Apostles Of Christ
APOSTLES OF CHRIST
1 CORINTHIANS 4:1-13
We receive all gifts as a sacred trust from God.
The correct designation of the apostles is offered: they are stewards and servants, whose virtue lies in the way in which they fulfill their commission. The vital quality is trustworthiness, ie faithfulness to the commission that God assigns, whether as planters or waterers of the seed (3:6-8).
At Corinth there were those who, out of preference for Peter as an original member of the Twelve, or Apollos as an eloquent and gifted teacher of Alexandrian wisdom, disparaged Paul. In 2 Corinthians chapters 10–12 we see the specific charges they brought against him. For the present he disclaims any concern to be brought before the tribunal of their judgment (4:3-4). He is content to await the final Day (3:13) when the Lord will test openly his labors and motives (4:5).
Paul and Apollos were evidently being set in opposition as party leaders, but it is clear that many Corinthians were themselves setting up factions within the main parties (see 11:19). Whichever way the rivalry was being fostered, it is all reprehensible, for (Paul reiterates) no teachers or Christians have any virtue in themselves, and no gift they can claim to have is theirs independently of God (4:7). It is a salutary reminder that all our more gifted brothers and sisters hold their privileged ministry as a sacred trust from God!
4:8-13 are written in ironical vein, aimed at deflating the pride of the Corinthians who imagined that they didn’t need any apostle! In a series of powerful contrasts Paul sets out the price which he and his colleagues were paying for the apostolic ministry exercised on the churches’ behalf. 2 Corinthians 6:4-10; 11:23-29 should be read as close parallels. All these texts underline a key principle of Christian service: no gain without pain.
Notes 4:1: “the mysteries of God” = revelation of divine truth, once hidden, now disclosed in Christ and the Church. 4:3: see 1 John 3:20-21. 4:9: the illustration is that of gladiators in the arena, and 4:13 reflects the cruel Athenian practice of killing off certain criminals and good-for-nothings if a plague struck the city. 4:10: the report had reached Paul that because he suffered so shamefully, he couldn’t be a true apostle. His reply is exactly the opposite: see 2 Corinthians 12:10-13.