KINGDOM THINKING
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Opening Prayer
As I read your Word today, Lord God, please give me greater understanding and new reasons to follow you with commitment and confidence.
Read 1 CORINTHIANS 4
For additional translations of the passage, use this link to Bible Gateway.
The Nature of True Apostleship
4 This, then, is how you ought to regard us: as servants of Christ and as those entrusted with the mysteries God has revealed. 2 Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful. 3 I care very little if I am judged by you or by any human court; indeed, I do not even judge myself. 4 My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me. 5 Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait until the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of the heart. At that time each will receive their praise from God.
6 Now, brothers and sisters, 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 be puffed up in being a follower of one of us over against the other. 7 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?
8 Already you have all you want! Already you have become rich! You have begun to reign—and that without us! How I wish that you really had begun to reign so that we also might reign with you! 9 For it seems to me that God has put us apostles on display at the end of the procession, like those condemned to die in the arena. We have been made a spectacle to the whole universe, to angels as well as to human beings. 10 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! 11 To this very hour we go hungry and thirsty, we are in rags, we are brutally treated, we are homeless. 12 We work hard with our own hands. When we are cursed, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it; 13 when we are slandered, we answer kindly. We have become the scum of the earth, the garbage of the world—right up to this moment.
Paul’s Appeal and Warning
14 I am writing this not to shame you but to warn you as my dear children. 15 Even if you had ten thousand guardians in Christ, you do not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel. 16 Therefore I urge you to imitate me. 17 For this reason I have sent 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.
18 Some of you have become arrogant, as if I were not coming to you. 19 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. 20 For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power. 21 What do you prefer? Shall I come to you with a rod of discipline, or shall I come in love and with a gentle spirit?
New International Version (NIV)Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
Take some time to reflect on your sense of calling. Where are you being fruitful? Where might you need a fresh empowerment from the Spirit?Paul uses two humble terms to describe leaders in verse 1: ‘servants’ and stewards. The word used for the first suggests someone who works with his hands. The stewards (the ones ‘entrusted’) own nothing, yet take care of all their master’s property (v. 2). It seems that Paul’s ministry was being openly challenged, but he is content to leave the question of his faithfulness to the owner of the household alone (vv. 3–5). Paul challenges the local leaders not to get boastful about either Apollos or himself (v. 6). All of them are but servants of the Lord (v. 1).
Such is their confidence, that the Corinthians believe they’re already reigning, experiencing heaven on earth (v. 8), but Paul reminds them that everything they’re boasting about was received from others (v. 7). In fact, as the one who laid the foundation (see 1 Corinthians 3:10, 11), he should be honored both as their father in God (vv. 14, 15) and in his struggles to live for Jesus, responding in grace to others, despite real hardship and opposition (vv. 11–13). In the end, it’s the presence of God’s power, not the beauty of the words that should be decisive (vv. 19, 20). That’s how the presence of God’s kingdom is truly discerned.
Apply
Read verse 20 again. Where would you say that we in the modern church are more concerned with style than with God’s power?
Closing prayer
Lord Jesus, help me to follow you in ways that bring you glory, that show the world around me who you are. Help me share all you have given me with humility and faithfulness, in ways that please you.
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