1 Corinthians 4:14-21
You may have heard on Friday about the attack on a
popular cafe in the diplomatic area of Dhaka in Bangladesh. I heard of it first
from one of our workers there who lives just 5 minutes away. Once again, the
Islamic State has claimed responsibility for yet another successful attempt to
kill foreigners and spread terror. Their violence in the name of religion seems
to know no bounds. Places that used to be considered safe have now become
targets, and although America has experienced only a tiny fraction of what is
happening in the rest of the world, recent incidents here as well remind us of
the risk to virtually everyone now. Many people are afraid of what is happening
in the world.
On the same day as the Dhaka attack, I was listening to a talk about how a Christian should respond to radical Islam. There were several good suggestions about how to love our enemies, as Jesus commanded. One of the speakers made two important points that I would like to highlight. First, we should not expect to be exempt from violent persecution. Jesus warned of it, and early Christians fully expected it to happen. In Acts 4, after Peter and John were arrested, the believers did not pray for protection.
“Sovereign Lord,” they said, “you made the heavens and the earth and the sea, and everything in them. You spoke by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of your servant, our father David: ‘Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth rise up and the rulers band together against the Lord and against his anointed one.’
On the same day as the Dhaka attack, I was listening to a talk about how a Christian should respond to radical Islam. There were several good suggestions about how to love our enemies, as Jesus commanded. One of the speakers made two important points that I would like to highlight. First, we should not expect to be exempt from violent persecution. Jesus warned of it, and early Christians fully expected it to happen. In Acts 4, after Peter and John were arrested, the believers did not pray for protection.
“Sovereign Lord,” they said, “you made the heavens and the earth and the sea, and everything in them. You spoke by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of your servant, our father David: ‘Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth rise up and the rulers band together against the Lord and against his anointed one.’
“Indeed
Herod and Pontius Pilate met together with the Gentiles and the
people of Israel in this city to conspire against your holy servant
Jesus, whom you anointed. They did what your power and will had decided
beforehand should happen. Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your
servants to speak your word with great boldness. Stretch out your hand to heal
and perform signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant
Jesus.”—Acts 4:24-30
They didn’t pray, “Consider their threats and deliver us.” They prayed for boldness in proclaiming the gospel, boldness in speaking the word of God – knowing that the consequence would be more opposition and persecution. And they asked the Lord to “stretch out his hand.” They wanted to see God’s power, in healing and in performing other signs and wonders. They knew that this was an essential element of the message. If there is no demonstration of God’s power, then we have no gospel for people. That truth is at the core of the passage from 1 Corinthians that we will be looking at today, too.
The second point that the speaker made (sorry, I didn’t get his name) was that in responding to radical Islam we need to remember who the real enemy is. It is not the terrorists. It isn’t even their message or methods. It is Satan and all of his evil powers. I have come back to this familiar passage from Ephesians 6 several times over the past couple of months:
For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.—Ephesians 6:12-13
So we are not fighting people; we are fighting the evil forces that are influencing them. And we need to make use of the full armor of God to be able to stand our ground. Some of you are aware that the first stop on my last trip was at the General Assembly meeting of our partner organization in Central Asia. It just celebrated 50 years of working in a very difficult and dangerous country. It has weathered many storms along the way, but the crisis that has now almost destroyed its ministry is internal conflict among the expatriates. It seems that Satan was unsuccessful in his external attacks, so now he is trying to tear down the organization from the inside. When people see fellow believers as the enemy, they begin opposing each other. In other places as well I have seen where disunity among Christians has negated or at least damaged the witness of any of them. The family that Emma will be visiting in northern India has warned her that this seems to be a common predicament where they live: after a time people start questioning the motives and integrity of others on their team. They have recognized it as spiritual warfare and pray specifically against it.
So we need pray for discernment and recognize when to use spiritual weapons against spiritual attacks. If we truly want to follow Jesus we will meet with opposition. We will not fit in or put up with the world’s systems and philosophies.
his is all by way of introduction to the passage from 1 Corinthians 4 that we are meant to be looking at today. Last week, Fred mentioned the arrogance of the church in Corinth that Paul was addressing. If we read again from verse 8, Paul as the author is pointing out how they have the wrong idea of what it means to be a Christian:
Already you have all you want! Already you have become rich! You have begun to reign—and that without us! How I wish that you really had begun to reign so that we also might reign with you! For it seems to me that God has put us apostles on display at the end of the procession, like those condemned to die in the arena. We have been made a spectacle to the whole universe, to angels as well as to human beings. 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. We have become the scum of the earth, the garbage of the world—right up to this moment.—I Corinthians 4:8-13
The Christians in Corinth thought that they should be reigning like kings, in a worldly sense. They had a sense of entitlement. They had their nose in the air even with regard to Paul’s authority. But Paul wanted to point out what being a follower of Jesus really means. Jesus’ closest friends are treated like the scum of the earth. The apostles had to go hungry and thirsty, go about in rags, and be brutally treated. I think of the thousands of Christians fleeing persecution in Syria and elsewhere in the Middle East. They know what it means to be homeless and hungry and dishonored. In getting rid of all the “infidels” the Islamic State asserts that it is “taking out the trash,” as it were. Christians are indeed being treated like “the garbage of the world” that Paul talks about here – right up to this moment. This has been true and it will continue to be true. As believers we should not expect to be treated well in the world.
The Corinthian Christians thought of themselves as respectable and superior. They weren’t weak and foolish like Paul! They had forgotten or disregarded that he was the one who had introduced them to Jesus. So in today’s passage, following on in 1 Corinthians 4, he needs to remind them of his authority as their spiritual father.
I do not write these things to make you ashamed, but to admonish you as my beloved children. 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. I urge you, then, be imitators of me. 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. Some are arrogant, as though I were not coming to you. 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. For the kingdom of God does not consist in talk but in power. What do you wish? Shall I come to you with a rod, or with love in a spirit of gentleness?—I Corinthians 4:14-21
Why did Paul appeal to them as their father? I know many people do not have a good relationship with their fathers, and so having a father-figure like Paul might not evoke a positive association. Fathers can be harsh or distant or arrogant. But whether for good or for bad, fathers are a role model for their children – one of the most important, in fact. Not many people are as influential in our lives as our fathers. Even if someone does not have the opportunity to interact with their father, his very absence will have a huge effect on their life. So having a godly father is a tremendous blessing for a child and will positively influence their understanding of God. Paul calls the Corinthians his beloved children. They had become his children through the gospel which he had shared with them and they had accepted. Teaching them the truth had given him the right to admonish them. And his love for them would allow them to accept his correction.
He urges them to imitate his lifestyle, his “ways in Christ.” This might sound presumptuous to us, but we need to remember that the church in those days didn’t have the Bible that we do. God’s word was spread mainly through oral teaching and personal demonstration of its truth and power. Paul sent Timothy as his representative in this, as someone who knew Paul well and who could remind the church of not just his teaching but also the way in which he lived out the gospel. Paul had a very close relationship with Timothy. He sent him in a similar way to the church in Philippi, too, as it says in Philippians 2:
I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, that I also may be cheered when I receive news about you. I have no one else like him, who will show genuine concern for your welfare. For everyone looks out for their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ. But you know that Timothy has proved himself, because as a son with his father he has served with me in the work of the gospel.—Philippians 4:19-22
Paul found Timothy completely trustworthy and committed to Jesus. Human nature makes us look out for our own interests – I’m sure we can all relate to that – but Timothy had proved himself as a servant of Jesus.
I wrote a paper recently for our mission agency as it faces a time of transition this year. I listed 8 challenges that we face. The first is the challenge of authenticity: Are we who we say we are? We have many fine principles listed in our mission handbook. Are we actually living and working according to them? This is a challenge for all Christians. We need to walk the talk – you have probably heard that expression. This is of special importance for parents, because our kids see who we really are. They will detect any discrepancy between what we say and what we do. I suspect this is a big factor in many MKs and PKs rejecting their faith. Either they saw their parents preaching and teaching one thing and living another, or they felt that they as kids were relegated to second place after their parents’ ministry. Kids need to know that their parents really care about them – enough to make them a priority. This is essential to authenticity as a Christian worker.The Apostle Paul was an authentic leader. He was open and honest with the other believers. He did not pretend to be something that he was not. He was consistent in his teaching – the same in every church, as it says here. In good conscience he could urge the Corinthians to imitate his spiritual walk. Timothy was his faithful child, just as he was a faithful father. Faithfulness is a crucial part of authenticity. What does this mean? It means that we are in relationships for the long haul. We persist in our pursuit of God’s calling, through thick and thin. I have been blessed to visit people who have been involved in mission in difficult places for decades. People trust them because they are willing to make that kind of long-term commitment. Similarly, Paul did not flit in and out of people’s lives. He faithfully, consistently stayed involved with them and their spiritual development.
As we reach out to people who do not know Jesus, how will they be convinced of our authenticity as his followers? John 13 tells us that they will know we are Christians by our love. I was reminded recently of our need to take authentic roles in relating to new people, especially in cross-cultural settings. A linguist by the name of Thomas Brewster selected the titles of learner, servant, and storyteller. We will have much more impact with these than if we present ourselves as experts or even as teachers. Learner, servant, and storyteller are humble, unintimidating stances.
They didn’t pray, “Consider their threats and deliver us.” They prayed for boldness in proclaiming the gospel, boldness in speaking the word of God – knowing that the consequence would be more opposition and persecution. And they asked the Lord to “stretch out his hand.” They wanted to see God’s power, in healing and in performing other signs and wonders. They knew that this was an essential element of the message. If there is no demonstration of God’s power, then we have no gospel for people. That truth is at the core of the passage from 1 Corinthians that we will be looking at today, too.
The second point that the speaker made (sorry, I didn’t get his name) was that in responding to radical Islam we need to remember who the real enemy is. It is not the terrorists. It isn’t even their message or methods. It is Satan and all of his evil powers. I have come back to this familiar passage from Ephesians 6 several times over the past couple of months:
For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.—Ephesians 6:12-13
So we are not fighting people; we are fighting the evil forces that are influencing them. And we need to make use of the full armor of God to be able to stand our ground. Some of you are aware that the first stop on my last trip was at the General Assembly meeting of our partner organization in Central Asia. It just celebrated 50 years of working in a very difficult and dangerous country. It has weathered many storms along the way, but the crisis that has now almost destroyed its ministry is internal conflict among the expatriates. It seems that Satan was unsuccessful in his external attacks, so now he is trying to tear down the organization from the inside. When people see fellow believers as the enemy, they begin opposing each other. In other places as well I have seen where disunity among Christians has negated or at least damaged the witness of any of them. The family that Emma will be visiting in northern India has warned her that this seems to be a common predicament where they live: after a time people start questioning the motives and integrity of others on their team. They have recognized it as spiritual warfare and pray specifically against it.
So we need pray for discernment and recognize when to use spiritual weapons against spiritual attacks. If we truly want to follow Jesus we will meet with opposition. We will not fit in or put up with the world’s systems and philosophies.
his is all by way of introduction to the passage from 1 Corinthians 4 that we are meant to be looking at today. Last week, Fred mentioned the arrogance of the church in Corinth that Paul was addressing. If we read again from verse 8, Paul as the author is pointing out how they have the wrong idea of what it means to be a Christian:
Already you have all you want! Already you have become rich! You have begun to reign—and that without us! How I wish that you really had begun to reign so that we also might reign with you! For it seems to me that God has put us apostles on display at the end of the procession, like those condemned to die in the arena. We have been made a spectacle to the whole universe, to angels as well as to human beings. 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. We have become the scum of the earth, the garbage of the world—right up to this moment.—I Corinthians 4:8-13
The Christians in Corinth thought that they should be reigning like kings, in a worldly sense. They had a sense of entitlement. They had their nose in the air even with regard to Paul’s authority. But Paul wanted to point out what being a follower of Jesus really means. Jesus’ closest friends are treated like the scum of the earth. The apostles had to go hungry and thirsty, go about in rags, and be brutally treated. I think of the thousands of Christians fleeing persecution in Syria and elsewhere in the Middle East. They know what it means to be homeless and hungry and dishonored. In getting rid of all the “infidels” the Islamic State asserts that it is “taking out the trash,” as it were. Christians are indeed being treated like “the garbage of the world” that Paul talks about here – right up to this moment. This has been true and it will continue to be true. As believers we should not expect to be treated well in the world.
The Corinthian Christians thought of themselves as respectable and superior. They weren’t weak and foolish like Paul! They had forgotten or disregarded that he was the one who had introduced them to Jesus. So in today’s passage, following on in 1 Corinthians 4, he needs to remind them of his authority as their spiritual father.
I do not write these things to make you ashamed, but to admonish you as my beloved children. 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. I urge you, then, be imitators of me. 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. Some are arrogant, as though I were not coming to you. 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. For the kingdom of God does not consist in talk but in power. What do you wish? Shall I come to you with a rod, or with love in a spirit of gentleness?—I Corinthians 4:14-21
Why did Paul appeal to them as their father? I know many people do not have a good relationship with their fathers, and so having a father-figure like Paul might not evoke a positive association. Fathers can be harsh or distant or arrogant. But whether for good or for bad, fathers are a role model for their children – one of the most important, in fact. Not many people are as influential in our lives as our fathers. Even if someone does not have the opportunity to interact with their father, his very absence will have a huge effect on their life. So having a godly father is a tremendous blessing for a child and will positively influence their understanding of God. Paul calls the Corinthians his beloved children. They had become his children through the gospel which he had shared with them and they had accepted. Teaching them the truth had given him the right to admonish them. And his love for them would allow them to accept his correction.
He urges them to imitate his lifestyle, his “ways in Christ.” This might sound presumptuous to us, but we need to remember that the church in those days didn’t have the Bible that we do. God’s word was spread mainly through oral teaching and personal demonstration of its truth and power. Paul sent Timothy as his representative in this, as someone who knew Paul well and who could remind the church of not just his teaching but also the way in which he lived out the gospel. Paul had a very close relationship with Timothy. He sent him in a similar way to the church in Philippi, too, as it says in Philippians 2:
I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, that I also may be cheered when I receive news about you. I have no one else like him, who will show genuine concern for your welfare. For everyone looks out for their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ. But you know that Timothy has proved himself, because as a son with his father he has served with me in the work of the gospel.—Philippians 4:19-22
Paul found Timothy completely trustworthy and committed to Jesus. Human nature makes us look out for our own interests – I’m sure we can all relate to that – but Timothy had proved himself as a servant of Jesus.
I wrote a paper recently for our mission agency as it faces a time of transition this year. I listed 8 challenges that we face. The first is the challenge of authenticity: Are we who we say we are? We have many fine principles listed in our mission handbook. Are we actually living and working according to them? This is a challenge for all Christians. We need to walk the talk – you have probably heard that expression. This is of special importance for parents, because our kids see who we really are. They will detect any discrepancy between what we say and what we do. I suspect this is a big factor in many MKs and PKs rejecting their faith. Either they saw their parents preaching and teaching one thing and living another, or they felt that they as kids were relegated to second place after their parents’ ministry. Kids need to know that their parents really care about them – enough to make them a priority. This is essential to authenticity as a Christian worker.The Apostle Paul was an authentic leader. He was open and honest with the other believers. He did not pretend to be something that he was not. He was consistent in his teaching – the same in every church, as it says here. In good conscience he could urge the Corinthians to imitate his spiritual walk. Timothy was his faithful child, just as he was a faithful father. Faithfulness is a crucial part of authenticity. What does this mean? It means that we are in relationships for the long haul. We persist in our pursuit of God’s calling, through thick and thin. I have been blessed to visit people who have been involved in mission in difficult places for decades. People trust them because they are willing to make that kind of long-term commitment. Similarly, Paul did not flit in and out of people’s lives. He faithfully, consistently stayed involved with them and their spiritual development.
As we reach out to people who do not know Jesus, how will they be convinced of our authenticity as his followers? John 13 tells us that they will know we are Christians by our love. I was reminded recently of our need to take authentic roles in relating to new people, especially in cross-cultural settings. A linguist by the name of Thomas Brewster selected the titles of learner, servant, and storyteller. We will have much more impact with these than if we present ourselves as experts or even as teachers. Learner, servant, and storyteller are humble, unintimidating stances.
If you are a learner, you will be interested in other people. You will ask questions. You will listen to what they think and help clarify what they want to say. They will feel valued and accepted. As a servant, you will try to help people in practical ways, responding to their needs, showing that you actually do care about them. As a storyteller you can speak of your own experiences, what God has done for you, what difference knowing Jesus makes in your life. This approach to building relationships will work anywhere in the world, in any culture.
Jesus was a storyteller. Many of His important lessons He communicated through parables, such as those about the nature of the kingdom of God. Although He did not have the same limitations that we do, He modeled being a learner in the way that He asked people questions about themselves, such as with the Samaritan woman at the well, or, for example, in how He asked His disciples, “Who do people say that I am?” And we have His distinct demonstration of servanthood in His washing of His disciples’ feet. So remember to be a learner, servant, and storyteller as you reach out to new people.
The other way in which Jesus confirmed his authenticity was that He was able to back up what He said with a demonstration of divine power. As He healed the sick, cast out demons, and raised the dead, He not only confirmed that He came from God, He also established the truth of all of His words. Even the religious leaders who opposed Him struggled to explain how someone could do the amazing things that He did and not come from God. In our 1 Corinthians passage as well, Paul emphasizes the significance of power in the kingdom of God. The kingdom is established by God’s power to change lives and circumstances, to demolish the lies and control of Satan, and to bring healing and restoration in every area. This power is what would bring the arrogance of the Corinthians to naught. Talk is cheap, as the expression says. It is easy to discuss and debate about God, the Bible, theology, even what it means to be a Christian, but what we say has to be demonstrated in real-life results. I heard a sermon once about “the power of a transformed life,” and it made quite an impression on me. God’s amazing, transformative work in the life of a person who turns to him in faith is a powerful witness to others who might be skeptical about the value of “religion.”
Have you heard of the term “power encounter”? Spiritual power is not generally a major part of the American worldview, but it is very important in many other cultures around the world. I would say that the most common reason for people in Nepal to come to faith is that they have experienced or seen a miraculous healing in the name of Jesus. At the beginning, all they might understand about Jesus is that that He is more powerful than the demons that they used to fear. This is similar to the experience of the blind man that Jesus healed in John 9. He didn’t know much about Jesus, but he knew that he had been healed:
They brought to the Pharisees the man who had been blind. Now the day on which Jesus had made the mud and opened the man’s eyes was a Sabbath. Therefore the Pharisees also asked him how he had received his sight. “He put mud on my eyes,” the man replied, “and I washed, and now I see.”
Some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath.”
But others asked, “How can a sinner perform such signs?” So they were divided.
Then they turned again to the blind man, “What have you to say about him? It was your eyes he opened.”
The man replied, “He is a prophet.”—John 9:13-17
So the Pharisees consulted the man’s parents about what had happened, but they were afraid and wouldn’t confess what Jesus had done. So if we jump down to verse 24
A second time they summoned the man who had been blind. “Give glory to God by telling the truth,” they said. “We know this man is a sinner.”
He replied, “Whether he is a sinner or not, I don’t know. One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!”—John 9:24-25
Many people around the world are looking for deliverance from spiritual oppression of one kind or another. In evangelizing such people the issue of power must be addressed. Forgiveness of sins might just seem like a theoretical problem – what may be more pressing is immediate deliverance from a sickening curse or a harassing demon. These people would easily be attracted to this verse: the kingdom of God does not consist in talk but in power.
Sometimes the power encounter is very dramatic. I remember hearing one missionary story about a witch doctor who had demonic power to perform great feats. In front of his whole tribe he challenged the missionary, “I will show what I can do. Then you need to show me what you can do.” The witch doctor called on the demons and made an axe fly up in the air and circle the crowd. The missionary desperately prayed for wisdom to know how to respond. He knew that God could not be called on to do tricks. But then it came to him what to say. He told the witch doctor, “I will show you that my God is more powerful than your demons. In the name of Jesus, I declare that you will not be able to do that again.” And the power of the witch doctor to move the axe disappeared.
The kingdom of God does not consist in talk but in power. It may look different here, but God’s power must be experienced in some way for people to be convinced that he is real. There is power in the name of Jesus. Every time we pray we are putting our faith in the power of that name to bring about a real change. Talk by itself is not enough. People might be attracted to reasonable apologetics, but it is the experience of God’s power that will truly convince them to trust and submit to Jesus.
So in our passage, Paul appeals to the Corinthians as his beloved children. He deserves their respect because of the gospel message that he shared with them and the nurturing of their faith. As a fatherly role model, he asserts that they can trust him enough to imitate him. If they continue in their arrogance, he promises a power encounter when he comes that will reveal who is the authentic follower of God. And he closes by giving them a choice. As a father he can come with a rod of discipline or with love in a spirit of gentleness. God himself offers both. We can see his discipline in sometimes giving us what we deserve, and we can see his grace in more often gently dealing with us and saving us from the consequences of our own sin – or simply the consequences of our living in a fallen sinful world.
I would suppose that in Corinth there were some people who needed Paul to bring a rod. They needed to be shaken out of their arrogant complacency and self-righteousness. But there were probably others who were suffering, who needed a gentle touch of love and encouragement. Which do you need today? God is ready to give you what is best for you.
Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.—Ephesians 3:20-21
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