FIVE Models of Ministry
F I V E Models of Ministry 1 Corinthians 4
1 C O R I N T H I A N S 4
So then, men ought to regard us as servants of Christ and as those entrusted with the secret things of God. Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful. 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 does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me.
Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait till the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men's hearts. At that time each will receive his praise from God.
Now, brothers, I have applied these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, so that you may learn from us the meaning of the saying, "Do not go beyond what is written."
Then you will not take pride in one man over against another.
For who makes you different from anyone else? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?
Already you have all you want! Already you have become rich!
You have become kings—and that without us! How I wish that
you really had become kings so that we might be kings with you! For it seems to me that God has put us apostles on display at the end of the procession, like men condemned to die in the arena. We have been made a spectacle to the whole universe, to angels as well as to men. We are fools for Christ, but you are so wise in Christ! We are weak, but you are strong! You are honored, we are dishonored! To this very hour we go hungry and thirsty, we are in rags, we are brutally treated, we are homeless. We work hard with our own hands. When we are cursed, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it; when we are slandered, we answer kindly. Up to this moment we have become the scum of the earth, the refuse of the world.
I am not writing this to shame you, but to warn you, as my dear children. Even though you have ten thousand guardians in Christ, you do not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel. Therefore I urge you to imitate me. For this reason I am sending to you Timothy, my son whom I love, who is faithful in the Lord. He will remind you of my way of life in Christ Jesus, which agrees with what I teach everywhere in every church.
Some of you have become arrogant, as if I were not coming to you. 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. What do you prefer? Shall I come to you with a whip, or in love and with a gentle spirit?
Models of Ministry There is much contemporary confusion about the nature of the ordained pastoral ministry. What are clergy? Are they primarily priests, presbyters, pastors, prophets, preachers or psychotherapists? Are they administrators, facilitators, managers, social workers, evangelists or liturgists? There are many options.
Yet this uncertainty is not new. Throughout its long and checkered history the church has oscillated between the opposite extremes of clericalism (which puts clergy on a pedestal) and anticlericalism (which knocks them off again and even declares them redundant). Now that many churches have recovered the Pauline vision of the "every-member-ministry" of the body of Christ, radical questions are being asked. Are clergy necessary any longer? Are they not superfluous? Wouldn't the church be healthier without them? Should we perhaps form a Society for the Abolition of the Clergy?
In Mark Twain's book The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884), Huck gets into a conversation one day with Joanna, the youngest daughter of Peter Wilks, who has died. He tells her that in the church of the Rev. Harvey Wilks (her uncle from Shefield) there are "no less than seventeen clergy," although, he adds, "they don't all of 'em preach the same day—only one of 'em."
"Well, then, what does the rest of 'em do?"
"Oh, nothing much. Loll around, pass the plate—and one thing or another. But mainly they don't do nothing."
"Well, then," asks Joanna in wide-eyed astonishment, "what are they for?"
Basic Christian Leadership "Why, they're for style," Huck responds. "Don't you know nothing?"1
Actually, this confusion goes right back to the beginning. We recall the first-century Corinthian church, in which different factions were claiming the patronage of particular leaders, saying "I belong to Paul" or "I belong to Apollos" or "I belong to Peter." Paul is horrified by this personality cult. "What on earth do you think we are," he asks incredulously, speaking of the human leaders derogatorily in the neuter, "that you should pay such exaggerated deference to us?" (cf. 1 Cor 3:5).
And now in 1 Corinthians 4 the apostle proceeds to answer his own question. So then, men ought to regard us as . . . (v. 1) or "This is how one should regard us, as . . ." (RSV). He goes on to elaborate four essentials of authentic pastoral ministry. They describe in the first place Paul's own unique apostolic ministry, but in a secondary sense they also apply to all pastoral ministers today, especially when we remember Paul's injunction to the Corinthian leadership that they should imitate him (v. 16). He outlines four models of ministry.
1. PASTORS ARE THE SERVANTS OF CHRIST (4:1)
Before we can be ministers of the Word or ministers of the church, we must be ministers of Christ. Dr George Carey, Archbishop of Canterbury, has expressed this truth well. He has written that prior to everything to do with structures, management, policy and finance, is the bedrock of Christian assurance. For myself, . . . I remain convinced that above all else the [minister's] training must take the student more deeply and challengingly into relationship with Jesus.2
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The word for servants here is not diakonos (as in 3:5) but hype4rete4s. Robertson and Plummer write, "The word originally denoted those who row (eressein) in the lower tier of a trireme
[an ancient Greek three-tiered warship], and then came to mean those who do anything under another, and hence simply
'underlings.'"3 Nineteenth-century commentators followed this etymology, but it is questioned today. Tony Thiselton writes, "In classical Greek the word could mean underrower in appropriate contexts, but although Corinth was a seaport the addressees would probably not be expected to think primarily of this meaning."4
Of course, there are other New Testament texts that emphasize the nobility of the pastorate (e.g., 1 Tim 3:1) and call the church to hold its pastors in high esteem because of their work
(e.g., 1 Thess 5:12-13). Nevertheless, Paul begins his account of his own ministry with a title not of honor and glory but of lowliness. "We are . . . Christ's subordinates" (Revised English
Bible) or "underlings."
Fundamental to all Christian leadership and ministry is a humble personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ, devotion to him expressed in daily prayer and love for him expressed in daily obedience. Without this, Christian ministry is impossible. In addition to this, being Christ's subordinates, we are accountable to him for our service, for he is our
Lord and our judge. This fact brings both comfort and challenge.
On the one hand, being Christ's servant is a very comforting thing. It enables us to say: I care very little if I am judged by you or by any human court; indeed, I do not even judge myself (1 Cor
4:3). Paul elaborates: My conscience is clear (literally, "I know
Basic Christian Leadership nothing against myself"), but even a clear conscience does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me (v. 4).
Having insisted that he is accountable for his ministry to the Lord Jesus Christ his judge, and not to any human judges
(whether himself or others), he draws a practical conclusion:
Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time. Premature judgments are always unwise. So wait till the Lord comes, for then everything will be made clear. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men's hearts. Nothing will be concealed from him. There will be no possibility of a miscarriage of justice. At that time each will receive his praise (or censure) from God (v. 5).
Paul is not enunciating a merely abstract principle, he adds.
On the contrary, I have applied these things concretely or "as an object-lesson"5 to myself and Apollos for your benefit, so that you may learn from us the meaning of the saying, "Do not go beyond what is written," or do not go beyond Scripture. Then you will not take pride in one man over against another (v. 6), for Scripture continually humbles us and leaves us no room for boasting.
Paul brings these things home to the Corinthians by asking them a series of questions. First, Who makes you different from anyone else? The anticipated answer is that all distinctions between us come from God. Second, What do you have that you did not receive? Answer, nothing. Third, If you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not? (v. 7). No intelligent answer is possible; all boasting is frankly absurd.
This whole passage (vv. 3-7) emphasizes one main point, namely, that ministers of Christ (whatever form their ministry may take) are accountable to Christ for their ministry. Of course, we must listen to human criticism, however painful it
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may be, especially if it is untrue, unfair or unkind. But ultimately we are responsible to Christ, and I believe him to be a more just and merciful judge than any human being, committee, council or synod.
This tells us what to do with anonymous letters. They can be very hurtful, but if the author of a letter lacks the courage to divulge his or her identity, we should not take its message too seriously. A story is told of Joseph Parker, who occupied the pulpit of the City Temple in London when C. H. Spurgeon was preaching in the Metropolitan Tabernacle. One day, when Parker was climbing the steps to his pulpit, a lady in the gallery threw a piece of paper at him. He picked it up and read it. It contained only one word: "Fool!" Parker began his sermon with these words: "I have received many anonymous letters in my life. Previously they have been a text without a signature. Today for the first time I have received a signature without a text!"
However, if on the one hand it is a comforting thing to be accountable to Christ, on the other it is challenging, for his standards are high and holy. And though much of a pastor's work is unseen and unsupervised by human beings, yet we are always in his presence. And we shall never grow slack or careless if we remember that he is watching us and that one day we shall have to give an account to him.
2. PASTORS ARE THE STEWARDS OF REVELATION
(4:1-2) Returning to 1 Corinthians 4, Paul advances from our general responsibility as Christ's "servants" to our more particular duty as his "stewards." True, the word for steward (oikonomos) does not occur in the text, but the concept is there. We are those en-
Basic Christian Leadership trusted with the secret things of God, or "stewards of the mysteries of God" (RSV).
God's "mysteries" are of course his revealed secrets. They are truths hitherto concealed but now revealed, truths known only by revelation. These revealed truths relate to Christ, his salvation and the incorporation of Jews and Gentiles on equal terms in the body of Christ. Of these revealed truths, now contained in the New Testament, the apostles were the original stewards or trustees (cf. 2:10). But Christian pastors today, albeit in a secondary sense, are also stewards of divine revelation. God has entrusted the Scriptures to us that we in our turn may expound them to others. It is not an accident that in Anglican churches worldwide newly ordained presbyters are given a Bible as the symbol of their office. This reminds us of three important facts.
First, pastors are essentially teachers. This is evident from the ten conditions of eligibility for the presbyterate that Paul lays down in 1 Timothy 3. Nine of them are moral or social (e.g., self-controlled, hospitable, sober, gentle). Only one could be called a "professional" qualification, namely, didaktikos (v. 2), "a good teacher" (Revised English Bible).
Second, what we teach has been entrusted to us in the Scriptures; it is not our responsibility to invent or compose our message.
Third, we are required above all else to be faithful: "Now stewards are required to show themselves trustworthy" (1 Cor 4:2 Revised English Bible). That is, having received a trust, and having been appointed trustees, we are expected to be trustworthy.
Yet it is very easy to be unfaithful stewards, and I fear that there are many such in the church today—now rejecting the authority of the Word of God, now neglecting to study it, now
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failing to relate it sensitively to the contemporary world, now manipulating it to mean what they want it to mean, now selecting from it what they like and discarding what they do not like, now even contradicting its plain meaning and substituting for it their own threadbare speculations, and now flagrantly disobeying it in their own lives.
No wonder in many places the church languishes! So let's resolve instead to be faithful, to develop disciplined habits of study, to study both the ancient Word and the modern world in order to relate the one to the other, never knowingly twisting or distorting or disobeying the teaching of Scripture.
Donald Coggan, a former archbishop of Canterbury, wrote two books about preaching. In one of them, in a chapter titled
"The Preacher as Trustee," he writes:
The Christian preacher has a boundary set for him. When he enters the pulpit he is not an entirely free man. There is a very real sense in which it may be said of him that the Almighty has set him his bounds that he shall not pass. He is not at liberty to invent or choose his message; it has been committed to him, and it is for him to declare, expound and commend it to his hearers. . . . It is a great thing to come under the magnificent tyranny of the Gospel.6
3. PASTORS ARE THE SCUM OF THE EARTH
(4:8-13) In 1 Corinthians 4:8-13 the apostle uses three vivid metaphors from the Greco-Roman world to illustrate his theme. First, he takes us to a public amphitheater in which criminals fight to the death. Second, we find ourselves in a kitchen in which the floor is being swept and pots are being scraped. Third, we visit a plague-ridden city in which scapegoats are sacrificed to the gods.
Basic Christian Leadership First, we are in an amphitheater on a public holiday. For it seems to me, Paul writes, that God has put us apostles on display at the end of the procession, like men condemned to die in the arena (v.
9). The theater is packed with excited crowds. Event follows event throughout the day. Then, as the grand finale, criminals are either thrown to the lions or forced to fight with gladiators.
This is how Paul characterizes himself and his fellow apostles.
We have been made a spectacle to the whole universe, to angels as well as to men, a bit of cosmic theater.
Paul is deliberately contrasting himself with the smug security and self-satisfaction of the Corinthian Christians. Look back to the previous verse: Already, he writes with more than a touch of sarcasm, you have all you want! Already you have become rich! You have become kings—and that without us! How I wish that you really had become kings so that we might be kings with you! (v. 8). Twice he uses the "already" of a realized eschatology. "These highly blessed Corinthians are already in the kingdom of God, enjoying its banquets, its treasures and its thrones. . . . They have got a private millennium of their own."7 Everything for them is "already"; there is no corresponding "not yet." Already they are eating and drinking and reigning. Paul wishes he could join them in the celebration.
But he knows that the path to glory is suffering. It was for Jesus; it is for his followers too. They have forgotten the cross.
If the Corinthians are kings, the apostles are like criminals condemned to death.
Paul's second metaphor is that of the kitchen. At the end of verse 13 he uses two unusual words which have a somewhat similar meaning: Up to this moment we have become the scum of the earth, the refuse of the world. The first expression translates
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perikatharmata. Derived from perikatheiro4, "to clean thoroughly," it seems to refer to sweepings off the floor. The second expression translates peripse4ma. Derived from peripsao4, "to wipe clean," it seems to refer to scrapings from a dirty pot. Both allude to "the filth that one gets rid of through the sink or the gutter."8
In Paul's third picture we enter a Greek city stricken by some calamity like the plague. In order to appease the supposed anger of the pagan gods, some poor wretches are taken from the community, thrown into the sea and drowned. These scapegoats were called the dregs or scum of society. "That's what we are," writes Paul in effect (v. 13).
You will agree that these are extraordinary statements. Between verse 10 and verse 13 Paul explains. He is referring to his sufferings in contrast to Corinthian complacency. At the end of chapter 1 Paul argued that socially they were weak and foolish when God called them (1:26-29). Now he reverses the situation spiritually: We are fools for Christ, but you are so wise in Christ! We are weak, but you are strong! You are honored, we are dishonored!
(4:10).
Next Paul describes some of his physical privations and persecutions. To this very hour we go hungry and thirsty, we are in rags, we are brutally treated, we are homeless (v. 11). We work hard with our own hands (v. 12). But Paul knows the teaching and example of Jesus; he does not retaliate. On the contrary, when we are cursed, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it; when we are slandered, we answer kindly. Up to this moment we have become the scum of the earth, the refuse of the world (vv. 12-13).
It all sounds very remote from us. Most readers of these pages are likely to have a good job, a nice home, plenty to eat
Basic Christian Leadership and adequate clothing. In fact, the difficulty we have in applying this text to ourselves may indicate how far we have drifted from the New Testament. True, the persecution of Christians is increasing in some (especially Hindu and Muslim) cultures.
Yet most of us are not cursed, persecuted or slandered. Today, even in a non-Christian, pluralist or secular culture it is still regarded as quite respectable, even honorable, to be ordained to the clergy. In some countries, clergy receive tax and travel concessions. And some people even murder the English language and call us "reverend!"
But it is not so everywhere, and it should certainly not be taken for granted. I think we need to listen again to the words of Jesus: "Woe to you when all men speak well of you" (Lk
6:26). Beware, I beg you, of the temptation to be a popular preacher! I doubt if it is possible to be popular and faithful at the same time. Either we go for popularity at the expense of faithfulness, or we are determined to be faithful even at the expense of popularity. If we compromised less, we would undoubtedly suffer more. For the cross is still foolishness to some and a stumbling block to others. What is it, then, about the gospel that arouses people's opposition?
First, the gospel offers eternal life as a free gift. But we are such proud creatures that we don't want a free gift. We would do anything to be able to earn our salvation, or at least to contribute to it. To be told that we cannot is almost unbearably humiliating.
Second, the gospel declares that Jesus Christ is the only Savior. He is unique in his incarnation, his atonement and his resurrection. Nobody else possesses these qualifications. But in our increasingly pluralistic age our emphasis on the unique-
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ness, the finality and the exclusiveness of Jesus is deeply offensive to people.
Third, the gospel demands holiness as the evidence of salvation. If only Jesus would oblige us by lowering his moral standards! But no, he calls us to surrender to his lordship.
Here are three stumbling blocks—the freeness, the exclusiveness and the moral ethic of the gospel. They are different aspects of the stumbling block of the cross. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the German Lutheran pastor who was hanged in April 1945 in the Flossenbürg concentration camp, had experienced suffering himself.
Suffering is the badge of the true Christian. The disciple is not above his master. . . . Luther reckoned suffering among the marks of the true church, and one of the memoranda drawn up in preparation for the Augsburg Convention similarly defines the church as the community of those "who are persecuted and martyred for the gospel's sake."
. . . Discipleship means allegiance to the suffering Christ, and it is therefore not at all surprising that Christians should be called upon to suffer.9
4. PASTORS ARE THE FATHERS OF THE CHURCH
FAMILY (4:14-21)
After Paul's broadside of criticism in verses 8-13, he is anxious to reassure the Corinthians regarding his motive. The effect of his words might well be humiliating, but that was not their purpose. It was important for him to emphasize this because
"Corinth was a city where public boasting and self-promotion had become an art form. The Corinthian people . . . lived within an honor-shame cultural orientation, where public recognition was often more important than facts and where the worst
Basic Christian Leadership thing that could happen was for one's reputation to be publicly tarnished."10 So Paul assures them, I am not writing this to shame you, but to warn you, as my dear children (v. 14). Indeed, his whole attitude to them is determined by this fact that he was their father, not their guardian. Even though you have ten thousand guardians (paidago4goi) in Christ, you do not have many fathers (v. 15). Now the paidago4gos was not the teacher, as the anglicized form pedagogue would suggest. The paidago4gos was a slave charged with the supervision of a boy during his minority. He was responsible for the boy's dress, food, speech and manners, and would accompany him to school. He was a disciplinarian allowed to administer corporal punishment, so that he was often depicted in ancient drawings as wielding a rod
(see v. 21). "But the motivation of the paidago4gos would be either one of paid duty or one of obedience to the instructions of the slave's master, not love for the child."11
Paul's claim to spiritual fatherhood is at first sight perplexing, since Jesus told us not to call anybody our father on earth because we have a Father in heaven (Mt 23:9). Of course we all have an earthly father, but Jesus was referring to having fathers in the church. So is Paul contradicting Jesus? Is he doing what
Jesus told us not to do? No, he is not. Jesus was telling us not to adopt toward any Christian leader in the church, or to expect anybody to adopt toward us in our own leadership roles, the dependent relationship of children to their parents. The followers of Jesus are to grow into a healthy independence and interdependence. In other words, Jesus was forbidding that we assume the authority of a father; Paul, by contrast, is referring to a father's affection for his children. Indeed, in 1 Thessalonians 2:7 he also likens himself to a mother with her babies. It
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is a beautiful picture of love, self-sacrifice and gentleness.
It is because Paul can say that in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel (1 Cor 4:15), having led them to faith in Christ, and because he loves them with a father's love that he can go on: Therefore I urge you to imitate me (v. 16) and so "prove your parentage by your conduct."12 He now adds another sign of his love for them. He is sending Timothy to them. Timothy is his son, as they are, and Paul is able to testify to Timothy's
Christian love and faithfulness. Among other things, Timothy is faithful as a teacher. Paul is confident about this. He will remind you of my way of life in Christ Jesus, which agrees with what I teach everywhere in every church (v. 17). The apostle's teaching was consistent; he was not giving, nor should the Corinthians expect from him, special treatment or divergent instruction.
This emphasis on parental love and its characteristics must not be misunderstood. There is still a place for discipline in the church (as will become clear in 1 Corinthians 5 in the case of the incestuous offender), though it needs to be exercised collectively. But he hopes this will not be necessary in Corinth. For some of them have become arrogant, "inflated with self-importance,"13 as if he were not coming to them (4:18). But he is intending to come very soon, God willing, and then he will discover for himself not only how these arrogant people are talking, but what power they have (v. 19), especially whether it is power through weakness. For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power (v. 20).
What then is the authentic characteristic of Christian leaders? It is not severity but gentleness. We are to be loving fathers and mothers of the church family rather than strict disciplinarians. Paul could decide to visit Corinth with an apostle's author-
Basic Christian Leadership ity and challenge the arrogant. But he chooses not to—or rather, he leaves the choice to them. He concludes these chapters with a question to the Corinthians. What do you prefer? Shall
I come to you with a whip, or in love and with a gentle spirit? (v. 21).
He leaves his question unanswered. It is up to them.