1st Corinthians 4: Apostles of Christ

Paul here starts with the very core of Jesus' ministry. "Men ought to regard us as servants of Christ and as those entrusted with the secret things of God." This is so powerful! Look at all that comes from the blessing of God. We get to be His servants, but look at what we gain, "entrusted the secret things of God." Now that is some serious gain. As we offer ourselves to be obedient to the Word of Christ He grants us more and more trust over His wisdom. He loves us, so when we show Him we are faithful, He rewards us accordingly.

Next Paul makes a very interesting statement that I really love. In verses 3 and 4 he says this, "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 doesn't make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me." I'll admit I had to look down at the footnotes for this, but it was right on the money if you ask me. It talks about how Paul makes an openly admitted statement that he passes no judgment even on himself because he is human and his conscience can be mistaken and that only God is qualified to judge. He shows that the only way an accurate judgment can come from man is through the Holy Spirit and our minds are so feeble he doesn't even judge himself. This concept was foreign to me, but in the Christian life, it is almost a mandatory tool that the Holy Spirit enables us to have because as we mess up we can indeed inflict a sense of condemnation on ourselves. Rather than dwelling on his mistakes, he focuses on God's grace which gives him a clean conscience, and when he's obedient to God he won't have to feel disobedient anyway. It's the perfect system in reality. Focus on God's love and grace, and have peace in your soul. Simple and effective. (Not that it's actually simple to actually put into effect in our lives...)

Another interesting statement which is extremely important to the church and goes perfectly, hand in hand with the passage about division, in when he says, "...so that you may learn from us the meaning of the saying, 'Do not go beyond what is written.'" So often I feel our interpretations of things in the Bible cause us to not only miss the really important things in it, but actually cause us to begin to slip into foolish human pride. Paul also felt this way as he states right after, "Then you will not take pride in one man over against another." When we get caught up in the semantics of verses rather than putting things into context and "taking captive every thought and make it obedient to Christ" we cause levels of division in the church because we prize the opinions of men over what the Word clearly spells out. So we shouldn't take pride in our own interpretations for the Holy Spirit has already given us guidance through God's Word. All our interpretations are in reality are simplified versions of the truth so that we may more effectively reach other people. If your interpretation leads them away from the truth rather than towards it, it is not of the Holy Spirit. It's the perfect test, if you take the simplified, expanded version and enable them to understand the words straight from the text, you have effectively translated what the Holy Spirit was trying to speak through you. We need to take the Word for what it says rather than submitting it to human "wisdom", so then we can get the real truth out of it.

In verses 8-10 Paul begins to sarcastically compare what real Christians need to realize. We have wisdom, but the world should see us as fools for Christ, we have strength through Christ but the world sees us as weak, we should be dishonored by the world yet we seek for honor amongst them. This contrast is so striking to me because it reveals stumbling blocks in my own life. I feel so wise, strong, and honored, but I miss the point that I have been given these gifts by the Father, none of it is mine. Our fellow Christians will see and acknowledge the wisdom that God has given us, but if the world as a whole views you as wise, either they are all finally seeing the truth, or you aren't doing what you're supposed to be doing. Now, don't get me wrong...There will be people who will see your newly gifted wisdom as wisdom, however, the majority of people will be baffled by your actions and your words because it will run contrary to how they have chosen to live.

After this he then shows a radical difference between Christians and the world that we are supposed to abide by. In verses 11-13 he states, "To the present hour we both hunger and thirst, and we are poorly clothed, and beaten, and homeless. And we labor, working with our own hands. Being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we endure; being defamed, we entreat. We have been made as the filth of the world, the offscouring of all things until now." This is the definition of "walking the walk, not just talking the talk". See the fact of the matter is, you don't always have to be persecuted for your faith. There will be times when everything is going fine, and you are not being persecuted for what you believe, but what he means, and what the difference is, is when you are faced with these adversities, you are to handle them as Christ would to the best of your ability (which through the Holy Spirit is pretty darn well). After that you are also not to dwell when you mess up, but to accept and turn back towards grace for that is the only way we can function according to Jesus' high demand for our lives as humans. Without some divine intervention we can not even begin to do what He asked of us.

Lastly verses 19-20 come, and for me, this was the true meat of the whole chapter. In fact, it was the sole reason for me to put this all together. It states, "But I will come to you very soon, if the Lord is willing, and then I will find out not only how these arrogant people are talking, but what power they have. For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power." Here he shows the truth behind his whole message. The truth of about whether you are abiding by God's commands, and showing your obedience will be demonstrated through your actions and your power, not your words. Talking the talk isn't good enough. You have to walk it.

Challenge: WALK THE WALK