Renouncing the World

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Opening Prayer

Gracious Lord, may You be blessed and praised forever. I lift Your name on high.

Read 1 Corinthians 4:1-21

^[1] 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. ^[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?

Meditate

There is a noticeable mood change in this passage; the apostle moves from severity and irony (1-13) to tenderness (14-21). There is a time for both approaches but we need tact and wisdom to know which line is the more appropriate in any given situation.

Think Further

The context of the Roman Empire can be seen at a number of points in this chapter. The reference to servants (or slaves) entrusted with a responsible task (1,2) reflects the way in which members of the elite delegated responsible roles to trusted slaves. An even clearer allusion to the contemporary world is seen in verse 9, where the claim that Christ’s apostles have been put “on display at the end of the procession, like those condemned to die in the arena” obviously reflects the brutal practice by which prisoners from the nations subdued by the Roman legions were paraded in chains at the end of triumphal processions in Rome, before being publicly executed (compare 2 Cor. 2). In drawing an analogy between the plight of these people and himself and his fellow apostles, Paul contrasts the kind of leadership the Corinthians seem to admire with his own experience as the servant of the crucified Christ. Is this hyperbole, exaggerating his sufferings for dramatic effect in order to get the point across? The following description of his actual hardships would suggest not; he speaks of being hungry and thirsty, of wearing rags and being homeless, and of being cursed, persecuted and slandered. Perhaps most shockingly, he sums this up by describing the way the world views him and his colleagues as “the scum of the earth” and “the world’s garbage” (11-13, Phillips).

The contrast between Paul’s understanding of the “way of life in Christ Jesus” (17) and that of the Corinthian believers finds parallels today. While we should not seek to develop what has been called a martyr complex, this remarkable passage compels us to ask whether we have been seduced by the spirit of an age which encourages the pursuit of personal happiness and well-being and the avoidance of all risk and danger. Like the first readers of this letter, we may have some hard thinking and praying to do!

Apply

“Therefore I urge you to imitate me” (16). How might you do this?

Closing prayer

Patient Lord, so often I seek to save my own life, rather than losing it for Your sake. Show me situations today where my loss will bring others gain.

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