Entrusted

1 Corinthians 4:1-13

Today will look at 1 Corinthians 4:1-13.  In order to put today’s message in the context with the rest of the series we have to look back at a couple of verse from last week.  Here Paul exhorts the church in Corinth:

So let no one exult proudly concerning men [boasting of having this or that man as a leader].  For all things are yours whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas (Peter) —1 Corinthians 3:21-22 (Amplified)

Moving on to our passage for today, we read:

“So then, men ought to regard us as servants of Christ and as those entrusted with the secret things of God.”—1 Corinthians 4:1

So, if we are to let no one exult proudly concerning us as leaders, then how shall men regard us?  Paul explains:

Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful. I care very little if I am judged by you or by any human court; indeed, I do not even judge myself.  My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me. Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait till the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men’s hearts. At that time each will receive his praise from God.—1 Corinthians 4:2-5

Next, Paul says:

Now, brothers, I have applied these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, so that you may learn from us the meaning of the saying, “Do not go beyond what is written.” Then you will not take pride in one man over against another.”—1 Corinthians 4:6

Now if Paul applied these to himself, Apollos, and Peter back then, how can we apply these things to our local church body and to our regional body and our national body? We too are a body made up of broken vessels that have been repaired and made into something beautiful.  In Ephesians 4:10-13 we read:

He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe.  It was He who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.—Ephesians 4:10-13

To give some present-day examples, Tom Short is an evangelist who has been preaching on campus all over the world for more than 30 years. Tom is doing an amazing work reaching college students for Christ.  Another missionary, Mike Keator, is a church planter who has planted a half a dozen churches in the US is doing an amazing apostolic work in reaching people who have never heard the gospel in India and Nepal. However, it would not be right to compare these two men to each other, or to John or Carl, because they all are different gifts given to the church by God.

The Lord has given you men like Carl and John as a gift for the specific purpose to build you up and to equip you for the work of His service. They will continue to do this until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.  Carl and John and I are three different types of men and we each have different gifts that the Lord has given us to share with you.  It would not be right to say that Carl’s gift is better or more important than John’s or vice versa. 

But the Church in Corinth had this very problem. They were comparing their leaders with the others and were boasting about one leader over another in pride.  For this reason Paul goes on to reprove them. 

For who makes you different from anyone else? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?  Already you have all you want! Already you have become rich! You have become kings—and that without us! How I wish that you really had become kings so that we might be kings with you!  For it seems to me that God has put us apostles on display at the end of the procession, like men condemned to die in the arena. We have been made a spectacle to the whole universe, to angels as well as to men. We are fools for Christ, but you are so wise in Christ! We are weak, but you are strong! You are honored, we are dishonored! To this very hour we go hungry and thirsty, we are in rags, we are brutally treated, we are homeless. We work hard with our own hands. When we are cursed, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it; when we are slandered, we answer kindly. Up to this moment we have become the scum of the earth, the refuse of the world.—1 Corinthians 4:7-13

These final comparisons between Paul and Apollos and the leaders of the local church in Corinth and the similar comparison between your local pastors falls a little short--I would not say that Carl and John and I are homeless and in rags: our wives would not let us get away with that!   But I will say that each of us have gone hungry at times for your sake and for the sake of the Gospel.  And like Paul and Apollos we all work hard at our secular jobs and at our pastoral responsibilities. We have been cursed at and persecuted by men and slandered usually behind our back but at times also to our face.

So why is this important?  Well if you know that God so cares for you and for our church so much so that He gave you such men as these to you  as a gift and empowered them with gifts that you need in order for you to be able to grow, then you will be more apt to Love Him and obey His word.  That is why He has made your leaders to be living examples of His love and His concern for your welfare and for the advancement of His kingdom through the local church. Does that make your leaders any better than you? Absolutely not!  For we read in 2 Corinthians 4:7:

But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.

Just like these broken jars of clay, the Lord has made something beautiful out of the lives of your leaders for your benefit and for His glory.   So what are the main take-aways from this message?

1. The Lord has found your leaders trustworthy and He has given them to you as a gift and entrusted them with the responsibility to equip you as saints for the work of service.

2. They were broken vessels that the Lord has repaired and made into something beautiful for His purpose and His glory.

3. When you are fully trained you will be just like your teacher.  Your former brokenness may be a little different from your leaders’ former brokenness just as the brokenness of these two vessels is a little different from each other.  However, the Lord’s repair will be the same (i.e., whole and complete) and your life will be transformed from something that was broken and useless to a thing of beauty.  Your life will be a life that has been made useful for His purpose and His glory.