1 Corinthians Part 4: Stewardship or Boasting?

In Part 3 of the 1 Corinthians study, the Lord (through Paul, His servant) admonished the believers in Corinth
for having broken into contentious groups, and in doing so, showing that they had no spiritual maturity. This
divisiveness was casting a shroud of hypocrisy over and utterly tainting their witness for the Lord; instead of the
lost being drawn to their light and "salt", they were being repelled by their infighting and contentious behavior.
He further had to address that they were being manipulated by false teachers who sought to destroy their
testimony, and that everything we do as believers has to be based on the one foundation that is Jesus Christ.
ALL our works will be tested before the Lord to reveal their true intentions, with selfish ambitions and greedy
motivations consumed by fire.

But how do we [I]do[/I] that?

Let's start in Part 4 of our study, with Paul explaining exactly that:

[I][B]"Let a man regard us in this manner, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God.[/B] In
this case, moreover,[B] it is required of stewards that one be found trustworthy".[/B][/I] (1 Corinthians 4:1-2,
NASB)

The first thing Paul explains is that we are "stewards"; this means that we [I]oversee what the Lord has given us,
[/I] and that we will give an account (as mentioned in chapter 3) of what has been given to us to steward. This
fact is first mentioned in scripture by Jesus Himself:

[I]"“For it is just like a man about to go on a journey, [B]who called his own slaves and entrusted his
possessions to them.[/B] To one he gave five talents, to another, two, and to another, one, [B]each according to
his own ability[/B]; and he went on his journey.[B] Immediately the one who had received the five talents went
and traded with them, and gained five more talents. In the same manner the one who had received the two
talents gained two more. But he who received the one talent went away, and dug a hole in the ground and hid
his master’s money.[/B] Now after a long time the master of those slaves came [B]and settled accounts with
them[/B]. The one who had received the five talents came up and brought five more talents, saying,[B] ‘Master,
you entrusted five talents to me. See, I have gained five more talents.’[/B] “His master said to him,[B] ‘Well
done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things;
enter into the joy of your master.’[/B] Also the one who had received the two talents came up and said,
[B]‘Master, you entrusted two talents to me. See, I have gained two more talents.’ [/B]His master said to him,
[B]‘Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many
things; enter into the joy of your master.’ [/B]And the one also who had received the one talent came up and
said,[B] ‘Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow and gathering where you
scattered no seed.And I was afraid, and went away and hid your talent in the ground. See, you have what is
yours.’[/B] But his master answered and said to him,[B] ‘You wicked, lazy slave, you knew that I reap where I
did not sow and gather where I scattered no seed. Then you ought to have put my money in the bank, and on my
arrival I would have received my money back with interest. Therefore take away the talent from him, and give it
to the one who has the ten talents.[/B]’"[/I] (Matthew 25:14-28, NASB, emphasis mine)

Considering that a talent was a lot of money (a [I]talent[/I] was not a coin but a weight of money, about 6,000
denarii; [I]one[/I] denarius was a day's pay!), to be entrusted with just one was not something to be taken
lightly. Paul's point here was that what the Lord has entrusted us with, as his servants here on Earth,[B] is by far
more valuable and weighty[/B] than any amount of money! Our testimony, which is not just our spoken word[I]
[U] but how we treat one another[/U][/I], is something that the Lord has given us to steward, and that is NOT a
responsibility to be taken[I] lightly.[/I]

Paul continues on:

[I]"But to me it is a very small thing that I may be examined by you, or by any human court; in fact, I do not
even examine myself. For I am conscious of nothing against myself, yet I am not by this acquitted; [B]but the
one who examines me is the Lord. Therefore do not go on passing judgment before the time, but wait until the
Lord comes who will both bring to light the things hidden in the darkness and disclose the motives of men’s
hearts[/B]; and then each man’s praise will come to him from God."[/I](1 Corinthians 4:3-5, NASB, emphasis
mine)

Now, Paul is not trying to be flippant or dismissive here; he is not talking about being examined as far as
doctrine, but in what he has done in service to the Lord. In other words, the [I]only[/I] the Lord can judge his
service and worth, not any other man, believer or lost. And this was not just in regards to himself, but to others
whom the sub-groups in the church at Corinth were talking about. They were passing judgments on who had
earned what and "who wouldn't rate" before the Lord, and it was not their place to do so. In fact: their doing so
was causing serious harm to the body there as a whole...

..and sadly, has many parallels with congregations [I]today[/I].

[I]"Now these things, brethren, I have figuratively applied to myself and Apollos for your sakes,[B] so that
in us you may learn not to exceed what is written, [U]so that no one of you will become arrogant in behalf of
one against the other.[/U][/B] For who regards you as superior? What do you have that you did not receive?
And if you did receive it, [B]why do you boast as if you had not received it[/B]?"[/I] ( 1 Corinthians 4:5-7,
NASB, emphasis mine)

Here, Paul reinforces that they are to treat one another not in arrogance, but in the [I]humility, kindness and
love[/I] that Christians should characteristically treat one another. The Paul asks them a series of questions that
are painful, but are designed to make a point: they are craving the adulation of men, all that they have as
Christians they received[B] from God[/B], and if they did receive it from God, they shouldn't be boasting [I]as
if they did not[/I].

In other words: they didn't become saved by their own efforts, so why are they magnified in other men's eyes,
when it is [B][U][I]THE LORD[/I][/U][/B] who should be magnified and glorified?

[I]"[B][U]You are already filled, you have already become rich, you have become kings without us; and indeed,
I wish that you had become kings so that we also might reign with you.[/U][/B] For, I think, God has exhibited
us apostles last of all, as men condemned to death; because we have become a spectacle to the world, both to
angels and to men.[B] We are fools for Christ’s sake, but you are prudent in Christ; we are weak, but you are
strong; you are distinguished, but we are without honor. [/B]To this present hour we are both hungry and
thirsty, and are poorly clothed, and are roughly treated, and are homeless; and we toil, working with our own
hands; when we are reviled, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure;when we are slandered, we try to
conciliate; we have become as the scum of the world, the dregs of all things, even until now."[/I] (1 Corinthians
4:8-13, NASB, emphasis mine)

In verse 8, Paul is not speaking literally here, but [I]sarcastically[/I]; here were the Corinthians, spiritually
needy yet acting as if they were rich! And they had become so "puffed up" in the absence of Paul and the other
apostles, who were suffering out in the word. The Corinthians were behaving as if they had already achieved
that which even the apostles (who walked with the Lord in life, save Paul) had not. Paul's comment was
intending to use the ridiculous to show ridiculousness; the Corinthians had not accomplished what they thought
they had; everything they had came from the Lord via the teachings and ministry of Paul and his fellow
believers. Paul's remark about "rule with you" is a way of saying "Wow, you've got it made! Maybe you can
show US what [I]we've[/I] been doing wrong, and we can be 'kings' like you!"

It was akin to an apprentice in a workshop thinking they learned it all in a couple of months when in truth, [B]
[I]they were still beginners[/I][/B].

Paul then reveals his reason for his sarcasm:

[I]"[B]I do not write these things to shame you, but to admonish you as my beloved children.[/B] For if you
were to have countless tutors in Christ, [B]yet you would not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became
your father through the gospel[/B]. Therefore I exhort you, be imitators of me. For this reason I have sent to you
Timothy, who is my beloved and faithful child in the Lord, and he will remind you of my ways which are in
Christ, [B]just as I teach everywhere in every church[/B].[/I] (1 Corinthians 4:14-17, NASB, emphasis mine)

Paul was writing this to them not out of spite, but out of concern and compassion for them. The Corinthian
church had lost its' way, and as any "parent" who had heard word of their child becoming errant, they would try
to contact them and attempt to guide them back onto safe ground. To effect this, Paul was sending Timothy, his
"son" in the Lord and trusted immensely by Paul, to aid them. But Paul was not yet finished addressing the issue
of arrogance and "being puffed up" in the congregation in Corinth:

[I]"[B]Now some have become arrogant, as though I were not coming to you. But I will come to you soon, if
the Lord wills, and I shall find out, not the words of those who are arrogant but their power[/B]. For [B]the
kingdom of God does not consist in words[U] but in power[/U].[/B] What do you desire? [B]Shall I come to
you with a rod, or with love and a spirit of gentleness?"[/B][/I]" (1 Corinthians 4:18-20, NASB, emphasis mine)

Paul was telling the Corinthians that he would be coming to them soon, God willing. And he would find out
[I]in person[/I] if they were really "all that". Paul wasn't interested in how well they could boast, but [I]if they
could live up to[/I] their boasts. The "rod" he speaks of is "the rod of correction", a way of saying discipline.
Paul was coming to test their boasts, and was warning them that he wasn't playing around. His last question was
a warning to them, and he was trying to get their attention.

As believers, we should be asking ourselves if we are indeed stewarding the things God has given us. Are we
grateful for those things? Or have we, like the Corinthians, become "puffed up", thinking that we are so far
ahead on the path that we are walking with the Lord? Are we looking down in arrogance at those we consider
"inferior" and dismissing them out of hand, all while impressed with our own "maturity"? As Paul warns: if we
are doing so, then we have proven that we are not [I]nearly[/I] as mature as we think ourselves...

...and the time will come when we will be tested in our "power" rather than our words. Are we all that we claim
that we are?

It's a sobering thought, and one that requires a humbling of the heart and humble prayer to the Lord to answer.
In part 5, the Lord confronts the Corinthians further through Paul.

I bid you all peace.

YBIC,

-Robert