Sermon Tone Analysis

*1 Corinthians 4:1-2…* People should think about us this way—as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. 2 Now what is sought in stewards is that one be found faithful.

*Commentary*

            The Apostle Paul concludes his argument from the previous chapters of his letter to the Corinthians by commanding the members of that church to think of himself, Apollos, and Peter as “servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God.”

No one is greater than the other.

Whereas Paul initially spoke of farming in reference to the knowledge of Christ (sowing and watering seeds), later spoke of building a house in relation to the Christian life (laying a foundation and building upon it), now he moves to household servants under divine authority.

He wants everyone who knows him, Apollos, and Peter to know them as “servants of Christ.”

He knew that his once impeccable authority among the Corinthians was being chastised.

They had judged him according to his perceived “unwise” preaching (1:17); for the weak way that he dealt with them (2:3); for his elementary teaching of the cross of Christ (3:2) in speaking to them as infants; and his insistence that he was a “wise master-builder” laying a foundation (3:10).

All of this added up to their judging him and scorning the cross of Christ in favor of worldly wisdom.

Now Paul wants to stress that though he does in fact belong to the Corinthians as one who had a large part in their conversion to Christ, he was not in fact accountable to them.

He is only accountable to God, the One whom he serves.

In 3:5-9 Paul called himself a “servant,” and he used the Greek word /diakonos/ (deacon).

This word signifies his task /under God’s authority/.

Now, however, he uses the more general Greek word /hyperetas/ (an under-rower) to describe his service to God.

This word has the connotation of administering the affairs of another.

It was used of the lowest of slaves in the Roman empire who were in charge of rowing the huge Roman Navy ships below the main deck.

Paul is saying, “We are not the captains of the ship.

We are only the slaves under orders to row the ship.

None of us outranks the other, for we are all just under-rowers.”

This is how Paul wanted Christians to view him, Apollos, and Peter as well.

Not only were these men to be considered “under-rowers” – servants of God – they were also “stewards of the mysteries of God.”

A “steward” was one who owned nothing but managed His master’s possessions.

In this case, Paul is the steward, and he was responsible for the things of God.

Therefore he only answers to God for his service.

This is why he isn’t accountable to his fellow servants /in how he serves/ (he would be in the case of sinful behavior however).

His specific service was to dispense the “mysteries of God.”

A mystery is a once-hidden secret now revealed.

The “mystery” Paul speaks of is the cross of Christ (the death of God).

He laid that foundation without error and without apology because it was his task as God’s steward.

The only thing Paul was pressing for was faithfulness to his task in verse 2. A good steward is faithful to his~/her task, and that is exactly what Paul was… faithful to lay the foundation of Christ crucified.

*Food for Thought*

            Church leaders today are oftentimes hailed as “clergy” – a high ranking “tight-with-God” group of people who are above all the rest.

This is quite foreign to the Bible.

It speaks of God’s people as “servants” – those in charge of what God owns.

They are called “pastors” – literally “shepherds” who were the lowest of servants watching over sheep all day and night.

That is how all Christians should be viewed, both by themselves and all others.

As servants of God – who alone is to be hailed – they must serve their Master.

God’s servants own nothing; He owns it all, and even though our fellow servants may examine us and critique our service, we answer only to our Master.

In the end, the bottom line is this: “Have you been faithful to your Master?”

*1 Corinthians 4:3-4…* So for me, it is a minor matter that I am judged by you or by any human court.

In fact, I do not even judge myself.

4 For I am not aware of anything against myself, but I am not acquitted because of this.

The one who judges me is the Lord.

*Commentary*

            Paul previously stated that the Corinthians’ assessment of his leadership among them should not be judged.

The only service a servant of God is to be judged for is whether he~/she is faithful to his~/her task.

The /service/ of God’s servants is never to be scrutinized by fellow servants.

Since they belong to God, only God can truly judge their service to Him.

As long as the servant is faithful to the service in which he~/she is called there is no judgment to be had.

However, God’s people /must/ judge between right and wrong behavior because immoral behavior among God’s people reflects not only on the Church but ultimately on God Himself.

For Paul, in verse 3, he believed it to be of little importance that he was being critiqued by such shallow and immature Christians.

Furthermore, he considered it a “minor matter” to be critiqued by anyone for the way he was serving God by laying the foundation of Jesus Christ.

There was no man or human court that he considered worthy to judge his service to God.

As a matter of fact, he would not even judge himself.

His personal evaluations of himself were irrelevant.

MacArthur says, “No Christian, no matter how advanced in the faith, is able to properly evaluate his own spiritual life.

Before we know it, we will be ranking ourselves, classifying ourselves, and discover that a great deal of time is being spent in thinking of nothing but ourselves.

The bias in our own favor and the tendency of the flesh toward self-justification make this a dangerous prospect.”

Paul’s only concern was what his Master thought of him.

In verse 4 Paul elaborates on what he said in verse 3. Though he doesn’t feel the need to scrutinize his service to the Lord in verse 3, he’s also not aware of anything that warrants such scrutiny.

It’s not that Paul wasn’t looking into his own motives as to why he was laying the foundation of Jesus Christ through his evangelistic service; it’s simply that he knew he was being faithful to the task in which he had been called.

His faithfulness to the task meant that his conscience was clear.

However, this in itself did not “acquit” him.

The perfect passive verb form of “acquit” here means “to be made righteous.”

In other words, just because Paul felt no need to scrutinize himself because of no perceived personal sin, this in itself didn’t mean that he was innocent.

He knew that God would have the final say, not his own free conscience.

To illustrate, we might take the popular notion today that some have about right and wrong.

Some believe that “if it’s right for you then it must be right.”

Paul said that his conscience was clear in reference to his service to God, but this in itself didn’t make him “righteous” any more so than thinking if something is right for you then it must in fact be right.

God was his final judge in all things.

*Food for Thought*

            As God’s servants we are to be critiqued in our service to Him /only by Him/.

We must not, however, fail to judge immoral behavior in our fellow believers.

For instance, we must not tell someone that they shouldn’t serve God in the foreign mission field.

If that’s where God has led them to serve Him, who are we to say any different?

However, when that same person who wants to serve God in the foreign mission field has an extramarital affair or cheats on his~/her tax return, for instance, they /must/ be judged by their brothers in Christ.

Their sin must be confronted by those who are spiritual, and it must be confessed and repented of by the offender.

We are obligated to judge the immoral behavior of other Christians (Matt.

18:15ff), but we are forbidden to judge their service to God (1 Cor.

2:15).

The former is encouraged; the latter is a sin.

*1 Corinthians 4:5…* So then, do not judge anything before the time.

Wait until the Lord comes.

He will bring to light the hidden things of darkness and reveal the motives of hearts.

Then each will receive recognition from God.

 

*Commentary*

            Drawing the logical conclusion in verse 5, Paul says, “Don’t judge anything before the time.”

In verses 3-4 Paul uses a word for “judge” that literally means “to search out; to investigate.”

He told them that it was a small thing to him for them to examine him, and furthermore, that he himself wasn’t even searching out his own life.

Paul’s only concern was what God would determine about him through His “examination.”

Now, however, in verse 5, Paul uses another Greek word when he says “do not judge…” Whereas the previous word he used which is normally translated as “judge” actually means “to examine,” now he uses the word properly translated “judge.”

This particular word means to “decide; to condemn.”

The former word has to do with an investigation, and the latter word has to do with sentencing.

In other words, Paul is telling the church in Corinth to stop investigating him in vv.

3-4 because the true judgment is coming from God in verse 5 in a yet future time.

The Corinthians, because of their fascination with worldly wisdom, were scrutinizing and  passing judgment on their Christians leaders.

Worldly wisdom begets this because it pits Godly wisdom against its own interpretation of truth – foolishness to God.

Nothing, however, is to be judged before the “time.”

The “time” here has to do with the sentence that immediately follows – the Day the Lord returns to earth.

Paul is speaking eschatologically (of the end times).

His whole life was spent serving God in the capacity that God called him to serve (laying the foundation of Jesus Christ), and since he knew he was being faithful, along with his brothers Peter and Apollos, he felt there was no need to judge their faithfulness.