“My Beloved Children …”
“MY BELOVED CHILDREN …”
1 CORINTHIANS 4:14-21
Paul now turns to a direct and personal appeal.
Paul’s letters are real letters. There is a noticeable change of mood in the apostle’s writing in this paragraph. Previous sections have been severe and sternly ironical (4:8-13), now he takes up a wooing note and directs this tender appeal to them as “my beloved children” (4:14). There is a time for both approaches, and we need tact and wisdom to know which line is the more appropriate in any given situation.
The Corinthians are not only his harvest-field and building (3:9,14); they are his spiritual children of whom he is not ashamed to be called their father (4:15). Therefore the call to imitation, similar to the higher summons (Matthew 5:48; Ephesians 5:1).
So that there will be no misunderstanding of what his parental intentions and directives are, Paul is sending Timothy, his trusted lieutenant, to amplify and enforce his applied teaching (4:17).
Timothy’s visit is also to be a preparation for Paul’s own coming, of which he gives promise (4:18-19). He anticipates that both Timothy’s mission and his own projected visit will be challenged, knowing the arrogance and indiscipline to authority which there is at Corinth. So, if they will not be persuaded by a tender appeal, they must take the consequence of a stern warning (4:21). The choice is theirs.
Notes 4:14: Paul’s letters often had a disturbing effect (2 Corinthians 2:9; 10:9-11), and on at least one occasion he regretted his severe reproach (2 Corinthians 7:8). 4:15: although the church had been helped by other teachers, it would never escape its indebtedness to its human founder. The father-son relationship is drawn from Jewish teaching: “Whoever teaches the son of his friend the law (of Moses), it is as if he had begotten him.” 4:16: see 11:1; Galatians 4:12; 2 Thessalonians 3:7,9; Philippians 3:17. 4:17: “I am sending” is the sense. 4:18: “arrogant” is literally “puffed up,” “swollen” (with pride)—the distinguishing mark of the Corinthian church (4:6,19; 5:2; 13:4). 4:20: one of the rare occurrences in Paul’s writing of a term so characteristic of Jesus’ preaching. The same contrast, “talk” versus effective action, is found in 1 Thessalonians 1:5. 4:21: a close parallel is seen in Job 37:13. God deals with his people either in discipline or in love, but always for our real good.