1 Corinthians 4

4:1,2Paul urged the Corinthians to think of him, Peter, and Apollos as mere servants of Christ entrusted with the secret things of God (see the note on 2:7). A servant does what his master tells him to do. We must do what God tells us to do in the Bible and through his Holy Spirit. Each day God presents us with needs and Opportunities that challenge us to do what we know is right.

4:2Corinth, a giant cultural melting pot with a great diversity of wealth, religions, and moral standards, had a reputation for being fiercely independent and as decadent as any city in the world. The Romans had destroyed Corinth in 146 B.C. after a rebellion. But in 46 B.C.. the Roman emperor Julius Caesar rebuilt it because of its strategic seaport. By Paul's day (A.D. 50), the Romans had made Corinth the capita! of Achaia (present-day Greece). It was a large city, offering Rome great profits through trade as well as the military protection of its ports. But the city’s prosperity made it ripe for all sorts of corruption. Idolatry flourished, and there were more than a dozen pagan temples employing at least a thousand prostitutes. Corinth’s reputation was such that prostitutes in other cities began to be called “Corinthian girls.”

4:5It is tempting to judge feltow Christians, evaluating whether or not they are good followers of Christ. But only God knows a person's heart, and he is the only one with the right to judge. Paul’s warning to the Corinthians should also warn us. We are to confront those who are sinning (see 5:12, 13), but we must not judge who is a better servant for Christ. When you judge someone, you invariably consider yourself better—and that is arrogant.

4:6,7How easy it is for us to become attached to a spiritual leader. When someone has helped us, it’s natural to feel loyalty. • But Paul warns against having such pride in our favorite leaders that we cause divisions in the church. Any true spiritual leader is “ arepresentative of Christ and has nothing to offer that God hasn't . given him or her. Don’t let your loyalty cause strife, slander, or : broken relationships. Make sure that your deepest loyalties are to ; Christ and not to his human agents. Those who spend more time in debating church leadership than in declaring Christ's message don't have the mind of Christ.

4:6-13The Corinthians had split into various cliques, each following its favorite preacher (Paul, Apollos, Peter, etc.). Each Clique really believed it was the only one to have the whole truth and thus felt spiritually proud. But Paul told the groups not to boast about being tied to a particular preacher, because each Preacher was simply a humble servant who had suffered for the same message of salvation in Jesus Christ. No preacher of God has more status than another.

4:7The Corinthian church members had all the spiritual gifts they needed to live the Christian life, to witness for Christ, and to stand against the paganism and immorality of Corinth. But instead of using what God had given them, they were arguing over which gifts were more important. Paul addresses this issue in depth in chapters 12-14.

4:15Paul was calling attention to his special role as the Corinthians’ spiritual father. In an attempt to unify the church, Paul appealed to his relationship with them. By father, he meant he was the church's founder. Because he started the church, he Could be trusted to have its best interests at heart. Paul’s tough words were motivated by love—like the love a good father has for his children (see also 1 Thessalonians 2:11).

4:16Paul told the Corinthians to imitate him—to follow his example. He was able to make this statement because he walked close to God, spent time in God’s Word and in prayer, and was aware of God’s presence in his tife at all times. God was Paul’s example; therefore, Paul's life could be an example to other Christians. Paul wasn’t expecting others to imitate everything he did, but they should imitate those aspects of his beliefs and conduct that were modeling Christ’s way of living.

4:17Timothy had traveled with Paul on Paul's second missionary journey (see Acts 16:1-3) and was a key person in the growth of the early church. Timothy probably did not deliver this letter to Corinth but more likely arrived there shortly after the letter came (see 16:10). Timothy’s role was to see that Paul’s advice was read and implemented. Then he was to return to Paul and report on the church’s progress.

4:18-20Some people talk a lot about faith, but that’s all it is— talk. They may know all the right words to say, but their lives don't reflect God’s power. Paul says that the Kingdom of God is to be fived, not just discussed. There is a big difference between knowing the right words and living them out. Don’t be content to nave the right answers about Christ. Let your life show that God's ower is really working in you.

4:19It is not known whether Paul ever returned to Corinth, but tis likely. in 2 Corinthians 2:1, he writes that he decided not to ake “another painful visit,” implying that he had had a previous ainful confrontation with the Corinthian believers (see 2 Corinthins 12:14; 13:1; and the note on 2 Corinthians 2:1). :1ff, The church must discipline flagrant sin among its members. uch sins left unchecked can polarize and paralyze a church. The orrection, however, should never be vengeful. Instead, it should e given to help bring about a cure. The Corinthian believers had afused to deal! with a specific sin in the church: A man was having n affair with his mother (or stepmother). The church was ignor- 1g the situation, and Paul was saying that it had a responsibility ) maintain the standards of morality found in God’s commandrents. God tells us not to judge others. But he also tells us not to dlerate flagrant sin because allowing such sin to go undisciplined til have a dangerous effect on other believers (5:6). 5 To hand this man “over to Satan” means to exclude him ‘om the fellowship of believers. Without the spiritual support f Christians, this man would be left alone with his sin and Satan, ind perhaps this would drive him to repentance. “So that his sinful ature will be destroyed” states the hope that the experience would bring him to God to destroy his sinful nature through his turning from sin. Sinful nature could mean his body or flesh. This alternative translation would imply that Satan would afflict him physically and thus bring him to God. Putting someone out of the church should be a last resort in disciplinary action. It should not be done out of vengeance but out of love, just as parents punish children to correct and restore them. The church’s role should be to help, not hurt, offenders, motivating them to repent of their sins and to return to the fellowship of the church.

4:27Is Christianity against rationat thinking? Christians clearly do believe in using their minds to weigh the evidence and make wise choices. Paul is declaring that no amount of human knowledge can replace or bypass Christ's work on the cross. If it could, Christ would be accessible only to the intellectually gifted and well educated and not to ordinary people or to children.