1 Corinthians 4:6-13 - Fools for Christ's Sake
Notes
Transcript
Introduction:
If you have your Bibles let me invite you to open with me to the book of 1 Corinthians chapter 4.
We will begin reading in verse 6.
The Corinthian church were a people caught between two worlds.
A people caught between two cultures.
They were immersed in Corinthian culture with all of its pride, and prestige, and prosperity, and divisiveness.
But they had professed faith in Christ, which taught another way to live, a new way, a narrower way, a more beautiful way.… a way that would have seemed very strange to their friends, and family, and community.
The primary problem in the Corinthian church was that the church itself…, the people…, embraced Corinthian values and they tried to merge Corinthian values with their Christianity.
Rather than be transformed by the renewing of their mind…,
They were being conformed to the mentality of their culture.
It effected the way they saw themselves, their church leaders, and each other.
For the last several chapters Paul has been attempting to recenter them on the word of the cross, the work of the Spirit, the nature of the church, and the centrality of God’s grace…
Here at the end of chapter 4, Paul transitions To a contrast
a contrast between their Corinthian version of Christianity and the kind of Christian life that Paul and the other apostles had embraced.
And as Paul points out their cultural Christianity… We should read with open eyes to the ways in which we too might need our cultural Christianity exposed.
So lets pick up in verse 6,
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.
Lets Pray
1 Corinthians 4:6 (ESV)
6 I have applied all these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, brothers,
Paul is the apostle who planted the church in Corinth.
He had a unique calling from the resurrected Jesus himself.
He was brilliant.
He was gifted.
And the Lord was using him mightily.
Yet he has not taught the Corinthians anything, that he himself was not subservient to.
Paul has quoted At least 5 Old Testament texts thus far.
He has been pointing the Corinthians to the cross of Christ, the work of the Spirit, the power of the gospel message.
Verse 6 reminds us that these authoritative texts of the Old Testament, and the message of the gospel, and the power of the Spirit of God, were not tools in the hands of Paul to accomplish what he willed…
Paul and Apollos first applied these things to themselves, their own hearts, their own lives, for the sake of the Corinthian church.
I have often said in working through sermons with aspiring preachers… you are not ready to preach the word of God to others before who have successfully preached that word of God to your own heart.
We do not wield God’s word as something that we control… we present it as we ourselves sit under its weight and authority
This is different then the powerful and proficient orators that the Corinthians were celebrating…
The Corinthians wisdom speakers painted themselves out to be the authority…
Paul and Apollos understood themselves to be servants and stewards of God’s word… the true authority.
And as they submitted themselves under an authority not their own… their desire was for the Corinthians to do the same.
1 Corinthians 4:6 (ESV)
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,
Paul argues… we are applying these things, we are writing these things, for your benefit.
And it would be to your benefit that you not go beyond what God has said in his word.
This is one of the problematic aspects of their Corinthian Cultural Christianity.
Now when I say Cultural Christianity in this sermon…
What I mean is a the phenomenon of someone claiming to believe in Christ while the more influential force in their life is actually the culture they live in.
Truth #1 Cultural Christianity Goes Beyond God’s Word
Truth #1 Cultural Christianity Goes Beyond God’s Word
The Corinthians valued entertaining words, self esteem boosting words, culturally agreeable and advantageous words.
But in their appreciation for the words of human wisdom…, they did not appreciate true words…. Spiritual words… powerful words From God himself.
We have seen this as Paul’s reoccurring concern.
17 For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.
4 and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, 5 so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.
13 And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual.
The Corinthians had embraced a kind of cultural Christianity which appreciated the words of the culture more than they appreciated the words of Christ himself.… and here is the problem… Christ often confronts, and differs with the messages of our culture.
And Paul urges us the reader, not to go beyond what is written… the inspired word of God.
What does that look like in our lives?
It looks like this…
It looks like this sentence:
I know the Bible says __________, but…. Enter man’s wisdom.
What follows after the but in that sentence is likely man’s wisdom who thinks that it is best to go beyond what is written.…
I know the Bible tells me to be generous…, but ___________
I know the Bible tells me to be slow to anger…, but________
I know the Bible tells me to forgive…, but_____________
I know the Bible tells me to seek sexual purity…, but________
I know the Bible tells me to love my spouse in a sacrificial way…, but___________
When someone’s Christianity becomes cultural Christianity…
They live, and act, and think beyond what is written….
Rather than in response to what is written….
They live always in the land beyond the but in those sentences….
The land of self-justifying disobedience beyond what God has written, trusting in human wisdom.
Cultural Christianity is familiar with God’s word…,
but their actions and their thinking are governed by man’s wisdom in the situation.
And besides unbelief…, the root of all this is Pride.
It is a low view of God and a high view of self.
Truth #2 Cultural Christianity is Rooted in Pride, Entitlement, and Ingratitude
Truth #2 Cultural Christianity is Rooted in Pride, Entitlement, and Ingratitude
We see evidence of this pride in Paul’s word choice in verse 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.
Pride is not something you necessarily see just by looking at someone.
Pride is often made visible by its more recognizable symptoms.
One of those symptoms being divisiveness.
The Corinthians were being divisive by joining together in these little factions or groups which puffed themselves up over others within the church.
They apparently were taking joy in reveling in how right they must be,
how much smarter they must be,
how much better their leader was, then other groups who obviously were not as wise…,
not as sophisticated…, not as righteous…, not as gifted.
We will see this sort of factionalism throughout the book.
It becomes evident in how they settle disputes in chapter 6,
how they argue about tertiary issues in chapters 8 and 9
It becomes obvious even in how they arrange themselves when they take the Lord’s supper In chapter 11.
Its how they flaunt their spiritual giftings in chapter 12 - 14
All of these issues that Paul will address comes down to this more singular problem of pride.
Corinthian culture celebrated the individual who could puff themselves up above others.
And this is exactly what was being normalized in the Corinthian church.
It was a pride that expressed itself in divisiveness, entitlement, and Ingratitude.
Look at how Paul addresses it in verses 7 and 8.
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!
Verses 7-8 are an example of what you might call some holy sarcasm.
The Corinthians like rhetoric.
so Paul gives them some rhetoric.
First he asks questions which lead them to the undeniable answers.
Who sees anything different in you? … answer …. no one
What do you have that you did not receive?… answer…. nothing
If you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it?… answer…. your a sinner.
These questions are powerful…..
Is there anything different or special about you… that led to your receiving the grace of God?
Think about life itself.. did you earn the fact that you are alive? Or is life itself a gift to you?
Did you earn your ability to think, breathe, walk, talk? Or are those gifts?
Nothing you in enjoy in your life was a creation by you… God created everything
and anything good you enjoy… is gift.... its grace… you received it.
Therefore…, there is no grounds for boasting in anything in this life.
There is no room for taking credit…
There is no room for puffing up self over and against anyone else.
The Corinthian culture had so infiltrated their thinking that the Christian community had become full of entitled people who lived and acted as if they were rulers in this world.
Paul says,
you guys think you have it all
you guys think your rich in all things
you guys think your kings
and then Paul says, I wish all that was true.
I wish you had it all, knew it all, and you were ruling like kings…, cause that would mean we were in the new heavens and the new earth.
That would mean Jesus has already come back and we are made new and free from sin..
That would mean I would be ruling with you guys on into a perfect eternity…
but thats not where we are yet.… thats coming for sure…, but that’s not where we are yet.
We don’t have it all
we are not rich in all things
we don’t know it all
we are not kings
we are sinners doing life together.
we need grace
we need humility
we need unity
We need to think differently about our lives than the culture around us.
Verse 9 shifts from the Corinthian culture version of Christianity…, to Paul’s counter-cultural example of Christian life and ministry…
Truth #3 Christ-Like Christianity is Counter-Cultural
Truth #3 Christ-Like Christianity is Counter-Cultural
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.
“We have become a spectacle to the world”
A spectacle in ancient Corinth would have been a unique event for the whole city to gather and observe such as a gladiator game, or a Roman triumph parade Where generals would march into the city.
But Paul’s part in that spectacle was not the part that the Corinthians would want to identify with.
Commentator Gordon Fee writes this.…,
“The Roman triumph, in which a conquering general staged a splendid parade included not only his armies but the spoil as well. At the very end of the procession were those captives who had been condemned to die in the arena. In that way they became a spectacle for all to see.” - Gordon Fee
The Corinthians were identifying most closely with what the culture celebrated.
They identified with the powerful general,
Or with the social elites who were entertained by it all from the royal booth,
Paul identified most closely with what the world disdained.
The lowly servants, the captives, the ones condemned to die.
God exhibited the life and ministry of Paul like that of a spectacle to the Corinthians.
It was something strange to the Corinthians.
Something even foolish to the Corinthians.
Christian, our lives should somewhat strange to the non-believing world.
Jesus our Lord should effect our lifestyle, our decisions, our attitudes, our demeanor, our perseverance through trial in such a way that the watching world considers our lives to be a strange spectacle.
Consider your life.
At what point have you made decisions for the glory of Christ that have caused the watching world to consider you strange?
If your behavior and lifestyle is totally explainable by your non-Christian friends and family… you may be living a kind of cultural Christianity…, not a Biblical Christianity.
Paul explains this phenomenon candidly in the beginning of verse 10.
1 Corinthians 4:10 (ESV)
We are fools for Christ’s sake,
In other words, we forsake the World’s priorities for our lives, because we want to live for Jesus Christ and his priorities in our lives.
Everything that follows is an articulation of the hardships that Paul brought on to himself because of his pursuit of Jesus.
But verse 10 tells us Paul’s foolishness in the world’s eyes is firstly rooted in a desire to live for Christ’s sake.
There are three things we see Paul forsaking in his love for Jesus.
Firstly, Paul valued Christ more than His Reputation
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.
To be foolish, weak, and without honor was to be the very bottom of the social order…
This was to be a failure in the eyes of Corinthian people.
They saw their purpose in life as one to climb the social ladder… to secure for oneself the perception of wisdom, strength, and honor.
Paul says I forsake all of that for Christ’s sake.
Jesus is better to me and following Jesus is better to me then whatever sense of satisfaction I might get in making other people impressed by me.
Our culture, likewise, is one that says public image is everything.
Our culture says that one of your most pressing goals in life is to secure for yourself popularity and social approval…
Paul says no… if it means forsaking your reputation with others entirely…, be foolish in the world’s eyes for Christ’s sake.
Allow God to exhibit your life as last of all, a spectacle to those around you.
let your obedience to God make you weird in the eyes of the world.
Secondly, Paul valued Christ more than His Comfort
1 Corinthians 4:11–12 (ESV)
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.
It was no easy task getting the gospel of Jesus Christ to the known world in the first century.
The mission was not one of luxury.
It was not one of comfort and ease.
If Paul was to get the good news of Jesus to the places where Christ was not yet named… he was going to have to endure untold hardships and discomforts.
We often think of Paul the apostle as this majestic theologian hiding in a study, writing powerful letters, and debating the wisdom speakers in public square.
But this brother was traveling in an age where there were no cars, or buses, or planes.
He was walking.
He was killing and cooking his own food.
He was making his own clothes.
And he was making a living making tents with whatever materials he barter and trade for.
He was working long hours with calloused hands.
Such manual labor would have been looked down upon by the Corinthian elites…, but Paul is making a point.
He is not consumed with Corinthian culture, he is consumed with a Biblical counter-culture.
And if working with his hands every day enables him to both provide for his needs and proclaim the gospel… then thats exactly what Paul will do.
Paul could have lived a very cush life in Jerusalem as a Pharisee
But Christ called him to more than that. He called him beyond that.
He called him to a mission that mission would require hard work, long days of seemingly mundane tent building, and no sense of security or certainty as he traveled from city to city.
Paul gladly embraced things that the rest of the world were trying to avoid in his service of Jesus.
He embraced hunger, and thirst, and manual labor for the glory of the Lord. He was a counter-cultural fool for Christ’s sake.
Lastly, Paul valued Christ more than even His Desire for Vindication or fairness.
1 Corinthians 4:12–13 (ESV)
and we labor, working with our own hands When reviled, we bless; when persecuted, we endure; when slandered, we entreat. We have become, and are still, like the scum of the world, the refuse of all things.
Along the way, it wasn’t just physical and financial struggle that Paul endured.
It was relational.
It was social.
He was reviled, persecuted, slandered and in his words treated like the scum of the world.
Its one thing to be counter-cultural in how you spend your money, and how you endure hardship, and how you work hard for the glory of the Lord… .
Its another thing to be counter-cultural when you get smacked in the face and spit upon.
Everything in you, and everything around you says that if you are reviled, then you should revile back.
If you are slandered then you are to slander back.
But Paul is determined not just to proclaim Christ crucified to the world.
He is determined to embody the example of Jesus Christ crucified to the world.
When he is reviled, he aims to suppress his rage, his self-righteousness, his desire for payback or justice… and he aims to do what Jesus has done for us… he aims to bless his revilers.
To entreat his slanderers… that is to kindly plead with them to come to Christ.
If you want to be Christ like.…
If you want to be a spectacle to the world…
If you want to be counter-cultural.
How do you handle being wronged?
How do you respond when you are sinned against?
How do you act when you feel that you are the righteous one and they who have wronged you are the unrighteousness ones?
The world says that vengeance is yours…, The Bible says its God’s.
The cross of Jesus Christ was the source of Paul’s ability to bless, and endure, and entreat through personal, relational, social attack .
This is the story of the cross of Christ.
Jesus had done nothing wrong.
He humbled himself before unrighteous people who beat him, mocked him, and crucified him.… so that he could display his love for them By taking the curse and consequences of sin on himself.
33 And when they came to the place that is called The Skull, there they crucified him, and the criminals, one on his right and one on his left. 34 And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” And they cast lots to divide his garments. 35 And the people stood by, watching, but the rulers scoffed at him, saying, “He saved others; let him save himself, if he is the Christ of God, his Chosen One!” 36 The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him sour wine 37 and saying, “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!” 38 There was also an inscription over him, “This is the King of the Jews.”
The corinthians are acting like kings.
Christ was king and he willingly endured the cross for the sake of those who crucified him.
21 For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps. 22 He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. 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. 24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.
We were saved by the cross of Christ.
And Biblical Christianity means not only being saved by our faith in the cross of Christ… it means living the cross-centered life, the crucified life, the Christ-like life…, even if we are labeled fools for Christ’s sake.
We value Christ more than our reputation.
More than our comforts.
More than our desire for vindication or fairness.
We value Christ more then all these things, because we legitimately believe that following Jesus is better then what the world offers.
Paul concludes this line of argument before his next transition with these words…
14 I do not write these things to make you ashamed, but to admonish you as my beloved children.
Paul knows that the natural inclination of his readers will be ashamed over what he has written.
They will be ashamed of Paul’s example.
Embarrassed by his weakness and suffering.
Paul clarifies. I am writing this not so that you would be ashamed of me…, but that you would join me in this life as my beloved children.
He is admonishing them to pick up their crosses, to become spectacles, to partake in the mission of God to make disciples of all nations and to glorify Jesus as the way to true life, abundant life, eternal life.
I love that Paul calls them his “beloved children” here.
The life that he is inviting them into is not bad for them.
Like a spiritual father he is calling them to something more, something better, something more eternal then the cultural Christianity they have been walking in.
Don’t let all the hardships of the call to follow Christ drive you away from Christ.
The cost is not worthy of comparison to the reward.
8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ
44 “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.
Truth #1 Cultural Christianity Goes Beyond God’s Word
Truth #2 Cultural Christianity is Rooted in Pride, Entitlement, and Ingratitude.
Truth #3 Christ-like Christianity is Counter Cultural
Truth #4 Christ-like Christianity is Eternally Worth It
Truth #4 Christ-like Christianity is Eternally Worth It
18 For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
9 But, as it is written,
“What no eye has seen, nor ear heard,
nor the heart of man imagined,
what God has prepared for those who love him”—
Lets pray
Lord we pray that you would help us to live Christian lives that are more like Christ, and less like the culture we live in for our good and for his glory.