Problem of Puffiness
Notes
Transcript
Handout
The Proud Hate Pride ---
in Others — Benjamin Franklin
The Corinthian believers were puffed up with pride which manifested itself in conceit. They were glorying in their preachers Paul, Apollos, Peter - rather than Christ. They were exalting their own human wisdom which fed their pride. They had become conceited because they actually believed they had arrived spiritually under the tutelage of their particular preacher-hero when in actuality they were babes in Christ who needed much spiritual growth. The irony was the Corinthians hated the pride they thought they saw in the Apostle Paul but could not see the glaring pride and conceit in their own lives. In 4:6-21, Paul will give a warning to these Corinthians concerning pride, self-sufficiency and complacency which was evident in their church.
6 And these things, brethren, I have in a figure transferred to myself and to Apollos for your sakes; that ye might learn in us not to think of men above that which is written, that no one of you be puffed up for one against another.
7 For who maketh thee to differ from another? and what hast thou that thou didst not receive? now if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not received it?
The Coaching about Puffiness
The Coaching about Puffiness
Note the words puffed up (phusiousthe). The phrase means to be inflated. It is a picture of puffed up air bags. The point is, the judging of ministers and the feelings that one can judge ministers is nothing but hot air in puffed up balloons. It is meaningless. It means absolutely nothing to God.
Correction Begins with Humility
Correction Begins with Humility
Paul had just declared two pictures to show who he and Apollos were (see Cor. 4:1–2).
→ They were mere servants of Christ. They were only the under-rowers, the slaves in the belly of the ship who serve the Lord and Master of the ship.
→ They were mere stewards, the slaves given the enormous responsibility to oversee the property of the Lord and Master of the estate. And because they were stewards and had been given this enormous responsibility, they were expected to be faithful and were held accountable for their faithfulness.
Paul was not writing to teach himself and Apollos who they were and what their calling was. He and Apollos knew who they were, and they knew their calling. He was writing to teach the Corinthians (and all other churches) who their ministers were and how they were to be treated.
Two lessons in particular needed to be learned.
Believers must stop comparing and judging their ministers and elevating them above what Scripture says. Some in the Corinthian church were judging some ministers to be better and more capable servants of God than others. They were judging and elevating men over other men. They felt themselves so spiritual that they could rank the servants of God and judge the most effective speakers and teachers.
Believers must stop being puffed up against one another. The very reason a believer judges one minister superior to another is because the believer receives more from the preaching and life of a particular minister—more than he receives from any others. This is understandable, for every minister means a great deal to those who are reached for Christ through him and who receive special attention from him during crises. However, a serious sin occurs when the believer begins to think that no other minister can preach and minister like the favored minister. The person or persons who begin to elevate one minister above another are “puffed up.”
Correction Builds with Honesty
Correction Builds with Honesty
7 For who maketh thee to differ from another? and what hast thou that thou didst not receive? now if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not received it?
Notice the 3 questions asked by Paul. Lets answer them honestly.
Who makes you to differ from another?
Pride led these Corinthians to great puffiness. They thought their little group was superior because they themselves were superior and were following a superior leader. Paul repressed their puffiness by asking, “For who makes you different from anyone else? It is God who makes them different. Being different does not mean that one is superior to another.
What do you have that you did not receive?
Paul further repressed their puffiness by showing everything a Christian or a minister has is by the grace of God; therefore, they have no grounds to think of themselves as superior to anyone. Furthermore, if they had any apparent superiority, it was not due to themselves but to God who gave them gifts and abilities. Absolutely everything we are and have is due to God’s grace: There is no room for puffiness in any Christian.
Now, if you received it all—all the blessings of life and of Christ and of the church—why are you boasting of being super-spiritual?
Paul continued to repress their puffiness by reminding them there is no room for boasting in a Christian because everything comes from the hand of a loving, sovereign God.
Paul's point is clear. It is prideful conceit which causes conflicts and before we can solve conflicts with other Christians or heal divisions within a local church, we must first deal with our pride and conceit.
Think about this for a moment.
The first conflict in the universe was between God and Lucifer and the root was Lucifer’s pride and conceit.
The conflict between Cain and Abel, which was the first conflict in the world, was caused by pride and conceit.
The conflict between David and King Saul started when Saul heard the women in the city say, “Saul has killed his thousands but David his tens of thousands,” and the root was pride and conceit. These things lead to a superiority attitude and also to great jealousy when someone outshines us. The result is always conflict and division.
The Caricature from Paul
The Caricature from Paul
8 Now ye are full, now ye are rich, ye have reigned as kings without us: and I would to God ye did reign, that we also might reign with you.
9 For I think that God hath set forth us the apostles last, as it were appointed to death: for we are made a spectacle unto the world, and to angels, and to men.
10 We are fools for Christ’s sake, but ye are wise in Christ; we are weak, but ye are strong; ye are honourable, but we are despised.
11 Even unto this present hour we both hunger, and thirst, and are naked, and are buffeted, and have no certain dwellingplace;
12 And labour, working with our own hands: being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we suffer it:
13 Being defamed, we intreat: we are made as the filth of the world, and are the offscouring of all things unto this day.
The whole section of 4:8-13 is filled with irony and sarcasm. Paul never watered down his words. He drew a contrast between the wretched state of the Apostles and that of the Corinthians in their ease.
Pride and Puffiness does not lead to a spiritual church but to a self-sufficient, complacent church as seen in the Corinthians. In verse eight, Paul mocked their conceit.
Conceit of Members
Conceit of Members
8 Now ye are full, now ye are rich, ye have reigned as kings without us: and I would to God ye did reign, that we also might reign with you.
Believers were acting as though their lives were full, that is, fully filled and satiated. The idea is perfected and complete. They were acting as though they were perfect and mature, and had the right to pass judgment upon God’s people. They felt they lacked nothing—no gift, no insight, no knowledge, no spiritual understanding. They were acting as though they were reigning as kings in God’s church. They were acting as though God had already given them their spiritual reward and exalted them to rule over the believers of the church.
Paul says this: he wishes they were reigning as kings, for then the ministers of God would be reigning with them. It would mean that God had already created the new heavens and earth and rewarded the believers, exalting them to their promised reward.
The Corinthians thought they were already filled; that is, they had arrived in the kingdom and were satiated and satisfied. Outwardly they lacked nothing; they felt no want. They were very secure and self-sufficient and self-satisfied because in their conceit they thought they had it made. They perceived themselves as mature and godly when in actuality they were immature baby Christians and ungodly. Their own pride blinded them to their true spiritual condition. They were much like the Church of Laodicea in the Book of Revelation:
17 Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:
“You say, "I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing. But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked” (Rev. 3:17).
Apparently the Laodiceans had a tremendous church budget, plenty of money, could do pretty much what they wanted and had no apparent financial needs, not even the need for God because they had no need to trust Him. Affluence can destroy an individual Christian or a church if either stops trusting God.
Super-spirituality, a person thinking that he is spiritually superior and full, needing little if anything, is an extremely dangerous state.
These Corinthians were so filled with puffiness they acted like they were kings already reigning with Christ in the future kingdom. They really thought themselves and the church to be something special. They thought they had arrived spiritually. They had it made. They thought they had learned all truth and there was nothing Paul or anyone else could teach them that they didn’t know already. They had no need for other ministers or believers to teach them because they were so far advanced in their knowledge and spirituality. Their conceit led them to a fierce independent spirit so as to make them free-lance Christians. Their pride, conceit, arrogance and vanity over being superior Christians was nauseating to God and it ruined their testimony before men. Paul said that he wished they were kings reigning in the future kingdom. If they were, then he and the other apostles would not have to endure all the sufferings for Christ they were then undergoing, for they would all be reigning together as perfected Christians.
Complications of Ministers
Complications of Ministers
Paul began to subtly embarrass the Corinthians about their conceit by giving an account of the Apostles’ experiences which were filled with humble acts. By showing these humble acts, Paul implied the Corinthians had fallen into a state of complacency, indifference and apathy because of their puffiness.
9 For I think that God hath set forth us the apostles last, as it were appointed to death: for we are made a spectacle unto the world, and to angels, and to men.
10 We are fools for Christ’s sake, but ye are wise in Christ; we are weak, but ye are strong; ye are honourable, but we are despised.
11 Even unto this present hour we both hunger, and thirst, and are naked, and are buffeted, and have no certain dwellingplace;
12 And labour, working with our own hands: being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we suffer it:
13 Being defamed, we intreat: we are made as the filth of the world, and are the offscouring of all things unto this day.
The Apostles were men condemned to death, a spectacle, on exhibition. The imagery behind this would have been a common sight to anyone living in the Roman Empire. It is the picture of a conquering Roman Caesar or general. As he returns from a victorious battle, he arrives at the palace in triumphant procession. Citizens line the roadway and archway leading to the palace. There are garlands, the tossing of flowers and money, and shouts of praise and acclamation as the returning general comes home. Behind the general in this parade are the proud soldiers who participated in the battle and last in the procession are the prisoners who were made captive in the conflict and who were condemned to certain death before Caesar and the public. As these prisoners moved along, bound in chains and dressed in rags, the people jeered, mocked and harassed them by spitting on them, punching them and throwing garbage or whatever on them. It was a humiliating experience because some of the prisoners may have been generals, officers or dignitaries in the defeated army. These captives would be put to death in a Roman arena either as a gladiator or thrown to the lions.
We have been made a spectacle to the whole universe, to angels as well as to men. Paul looked at himself and all the Apostles as men condemned to die with all comforts and rights denied them.
The word "spectacle" is from the word from which we get our English word “theater.” The Apostles were on exhibition as if on a vast stage before the unsaved world and viewed as stupid men, suffering for a fairy-tale cause.
Because the Apostles were condemned men, they had a different view of life.
A condemned man doesn’t really care who wins the Super Bowl or whether the President is a Republican or Democrat. Nor does he care about material things.
A man sentenced to death is interested in relationships, making sure everything is right with his fellow man. He is concerned about eternity and how he will face death. He wants to make every moment count with his loved ones. Paul and all the Apostles lived in the reality of life, not dealing with trivial things, but putting their time on spiritual things which count for eternity.
The Apostles were the least, the last and the most afflicted of men. The Corinthians were displaying an attitude of being the first, the most and living out their Christian lives with ease.
We are fools for Christ, but you are so wise in Christ! To serve Christ, the Apostles had to be willing to be called fools by the world. Their devotion for Christ caused the world to think of them as odd and strange. The Corinthians thought they were wise, but they were actually ignorant and spiritually pitiful.
No Christian who lives for Christ will ever get along with the world. He will always be unpopular with some crowds. A true Christian will have people laugh, ridicule, sneer and mock at times. No Christian likes to suffer for Christ, but it constitutes the great test of life: whether we are willing to bear reproach for Christ and His kingdom.
It is possible for any Christian or church to do exactly what the Corinthians did -- compromise, accommodate, sell out so the world will respect the Christian and not laugh at him any more. When a Christian is highly respected and honored by the world, then he has lost his testimony to the world. Often the most brilliant Christian will be looked upon as the village idiot by his unsaved colleagues.
We are weak, but you are strong! The Apostles were weak and in constant need of fellowship with Christ and the body of Christ, but the Corinthians thought themselves strong, needing nothing and no one. They were “Lone Ranger” Christians.
You are honored, we are dishonored! The Corinthians were objects of honor and praise in the eyes of the world; the Apostles were held in utter contempt. Christians compromise the faith not because of intellectual problems but because they want respectability in the eyes of the world. Behind most compromise is the unwillingness to be laughed at by the world. Christians cannot get it through their thick skulls that to be a follower of Christ means persecution from the world. Sharing in Christ’s suffering becomes a major way Christians share in Christ’s glory.
12 Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.
19 If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.
17 And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.
To this very hour we go hungry and thirsty, we are in rags, we are brutally treated, we are homeless. The Apostles underwent all kinds of hardships, even being physically beaten and homeless, while the Corinthians sat back in pure comfort and luxury and did nothing to further the cause of Christ. That the Apostles would subject themselves to these hardships to preach Christ was indeed foolishness in the eyes of the world. Today a Christian will be thought of as stupid if he yields everything to Christ. Those who will think him most stupid are professing Christians with no inward reality of Christ.
We work hard with our own hands. Paul did hard labor with his hands to help support himself in the ministry. Now that was the depth of humility to the Greek because a Greek would not condescend to do manual labor. For that was the work of a slave. In their conceit and pride, the Corinthians would never dirty their hands in work, but the humble spirit of the Apostles shamed the Corinthians.
When we are reviled (cursed)
, we bless; Terrible things were said about and to the faces of the Apostles, yet they spoke well of their opponents, even giving a prayer for them. They followed the example of Christ.
23 Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously:
In their pride and conceit, the Corinthians fought back and said awful things when attacked verbally by their opponents because they had to defend their Greek honor and protect their egos.
When we are persecuted, we endure it; When the Apostles were persecuted and beaten, they endured and persevered in silence, trusting God to deal with their persecutors.
When we are slandered, we encourage (answer kindly). The Apostles tried to console and pray for those who said evil things about them. They did not try to defend or justify their actions, but committed the slanderers to God. When we bless, endure and answer kindly to our opponents, we are acting in the way Christ acted. We cannot control how people act towards us but we can control how we react to people when they treat us badly.
Up to this moment we are made the filth of the earth, the refuse of all things. The Apostles were considered the filth of society, the vilest of all men.
Why would they put up with this treatment? Because they found Christ, and while the world may have looked at them as dung, they had found the answer to life.
8 Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ,
Note the contrast Paul is drawing between the attitude of the Corinthians and that of himself and the other ministers of God. The Corinthian believers were living in full satisfaction and comfort while the ministers of God were suffering as the spectacles of the world.
When a Christian is treated like rubbish, like garbage or like dung, he should not try to get even, but should commit the situation to God. There is a familiar saying today: "I don’t get mad; I just get even.” This is the wrong attitude. Committing the situation to God seems to be the true Christian life style and response to bad treatment.
The Caution of Puffiness
The Caution of Puffiness
Paul’s sternness turned to tenderness. He didn’t want the Corinthians to feel only shame; he wanted to warn them of pride and a self-sufficient attitude.
14 I write not these things to shame you, but as my beloved sons I warn you.
15 For though ye have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet have ye not many fathers: for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel.
16 Wherefore I beseech you, be ye followers of me.
17 For this cause have I sent unto you Timotheus, who is my beloved son, and faithful in the Lord, who shall bring you into remembrance of my ways which be in Christ, as I teach every where in every church.
18 Now some are puffed up, as though I would not come to you.
19 But I will come to you shortly, if the Lord will, and will know, not the speech of them which are puffed up, but the power.
20 For the kingdom of God is not in word, but in power.
21 What will ye? shall I come unto you with a rod, or in love, and in the spirit of meekness?
Counsel for Heirs
Counsel for Heirs
At the point of sharpest censure, Paul called them “beloved sons.” The word for “warn” in the Greek is neutheo which gives the idea of confronting Christians with wrongdoing in order to lead them into the correct way of life. Paul had been correcting the Corinthians for their wrong thinking, wrong attitudes, wrong actions—things which were contrary to the Word of God and he did that to rectify their rebellious ways.
The first cure for Puffiness is to heed admonition.
Even though you have ten thousand instructors in Christ, you do not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel. Although the Corinthians had many tutors (Apollos, Peter), they had only one spiritual father, and that was Paul.
The word “instructor” is the Greek word pedagogue meaning a slave who was given the responsibility for training the child and giving schooling. He did not belong to the family and was subordinate to the child’s father. Though he might love the child dearly, there were no natural ties. His father had begotten the child and child’s welfare was ultimately in his hands. Because Paul was their spiritual father, they were to listen to him. They were to heed his warning.
The second cure for Puffiness is to listen to others about our Puffiness and then seek to do something about it.
Coercion of Members
Coercion of Members
Therefore I urge you to imitate me.
The third cure for conceit is to be humble. Paul is not saying they should be followers of him rather than of Apollos or Peter, for that would contradict everything he has said in the first four chapters of First Corinthians. He wants these people to have the same humble attitude the Apostles displayed when they were slandered, persecuted, poorly treated, called fools and thought of as condemned men. Paul and all the Apostles held themselves in low esteem. They, especially Paul, set a very good example and could say, “Be imitators of me."
The Corinthians were babies in Christ and were to stop imitating other babies. They were to follow the actions of those more mature in Christ.
Was Paul conceited when he said, "Imitate me”? He is merely stating men will follow what a person does and not so much what he says. We can talk our heads off but if our lives do not back up what we say others will not follow. A man who does not live what he says is really saying it doesn’t matter what he believes and life isn’t that important. In another place in this book Paul tells us the secret of his humble life. “Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ" (I Cor. 11:1). He is saying to these Corinthians, “You imitate me because I'm imitating Christ, and when you imitate me, you are imitating Christ.” It is this Christlike humility that eliminates conceit and pride.
For this reason I am sending to you Timothy, my son whom I love, who is faithful in the Lord. He will remind you of my way of life in Christ Jesus, which agrees with what I teach everywhere in every church. Paul planned to send Timothy to them to remind them of his manner of life so they could imitate his example of following Christ. Timothy was to bring to their attention the things Paul taught in every church. Paul was no harder on them than he was on any other church he had founded. He longed to see all the churches conform their behavior to Christ
Some of you have become arrogant, as if I were not coming to you. At Corinth there were some leaders and their followers who definitely opposed Paul, and he says these people were filled with boastful pride and arrogance. Apparently these enemies of Paul within the church said that he was a coward and would not face them and that was the reason he was sending Timothy.
But I will come to you very soon, if the Lord is willing, and then I will find out not only how these arrogant people are talking, but what power they have. For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power. Paul planned to come to them soon if the Lord willed it, for his whole life was lived in the consciousness of God’s sovereignty and leading in his life. When he got there he was going to deal with those arrogant boasters not by their fair speeches but by what they did.
He would see if they had any power in their lives, if they were practicing what they preached, if they were sacrificing their time, talents and monies for Christ. When God’s spiritual kingdom is truly in one’s heart, the evidence will be a life of good works. If there is no power, no good works, no evidences, then there is a good possibility there is no salvation.
The fourth cure for Puffiness is to live consistently -- to make our lives match our words and to operate on divine power. This produces true Christlike humility.
What do you prefer? Shall I come to you with a whip, or in love and with a gentle spirit? Paul gave the Corinthians a choice. Whether he would come in love or with stern discipline depended solely on whether they were ready to deal with the situation. They were given the liberty to choose. If they dealt with their pride, conceit and preacher worship, Paul would come in love. If they refused to deal with their conceit and divisions, he would come wielding a rod of discipline.
The fifth cure for Puffiness is to choose obedience. All men have hearts with pride and conceit, some more than others, but if they choose to deal with it, they will be blessed by God and not come under discipline.
As we “Focus on Christ” and in the rest of 1 Corinthians our attitudes will determine how we respond to the Word of God.
Are you willing?
To Heed the Admonition to focus on Christ
To Listen and Do Something about your focus on Christ
To Humble Yourself as Christ
To Live Consistently with Christ
To Choose Obedience to Christ