, Paul adopts a softer tone, appealing to the Corinthians as his spiritual children (4:14). A person can only have one biological father and only one spiritual father (4:15). Paul’s response is a humble effort to help the Corinthians see what the Christian life really is like (4:8–13), but he is not afraid to challenge those who would deny his apostolic authority. If the Corinthians do not become imitators of Paul, as he instructs, he is prepared to deal with them more harshly when he visits (4:16–21).
Paul Writes in Love (4:14–17)
Here there is a dramatic contrast. Paul does not want to shame the Corinthians so that they feel condemned. His letter is intended to warn them, to motivate them to turn to the proper direction. Paul speaks as a loving father and wants them to repent.
4:14 He does not write this way to shame them but to point out their arrogance and help them turn away from it.
4:15 They might have many teachers, but only he is their spiritual father.
4:16 Since he is their spiritual father, he tells them to imitate his life, his actions, and his words.
4:17 Paul has sent Timothy to teach them and to remind them of his teaching, which does not vary from church to church.
Paul Plans to Return (4:18–21)
Some in the Corinthian church are arrogant and have chosen to disregard Paul. Paul tells them to repent; otherwise, when he comes, he will come with a rod (a rebuke).
4:18 Some of the Corinthians are arrogant and do not believe Paul is coming to Corinth again.
4:19 Paul plans to return to Corinth, though God is sovereign over those plans. Paul implies that he is not merely coming with words but will back up his teaching with power. What this means exactly is not spelled out.
4:20 Paul says that the kingdom of God consists of power, not talk. Though it is difficult to know exactly what Paul means by “power,” he uses the term elsewhere with three different senses. (1) He often uses the term to describe the message of Christianity or the gospel (Rom 1:16; 1 Cor 1:24). (2) He uses the word to describe his discipleship ministry of demolishing false thinking and philosophies (2 Cor 10:4–5). In this sense, 1 Corinthians is full of power. (3) He describes the apostolic ministry of miracles with the word “power” (Rom 15:19; see also 2 Cor 12:12). It is most likely that Paul has the second option in mind here.
4:21 Paul asks them whether they want him on his return to come and rebuke them or to pour love on them. Paul does not intend to imply that chastising is incompatible with love (compare Heb 12:5–6). He is simply saying that they have a choice: a confrontation or a gentle reunion.
4:14. Except in the most extreme circumstances, philosophers preferred to admonish rather than to rebuke and thereby humiliate. Moralists generally emphasized that they admonished people only because they cared for them, sometimes describing their concern in parental terms. For Paul as a parent, cf. already 3:1–2; fathers were responsible for their sons’ education.
4:15. “Guardian” (NIV, NRSV; better than “tutor”—NASB—or “instructor”—KJV) refers to a slave who would accompany a child on his way to school; although respected by the child and responsible to teach him manners, this guardian was not a teacher per se. Students could affectionately call and treat special teachers as “fathers”; but slave aides were nothing like fathers.
4:16. Philosophers, *rabbis and teachers in general were considered models to imitate as well as to listen to. Most directly here, “imitate” fits the image of children and fathers (4:15).
4:17. A *disciple of a teacher could be affectionately called his “child” (4:15); Timothy as an imitator of Paul can become a model for Paul’s “children” in Corinth. Paul’s “ways” (NASB) or “way of life” (NIV) may allude to the Jewish use of “ways” to mean divine laws or proper behavior.
4:18–21. Paul continues in the role of “father” (4:14–17) in this passage. Fathers were sometimes portrayed as gentler than mothers, but they also used the rod for discipline, and in Roman political rhetoric, the proper patriarchal figure was stern and uncompromising. Others in antiquity also qualified some statements with “if God wills” (4:19; see comment on 16:7).
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