1 Corinthians 4:6-21, Called to Humble Unity Part II
Theological Proposition/Focus: The Call of the Christian is a call to reject the arrogance of having arrived in favor of the humility of admitting that there is still much room for growth.
Homiletical Proposition/Application: We must reject arrogant posturing and instead use the tools we have been given to faithfully grow
Contents
- 1 Introduction: (Memory Verse 1 Cor. 1:18)
- 1.1 Image: The Emperor's New Clothes
- 1.2 Need: We must reject arrogant posturing and instead use the tools we have been given to faithfully grow.
- 1.3 Preview: In 1 Corinthians 4:6-21 we are going to see that arrogance has no place in the Christian walk, this fact is evidenced in the life of Paul, and in contrast to arrogant posturing the Christian really should be seeking to grow.
- 1.4 Setting the Stage:
- 1.4.1 In 1 Corinthians 3:18-4:5 we saw the emphasis on God's wisdom over man's wisdom as applied specifically to leaders.
- 1.4.2 The point was that leadership must be considered through God's wisdom and really can only be evaluated by God in the eschaton.
- 1.4.3 From here Paul is going to connect this back to the big problem he is dealing with in Corinth, disunity that seems to be rooted in pride.
- 1.4.4 Again, in 1 Corinthians 4:6-21 Paul appeals to the Corinthians to demonstrate humble unity,
- 2 Body (Scripture all at once)
- 2.1 Arrogance has no place in the Christian walk (4:6-8)
- 2.1.1 We tend to hold too high a view of ourselves and “our people” (6-7).
- 2.1.1.1 In verses 1-5 Paul suggested that he was not even qualified to judge himself and so how could anyone be qualified to elevate themselves above another.
- 2.1.1.2 In fact, Paul argues that we must view ourselves through the lens of Scripture.
- 2.1.1.3 In verse Seven Paul gets to three significant question: who? what? why?
- 2.1.2 Don’t over value the “already” while under-estimating the “not-yet” (8).
- 2.1.2.1 Paul now proceeds to ask a series of rhetorical questions. The questions are filled with irony and sarcasm.
- 2.1.2.1.1 Already you have all you want - do you really believe you have all the spiritual food you need?
- 2.1.2.1.2 Already you have become rich - do you really think that God has blessed you as much as he can/will?
- 2.1.2.1.3 You have begun to reign - do you really think this is all that the Kingdom of God will be?
- 2.1.2.2 The answer is obviously no, our world is far from the perfection that God will usher in when His kingdom is fully realized. We are in the already, but the not yet is still to come!
- 2.1.2.3 In fact, this is exactly what Paul is saying in the end of verse 8, "I wish that you really had begun to reign so that we also might reign with you"
- 2.1.2.1 Paul now proceeds to ask a series of rhetorical questions. The questions are filled with irony and sarcasm.
- 2.1.3 MTR: Root out arrogance in your life!
- 2.1.1 We tend to hold too high a view of ourselves and “our people” (6-7).
- 2.2 The apostolic model reminds us that we should not boast in the things of the world. (9-14)
- 2.2.1 The emphasis in verse 9 is on the contrast, those who think they have arrived must realize just how far they are from Christ.
- 2.2.2 The problem is that we can mistakingly look at our worldly circumstances and use those to evaluate our spiritual situation.
- 2.2.2.1 Picture a procession into a Roman arena, after a military victory
- 2.2.2.1.1 At the front of the procession are the worthies of society and the soldiers with their pomp and circumstance who enter the arena and take their thrones.
- 2.2.2.1.2 At the end of the procession are the victims, the captives, those who are entering the arena about to be killed by wild beasts.
- 2.2.2.1.3 The entire arena watches the spectacle to see the cost of defying the Roman Empire
- 2.2.2.1.4 Only here it is not the whole Roman Empire, it is the cosmos to whom God displays the cost of discipleship.
- 2.2.2.1 Picture a procession into a Roman arena, after a military victory
- 2.2.3 The things of God stand in sharp contrast to the things of the world (10).
- 2.2.4 The tyranny of wealth and want need to be replaced with an eschatological perspective (11-13).
- 2.2.4.1 Suffering is not a stage of spiritual development that you grow out of, Paul,"to this very hour" endured suffering throughout his ministry.
- 2.2.4.2 The list shows that bearing one's cross is far more than a minor inconvenience.
- 2.2.4.2.1 Hunger and thirst.
- 2.2.4.2.2 lack of clothing
- 2.2.4.2.3 brutally treated
- 2.2.4.2.4 homelessness
- 2.2.4.2.5 hard manual labor
- 2.2.4.2.6 gracious responses to being cursed
- 2.2.4.2.7 endurance of persecution
- 2.2.4.2.8 gracious response to slander
- 2.2.4.2.9 becoming sum and garbage in the eyes of the world.
- 2.2.5 Don't feel ashamed of your blessings. Rather humbly put your focus on Christ (14).
- 2.2.6 MTR: Ask yourself, am I allowing the world to influence my self-perception?
- 2.3 The tools for spiritual growth are available and we are expected to use them (15-21).
- 2.3.1 Imitation of the spiritually mature is a natural way to grow (15-16).
- 2.3.1.1 The παιδαγωγός (teacher) in Greek culture was a trusted slave often pictured with a stick because they were seen as task masters.
- 2.3.1.2 In contrast the father is the one whom the child desires to grow up to be like.
- 2.3.1.3 Paul is reminding the Corinthians that his comments are not as a strict taskmaster but as a loving father who wants to see the Corinthians come to spiritual maturity.
- 2.3.1.4 This is not just a mere job or duty for Paul, this is his passion.
- 2.3.1.5 The command Paul gives is for the the Corinthians to follow his lead.
- 2.3.1.5.1 The command to imitate is not a command to live life as a traveling missionary, but to live a life that is willing to give it all up for the cause of Christ.
- 2.3.1.5.2 Paul has already argued and will continue to argue that different people have different roles. Imitation is not imitation in actions but imitation in attitude.
- 2.3.2 Instruction from a spiritual leader is an important way to grow (17).
- 2.3.3 Spiritual growth is a reasonable expectation to which we are held (18-21).
- 2.3.4 MTR: Find someone to disciple you today.
- 2.3.1 Imitation of the spiritually mature is a natural way to grow (15-16).
- 2.1 Arrogance has no place in the Christian walk (4:6-8)
Introduction: (Memory Verse 1 Cor. 1:18)
Image: The Emperor's New Clothes
Need: We must reject arrogant posturing and instead use the tools we have been given to faithfully grow.
Preview: In 1 Corinthians 4:6-21 we are going to see that arrogance has no place in the Christian walk, this fact is evidenced in the life of Paul, and in contrast to arrogant posturing the Christian really should be seeking to grow.
Setting the Stage:
In 1 Corinthians 3:18-4:5 we saw the emphasis on God's wisdom over man's wisdom as applied specifically to leaders.
The point was that leadership must be considered through God's wisdom and really can only be evaluated by God in the eschaton.
Paul argues that the only real expectation put on a leader is faithfulness.
From here Paul is going to connect this back to the big problem he is dealing with in Corinth, disunity that seems to be rooted in pride.
Again, in 1 Corinthians 4:6-21 Paul appeals to the Corinthians to demonstrate humble unity,
Body (Scripture all at once)
Arrogance has no place in the Christian walk (4:6-8)
The first problem that Paul seeks to tackle in this section is the problem of arrogance. In order to tackle the problem of arrogance Paul uses himself and Apollos as an example. He has just stated that the only one who should judge his work is God and he even goes so far as to say that he, Paul, is not qualified to judge himself (4:4).
We tend to hold too high a view of ourselves and “our people” (6-7).
In verses 1-5 Paul suggested that he was not even qualified to judge himself and so how could anyone be qualified to elevate themselves above another.
In fact, Paul argues that we must view ourselves through the lens of Scripture.
In verse Seven Paul gets to three significant question: who? what? why?
Who is the one who judges you to be better than someone else?
Paul has just said that only God is qualified to judge someone (4:1-5). The individual who judges themselves as better than another is taking the place of God and that goes beyond Scripture!
What do you think that you have done yourself that is so good?
If we truly believe that everything we have is from God as a gift then the fact that someone may have a different gift than someone else is not a testament to anybody other than God. To say otherwise is to go beyond Scripture.
Why do you boast?
If we believe that only God is qualified to judge and that nothing we have is of ourselves then we really have nothing in which to boast.
Don’t over value the “already” while under-estimating the “not-yet” (8).
Paul now proceeds to ask a series of rhetorical questions. The questions are filled with irony and sarcasm.
Already you have all you want - do you really believe you have all the spiritual food you need?
Already you have become rich - do you really think that God has blessed you as much as he can/will?
You have begun to reign - do you really think this is all that the Kingdom of God will be?
The answer is obviously no, our world is far from the perfection that God will usher in when His kingdom is fully realized. We are in the already, but the not yet is still to come!
In fact, this is exactly what Paul is saying in the end of verse 8, "I wish that you really had begun to reign so that we also might reign with you"
Paul eagerly anticipates the "not-yet" and longs for that time. If it had come Paul would be truly excited.
MTR: Root out arrogance in your life!
The apostolic model reminds us that we should not boast in the things of the world. (9-14)
The emphasis in verse 9 is on the contrast, those who think they have arrived must realize just how far they are from Christ.
The problem is that we can mistakingly look at our worldly circumstances and use those to evaluate our spiritual situation.
Picture a procession into a Roman arena, after a military victory
At the front of the procession are the worthies of society and the soldiers with their pomp and circumstance who enter the arena and take their thrones.
At the end of the procession are the victims, the captives, those who are entering the arena about to be killed by wild beasts.
The entire arena watches the spectacle to see the cost of defying the Roman Empire
Only here it is not the whole Roman Empire, it is the cosmos to whom God displays the cost of discipleship.
The things of God stand in sharp contrast to the things of the world (10).
Three contrasts show that following Christ has a real worldly cost.
Truly following Christ will often look foolish to the world.
I strongly believe you should be giving at least 10% of your income to Christ! To the world this is crazy.
Truly following Christ will require admission and embracing of significant weakness.
The world tells us you can do anything you set your mind to. Our message is that without Christ you can do nothing!
Truly following Christ will require that you give up your honor to Christ.
You may be the wealthiest, most educated, most talented, but Christ may call you to work with the homeless, he may call you to work with toddlers, he may call you to clean a bathroom, or shampoo the carpet.
The tyranny of wealth and want need to be replaced with an eschatological perspective (11-13).
Suffering is not a stage of spiritual development that you grow out of, Paul,"to this very hour" endured suffering throughout his ministry.
The list shows that bearing one's cross is far more than a minor inconvenience.
Hunger and thirst.
lack of clothing
brutally treated
homelessness
hard manual labor
gracious responses to being cursed
endurance of persecution
gracious response to slander
becoming sum and garbage in the eyes of the world.
Don't feel ashamed of your blessings. Rather humbly put your focus on Christ (14).
None of us check all the boxes.
I think that verse 14 is incredibly important. None of us in this room can check all of the boxes listed in verses 11-13. We had a missionary come and speak a few weeks ago and he could check a few more boxes but not all the boxes.
Instead of feeling shame we should make sure our aim is eschatological.
Humility dictates that we recognize that worldly blessings may be in the way of true self-reflection of our walk.
MTR: Ask yourself, am I allowing the world to influence my self-perception?
The tools for spiritual growth are available and we are expected to use them (15-21).
If you look underneath all that Paul has said what we find is a pretty strong implication. The Corinthians are not as spiritually mature as they think they are. So the natural question that needs addressing is how should they grow? The answer, is through the tools that they have been provided.
Imitation of the spiritually mature is a natural way to grow (15-16).
One of the most important tools in the spiritual growth toolbox is imitation. In Greek society a family often had a private tutor for the children.
The παιδαγωγός (teacher) in Greek culture was a trusted slave often pictured with a stick because they were seen as task masters.
In contrast the father is the one whom the child desires to grow up to be like.
Paul is reminding the Corinthians that his comments are not as a strict taskmaster but as a loving father who wants to see the Corinthians come to spiritual maturity.
This is not just a mere job or duty for Paul, this is his passion.
The command Paul gives is for the the Corinthians to follow his lead.
The command to imitate is not a command to live life as a traveling missionary, but to live a life that is willing to give it all up for the cause of Christ.
Paul has already argued and will continue to argue that different people have different roles. Imitation is not imitation in actions but imitation in attitude.
Instruction from a spiritual leader is an important way to grow (17).
Timothy was an important trusted church leader.
The son of a Jewish mother and Greek father Timothy came to know Christ at a young age and became one of Paul's trusted traveling companions. Paul's letters to Timothy demonstrate a closeness and mentorship that appear to have been incredibly beneficial to both Timothy and Paul.
Paul's endorsement of Timothy shows us that we can and should learn from spiritual leaders.
The point is that we all need to be discipled!
Spiritual growth is a reasonable expectation to which we are held (18-21).
Here Paul calls for action. He has now warned the people about the difference between the world's view and God's view. Now it is time for the people to grow up, stop using worldly judgement and move into real Spiritual growth.
