Originally delivered at New Hope Community Church on July 11, 2021.

The Divided Corinthian Church

Before we dive into Scripture, I'd first like to provide some context to where we find ourselves as we begin 1 Corinthians 4. My primary goal for anyone reading this is for you to learn God’s Word. So we start with the context of where we’re about to study, chapter 4. We see that the church in Corinth is divided. Paul is still dealing with this issue of division. And that they’re divided over ministers, for a couple of reasons: 1) they didn’t understand what a minister was, and 2) they didn’t understand what a minister was supposed to do.

In other words, they didn’t understand the message or the messenger, but they were puffed up with pride and their evaluations based on this pride led to this division – so Paul deals with this in this chapter.

And throughout this chapter here’s what he does, he gives us a couple of characteristics that are found in every true minister.

An Internship in Las Vegas

In the summer of 2013, I had an internship at a church in Las Vegas. I had originally gone there to be a graphic design intern – but the most impactful moment of that entire summer was going to a camp [that I really didn’t want to go to] was where three of the students who were atheists ended up accepting Christ by the end of the week. 

Today, I’d like to share a little more about that story that occurred a few years later.

Before coming to New Hope, I worked at a couple of different places – 1) an ad agency as a graphic designer and web developer, and 2) a software and web development company as a project manager. 

It was shortly before leaving the software development company that I truly started to embrace where I thought I was being called in life. I knew I was supposed to be in the church, as it was the only place that I wanted to spend my life serving. But I didn’t know exactly what that looked like. In fact, I thought, in my naivety, that it looked like me going to seminary and then getting handed a job as the pastor of a church somewhere. Just like that. That easy. 

So what I had done was find a few seminaries that I was interested in, and then started the application process. I talked to my parents about it, and I’m sure that they were thrilled that their son who had gone to Texas Tech for a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree, and then the Art Institute of Dallas for a Master’s Degree, and then Villanova for a Master’s Certification, was now calling them on the phone with the amazing news that he wanted to get another degree. 

I’m joking, mostly, they were incredibly supportive and so I then started reaching out to pastors that knew me and that I thought would be willing to write a couple of letters of recommendation that I could send out with my applications. 

I’ll never forget the phone call that I had with Jud Wilhite, the Senior Pastor of Central Christian Church out in Vegas. I was telling him all about how I felt that I was supposed to be in the church, and that I was supposed to be teaching people about God, and that I wanted to go to seminary. Basically, I said that I needed to minister to people and that I needed to go to seminary so I could work in the church and do that.

He listened as I told him all of this, and said that it was awesome that I was feeling like that’s where I needed to be, but it was his question back to me that hit harder than anything I was expecting.

He asked, and I’m paraphrasing, “If you want to be in ministry, let me ask you this: what are you doing to further your own personal ministry right now?”

I didn’t really have an answer.

But as I was preparing for this morning, this memory kept coming back into my head as I realized that these few characteristics that Paul will show us in this chapter are to be found not only in just every true minister but in every Christian. And that’s because every Christian is to be a minister.

Characteristics of a True Minister

1. Faithfulness

So as we now dive into the Bible, let’s begin with the first characteristic of a true minister, and that is faithfulness (vv. 1-6).

"This is how one should regard us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. Moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found faithful. But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by any human court. In fact, I do not even judge myself. For I am not aware of anything against myself, but I am not thereby acquitted. It is the Lord who judges me. Therefore do not pronounce judgment before the time, before the Lord comes, who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart. Then each one will receive his commendation from God. I have applied all these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, brothers, that you may learn by us not to go beyond what is written, that none of you may be puffed up in favor of one against another." - 1 Corinthians 4:1-6 (ESV)

So what is Paul saying here? What does this mean? 

Paul is telling the Corinthians, “I want you to have the right understanding of me. I want you to have the right understanding of my ministry. I don’t want you to be puffed up and divided over ministers.”

Now the keyword in these verses, 1-6, as I pointed out, is this word faithful.

Again, v. 2, “it is required of [God’s] stewards that they be found faithful.” Notice he doesn’t say eloquent, clever, he doesn’t say good looking – and thank God for that.

On a serious note: the word to focus on here, again:

Faithful. 

God wants ministers to be faithful. God wants of me, of you, of us, to be faithful. To break this down – what does it mean to be faithful? We find in the text what characterstics are to be found in a minister who is faithful.

They are to be:

1. Faithful to God

2. Faithful to His Word

3. Faithful to His calling

4. Faithful to God’s people

In short, faithfulness is doing what God has commanded us to do. It’s easy to say, right? 

But, I’ll ask you, how about you? Are you faithful?

If we were to ask those who know you well, would they say, “He’s a faithful son, she’s a faithful daughter. He’s a faithful husband, she’s a faithful wife. Faithful father….faithful mother…Absolutely they’re a faithful Christian, and faithful to God and His Word.” 

Now, I’m not asking you anything that I wouldn’t ask of myself. When Jud asked me what I was doing to further my ministry, it was as if I was being asked there on the phone, “are you faithful to the ministry that God has given you?”

Faithfulness is to be the mark of a true child of God.

Now, there were two main areas in which we see Paul wanting to be found faithful.

1. As a servant

2. As a steward

We know this from the first sentence of chapter 4. We’re going to read two different versions of verse 1:

"This is how one should regard us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God." - 1 Corinthians 4:1 (ESV, emphasis added)

"Let a man so account of us, as of the ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God." - 1 Corinthians 4:1 (KJV, emphasis added)

Now let me ask you this, what is a minister?

Well, it comes down to that one word difference – right? 

And this is important because when we look at the original Greek to see what word was used here, it’s a different word than what is normally used for “servant.” 

Normally the word used for servant is διάκονος (diakonos) – Paul even used this exact word in chapter 3. But in this verse, he uses a different word, a unique word, and it’s the only time that Paul ever uses it, and it is ὑπηρέτης (hypēretēs). This word literally means an underrower. In ancient Greek it was common to see this word when referring to a slave who would row in the lower level of oars on a large ship.

I’m going to assume that most of us have seen Ben-Hur right? Or a movie where there are people down rowing the ship, and the soldiers are walking by, there’s the guy on the drums. 

“Row! Row!” 

Underrowers.

I think it’s incredibly interesting/amazing that Paul deliberately uses this word here, the only time he ever uses it, to describe ministers of Christ. You know, a lot of times we elevate ministers to this high level or place. But Paul says here, we are to be underrowers of the Church. There’s a quote by a professor of theology at Princeton Theological Seminary by the name of Charles Erdman, who put it like this:

"A minister is a servant of the church, but the church is not his master.”

Charles R. Erdman, Sr., Professor of Theology, Princeton Theological Seminary

And I love this – I am a servant of the church, but the joke’s on you – you're not my master. My job isn’t “you should be doing this, you should be doing that,” it’s instead to do what God tells me to do, based on what His Word tells me to do.

A minister is a servant to the church, but the church is not his master, God is.

And, as is the theme of this message, the same is true for you. When we get to heaven we don’t stand in front of our church and give an account for what we did. And praise God for that, right? Because God is merciful. People can get mean in a hurry sometimes. So God is my master, and I am a servant to His people. And that’s why we see Paul use that word there, ὑπηρέτης (hypēretēs).

Moving on from “as servants [or ministers] of Christ” to “stewards of the mysteries of God.” And continuing into verse 2, "Moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found faithful." Now this word “steward” was used for someone who managed his master’s estate. He managed everything that was given to his master. Paul uses this word, “steward,” twice in these verses.

Do you remember Joseph, in the Old Testament, who was sold into slavery? And he ended up with Potifar. Potifar was a rich man, he had lot of “stuff” and he turned it all over to Joseph. He didn’t know how much money he had, didn’t know how much food he had, didn’t know how many camels he had. Joseph took care of everything. 

A steward, if he wanted to, could easily take advantage of his master – if he wasn’t truly honest. 

We see in the story with Joseph that Potifar didn’t know everything he had, but trusted Joseph to manage it, and trusted him with it. The steward had to be faithful (there’s that word again) to feed the other servants and the family, to grow the crops, store them in the barn. He was really the overseer. And that’s the role of the minister, he is the overseer of the household of God, of faith.

I’ll put it this way, ministers are stewards who are to share God’s word with God’s people. 

God entrusts His Word to the minister, and the minister faithfully dispenses it to God’s people. 

We don’t invent ideas to preach on, we don’t come up with our ministry and what it looks like, but it all comes from the Bible. From His Word.

It is then “fed” to God’s people – the ministers are the steward, and you are the household of God, the children of God, and it’s my job to be faithful to what God’s called me to do, and that’s to give the Word, the bread of life (John 6:35). Nothing more, nothing less. Not to add to or take away from it, and not to twist it (Revelation 22:18). 

John R. W. Stott has a quote that I love from a series of lectures he gave at Fuller Seminary in 1962 called the Preacher’s Portrait. He says:

"…the ‘mysteries of God’ are God’s open secrets, the sum total of His self-revelation which is now embodied in the scriptures. Of these revealed ‘mysteries’ the Christian preacher is the steward, charged to make them further known to the household."

John R. Stott, Theologian, "The Preacher's Portrait"

Remember back to verse 1, ministers are to be stewards of the mysteries of God. And they’re contained in the Bible. It’s almost as if God reached down, gave us a Bible, and says here’s the food for the household of God. Here’s how to lead, guide, and feed my children. And it’s the job of the minister is to be faithful to do it. Now there’s some imagery and applications here, one of which I want to focus on – and it’s that the minister/preacher should be motivated to trustworthiness.

Imagine someone invites you over to their house, and they say, "Here are the keys. Also, here’s where I keep all my food. Also, here’s all my money. Also, take care of my family." What would you think? You’d probably be like, “Man, you really trust me! That’s a great and huge responsibility.” And what a great and huge responsibility it is that God has trusted us with His Word. And it’s our job, again, to be faithful enough to dispense it. So I’m answerable to God that I have faithfully served His children.

Now, I’m standing up here on this stage before you with a Bible in my hands. And many of you are sitting in the pews with a bible in your hands, as well (or on your phones). Guess what? God has entrusted you with His Word as well. If you’re studying, learning, applying, growing in your knowledge, then you also have a responsibility to dispense His Word to others. Your family, kids, neighbors, coworkers, clients, bosses – be faithful to what you were called to do.

Back to Jud’s question, “are you faithful to the ministry that God has given you?”

From that same lecture I mentioned earlier, John R. W. Stott also said this:

"If the steward is not expected to feed the household out of his own pocket, the preacher is not to provide his own message by his own ingenuity…Thus if we are good stewards, we shall not presume to tamper with God’s Word."

John R. W. Stott, Theologian, "The Preacher's Portrait

God provides the message. We are to share it.

I think back to some specific sermons I heard my freshman year in college (I’m not going to name where) in which the preacher read a verse, and spent the rest of the sermon launched out into space into a lesson about Bono from U2. Which it may have been different, who knows, if the two, the story and the verse, ever came back together again, but they didn’t. I just remember sitting there thinking, “what happened to the Bible?”

We’re to faithfully stay with the Word of God and feed it to others as stewards.

As I’ve been transitioning into this role of Associate Pastor here at New Hope, I’ve had the incredible opportunity to get to talk to some of you much more than I have in my previous role (which I’m incredibly thankful for, and that I love). I’ve also spent quite a bit of time before and during this transition reading and studying a lot about my role and how I can best serve the church.

Then one day I came upon this quote by Stuart Briscoe, a pastor, and author:

"Qualifications of a pastor: the mind of a scholar, the heart of a child, and the hide of a rhinoceros."

Stuart Briscoe

And this really made me think. This goes beyond just pastors but directly applies to all of us. The more you are with people, the more you are with the world, you realize the importance of having thick skin. It can be so easy to get caught up in criticism, or negative comments that don’t have any sort of constructive substance. It’s not easy to keep your heart soft throughout all of that. It’s not easy to keep from letting unsubstantiated criticism, or issues, or things you deal with, change you. 

And it can be a difficult thing when people start to evaluate your ministry.

I want to tell you one more story this morning from back in the spring of 2013. A new crime-fiction novel was published by a brand new author by the name of Robert Galbraith. When it hit the shelves, it received generally positive reviews but sales weren’t really all that great. In fact, they were modest, I’d say, at best for a major book release from a large publisher. Over its first three months on the shelves, it had sold 8,500 copies. By the time that the summer had rolled around, sales had dropped significantly. To the tune of only selling 43 copies the week of July 7, 2013. 

But here’s the insane thing. The name of this book is called The Cuckoo’s Calling

And the week of July 14, 2013, it sold 17,662 copies. 

What made the sales of this book jump 41,000%? 

How did this book, basically overnight, rise to the number 1 selling book in the U.S. and U.K. just a week after only selling 43 copies? 

Well – it came out that Robert Galbraith was a pseudonym (or pen name, an alias) for J. K. Rowling, author of the Harry Potter series.

And when her real name was released, Rowling was upset. She was furious to the point that she sued the the law firm had revealed her name.

But you know, and here’s the reason I share this story with you, we would like to think that our world is fair. We’d like to think that our world doesn’t evaluate someone solely on the basis of their name, of their status, or of their position.

But as we can all probably personally attest to, and as we clearly see in this story, we find that evaluations can often be multi-layered and multifaceted. What’s the difference between Galbraith and Rowling? Nothing, except for a name. A name and a reputation.

Here’s the truth of the matter though, we’re all evaluators. And we’re all evaluated. We judge people, we judge places, all by a diverse web of standards that we’ve weaved together in our minds over the course of our lives. And the inverse is true as well – others evaluate us by the same or similar set of standards that they’ve weaved together over the course of their lives. As a society, as humans, often we find ourselves almost relishing the opportunity to evaluate others, but don’t want to be evaluated. We’re fearful of what others think about us. 

But if we go back to verse 2, “Moreover it is required of stewards that they be found faithful.”

Who requires this faithfulness? Who will find the minister faithful?

God.

Now as we will read in verse 3, Paul gives us 3 judgments that will be in the life of the steward.

"But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by any human court. In fact, I do not even judge myself." - 1 Corinthians 4:3 (ESV)

1. Man’s Judgment

“it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by any human court.” Paul’s basically telling the Corinthians here, “I don’t really care what you think of me. You don’t have to like me, but I’m going to be faithful to God’s Word.” In fact, we’re told that if the world hates us, to remember that they hated Christ first (John 15:18). 

2. Then the next thing is self-judgment, which can be an incredibly dangerous thing for a minister, and an incredibly dangerous thing for Christians. 

Let’s read verse 4:

"For I am not aware of anything against myself, but I am not thereby acquitted. It is the Lord who judges me." - 1 Corinthians 4:4 (ESV)

It can be a dangerous thing for a minister to get introspective. 

“What do the people think about me?”

“Do people like me?”

It’s our role as Christians to let God judge our hearts and to do our best to follow His Word. To do our best to live as Christians should live, according to His word.

3. At the end of verse 4 we see the third type of judgment that the minister will experience, and that is God’s judgment.

Paul says, “It is the Lord who judges me.”

It’s not going to be me, it’s not going to be Josh who will be sitting on the throne on the Day of Judgment, judging you based on your works. It doesn’t work like that. And again, praise God for that. It’s God, in His perfect knowledge and wisdom who knows our hearts. It’s God we all will answer to someday. But what we see Paul concerned with here is that final judgment, the final evaluation. When each of us as God’s servants will stand before the Judgment Seat of Christ. As Paul writes in a later letter to the church of Corinth, we have in 2 Corinthians 5:10:

"For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil." - 2 Corinthians 5:10 (ESV)

This is known in the original language, and I want to emphasize this word, as the judgment, or Bema, Seat of Christ.

It’s easy to read this verse, and think to yourself, “Wait, you mean that even though I’m saved, I’m going to stand in front of Christ on his judgment seat and be judged?”

Yep. That’s exactly what I mean.

You will stand before Jesus and be judged. But not for your sin – that was dealt with on the cross. As a Christian, you won’t stand in front of Him and be condemned for your sin. That was dealt with, when you accepted Christ as your savior and accepted his atonement for your sins.

Instead what we find in Scripture is that we will be rewarded on how faithfully we served Christ (we see this in 1 Corinthians 9:4-27; 2 Timothy 2:5). We see in Scripture some of the things we might be taken into account are how well we obeyed the Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20), how victorious we were over sin (Romans 6:1-4), and how well we controlled our tongues (James 3:1-9). 

But what’s more, is that we see that the Bible does teach that we can absolutely serve faithfully so that we can thereby “save up for ourselves treasures in heaven.” Jesus tells us that in Matthew 6:19-20.

We will all stand before God.

The only thing that matters is that when we get to heaven we hear, “Well done my good and faithful servant!” (Matthew 25:21). It doesn’t matter how much money you have, what cars you drove, how famous you were. What matters is that you hear, “Well done my good and faithful servant!” With that being said, if I make you happy, then I’m glad – but if you don’t like me – so what? And I don’t mean that from a place of arrogance or anything along those lines. What I mean is that as long as we’re faithful to His Word, that’s the mentality we allshould have. Life isn’t a popularity contest. The only thing that matters is that one voice – “Well done my good and faithful servant.”

And here we see the application of this in verse 5:

"Therefore do not pronounce judgment before the time, before the Lord comes, who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart. Then each one will receive his commendation from God." - 1 Corinthians 4:5 (ESV)

It’s important when reading this to keep in mind the focus and context of this passage. It’s easy for us to take this to mean don’t judge anyone for anything, ever. That’s not what is being said here – correcting a brother in Christ who is clearly struggling with a sin, a sin that we don’t also struggle with, is what we are to do as loving Christians when we see another brother or sister in Christ struggling with sin.

So let’s talk about what this means, “Do not pronounce judgment before the time.” 

God has a day planned when He will both bring to light the things hidden in the darkness and disclose the purposes of men’s hearts. What Paul is talking about here is the ultimate judgment of every kind, including the evaluation of His servants’ ministries. And this judgment will be by Him and it will be in His time. God’s people, including the ministers, have no business passing judgment before [that] time.

“Isn’t that a great church, he’s clearly walking closer with the Lord than the guy at that church.” “I saw what she posted on Facebook, there’s no way that she’s a Christian.” “He’s only teaching that group because he wants the recognition of it.” “He’s only a pastor because of this or that…” Let God determine someone’s faithfulness. Let God determine the state of the heart. And the next part of the verse:

“…who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart.” – 1 Corinthians 4:5b (ESV)

These two phrases together, ”do not pronounce judgment before the time,” and “who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart” refer to the attitudes of our inward selves, which only God can see. So we see here is that only our actions but our attitudes and motives for which we performed our actions will be judged. For example, you could say, “Jesus, remember how many times I taught a Connect Group at New Hope?” And He’ll say, “Oh yeah, I do remember. But let’s look at why you taught those Connect Groups.” 

And was it because you wanted your name on the website or app as the teacher of a group? Was it for your own recognition? Was it a way for you to be accepted? Or, was it because you want to do it because you wanted to be faithful to God?

The why behind our actions matter.

So we have 1) don’t pronounce judgment before the time, and then 2) make sure you use the right standards, verse 6:

"I have applied all these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, brothers, that you may learn by us not to go beyond what is written, that none of you may be puffed up in favor of one against another." - 1 Corinthians 4:6 (ESV)

2. Humility

So we see the church had a false standard against which they were judging one another.

This is because they were proud of their human wisdom and proud of their human leaders. It was due to that worldly, carnal pride that caused the serious divisions that plagued the church. Those leaders, Paul, Apollos, and Cephas were godly and humble servants of the Lord, and truthfully, the Corinthians had much reason to be grateful for God having sent them such men. But here’s the problem. Instead of being grateful they were proud.

So again, remember, the first mark of a true minister is faithfulness. The second mark of a true minister is in verses 7-13. Humility – or humbleness.

And, by the way, you can ask anyone who knows me, and they’re going to tell you that I’m the most humble. Of anyone. Ever (that's a joke, by the way).

"For who sees anything different in you? What do you have that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it? Already you have all you want! Already you have become rich! Without us you have become kings! And would that you did reign, so that we might share the rule with you! For I think that God has exhibited us apostles as last of all, like men sentenced to death, because we have become a spectacle to the world, to angels, and to men. We are fools for Christ’s sake, but you are wise in Christ. We are weak, but you are strong. You are held in honor, but we in disrepute. To the present hour we hunger and thirst, we are poorly dressed and buffeted and homeless, and we labor, working with our own hands. When reviled, we bless; when persecuted, we endure; when slandered, we entreat. We have become, and are still, like the scum of the world, the refuse of all things." 1 Corinthians 4:7-13 (ESV)

And as the Paul says to this church, “We’re not who you think we are.” And gives amazing examples, imagery, and contrasts to illustrate this. And as we go about our day today, as you go out to lunch with friends and family and go to work this week, I want you to hang on to this: Life is a stewardship, so be faithful. Times come where we judge ourselves, we judge others, we can even lovingly correct those who we notice are struggling with a sin that we ourselves don’t struggle with. But we need to be careful not to make judgment calls about someone else’s heart. God is the ultimate judge – so live to please Him. Live to please Jesus Christ, and if you do so, you’ll have a fulfilling and joyful life. 

Notice I’m not saying an easy life. Nowhere in the Bible are we promised, as Christians, an easy life. But I can guarantee that your life following Christ will be fulfilling. It will be joyful in Him. 

Life, as we’ve seen is a gift. Be humble.

Life is a gift, be humble. Thank God, everyday, for everything that He has given to you. Humbly thank God. 

We live in an incredibly wonderful part of this amazing country. We have a wonderful church, a wonderful Christian family. I could have stood up here today just listing things for us to be thankful for – but here’s the incredibly comforting thing: we didn’t do anything to earn any of it. It’s all by His grace that I can even write this message to share with you all.