10
True Servants of Christ (4:1–5)
Let a man regard us in this manner, as servants of
Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God. In this case, moreover,
it is required of stewards that one be found trustworthy. But to me
it is a very small thing that I should be examined by you, or by any
human court; in fact, I do not even examine myself. I am conscious of
nothing against myself, yet I am not by this acquitted; but the one
who examines me is the Lord. Therefore do not go on passing judgment
before the time, but wait until the Lord comes who will both bring to
light the things hidden in the darkness and disclose the motives of
men’s hearts; and then each man’s praise will come to him from
God. (4:1–5)
A popular game played by many Christians is that of
evaluating pastors. All kinds of criteria are used to determine who
are the most successful, the most influential, the most gifted, the
most effective. Some magazines periodically make surveys and write up
extensive reports, carefully ranking the pastors by church
membership, attendance at worship services, sizes of church staff and
Sunday school, academic and honorary degrees, books and articles
written, numbers of messages given at conferences and conventions,
and so on. As popular as that practice may be, it is exceedingly
offensive to God.
First Corinthians 4:1–5 focuses on the true nature and
marks of God’s ministers. It sets forth the basic guidelines and
standards by which ministers are to minister and be evaluated. It
deals with what the congregation’s attitude toward the minister
should be and what the minister’s attitude toward himself should
be. In short, it puts the minister of God in God’s perspective.
Paul makes it clear that popularity, personality, degree, and numbers
play no role in the Lord’s perspective—and that they should play
no role in ours.
The main point of the passage here still concerns the
divisions over different ministers. The message is that servants of
God should not be ranked at all, by others or by themselves. All who
are true to Scripture in their preaching and living should be treated
equally. Where there is sound doctrine and personal holiness there is
no justification for ranking God’s servants. (Romans 16:17 and 1
Timothy 5:20, however, point out that where those two essentials are
missing, there must be evaluation and confrontation.)
To help us understand God’s purpose for His servants,
Paul gives three characteristics of the true minister, the true
servant of Christ: his identity, his requirements, and his
evaluation.
The Identity of the Minister
Let a man regard us in this manner, as servants of
Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God. (4:1)
Us refers back to 3:22, indicating Paul, Apollos,
Cephas, and, by extension, all other “fellow-workers” (cf. v. 9).
A man is a nonspecific reference that first of all applies to
Christians. That is, “Let all Christians regard us in this
manner.” But in a wider sense it may also refer to
unbelievers—not only to how the world should regard God’s
ministers, but also to how the church should portray God’s
ministers before the world. An unbeliever cannot understand the
things of God, because they are spiritually discerned or appraised
(2:14). But Christians should not parade worldly standards of the
ministry before unbelievers any more than they should parade those
standards among themselves. We have no right to use worldly
criteria—such as popularity, personality, degrees, and numbers—to
make the gospel seem more appealing. We should not try to make the
world see God’s humble messengers as anything but what He has
ordained them to be: servants of Christ, and stewards of the
mysteries of God.
servants of christ
Servants (hupēretēs) means literally,
“under rowers,” originally indicating the lowest galley slaves,
the ones rowing on the bottom tier of a ship. They were the most
menial, unenvied, and despised of slaves. From that meaning the term
came to refer to subordinates of any sort, to those under the
authority of another.
Christian ministers are first and above all else
servants of Christ. In everything they are subordinate and
subject to Him. They are called to serve men in Christ’s name; but
they cannot serve men rightly unless they serve their Lord rightly.
And they cannot serve Him rightly unless they see themselves rightly:
as His underslaves, His menial servants.
To look first of all at men’s needs is to fail men as
well as to fail the Lord. A minister who becomes so occupied with
counseling and helping his congregation and community that he spends
little time in the Word is unable to meet those people’s deepest
needs, because he has neglected his greatest resource for correctly
knowing and adequately meeting those needs. That usually leads to
compromising God’s truth for the sake of peoples’ desires. Before
all else he must be a servant of Jesus Christ, “serving the Lord
with all humility” (Acts 20:19). Then, and only then, can he best
serve people.
Paul, though an apostle, considered himself to be a
hupēretēs, a galley slave, of his Lord, and he wanted
everyone else to consider him, and all of God’s ministers, as that.
Galley slaves were not exalted one above the other. They had a common
rank, the lowest. They had the hardest labor, the cruelest
punishment, the least appreciation, and in general the most hopeless
existence of all slaves. As Paul had already written, “What then is
Apollos? And what is Paul? Servants [diakonoi] through whom
you believed, even as the Lord gave opportunity to each one” (3:5).
A minister of Christ can be useful only as the Lord gives opportunity
and power: “So then neither the one who plants nor the one who
waters is anything, but God who causes the growth” (3:7).
Luke speaks of the “servants [hupēretēs] of
the Word” who handed down eyewitness accounts of Jesus’ teaching
and ministry (Luke 1:2). To serve Christ is to serve His Word, which
is the revelation of His will. A servant of Christ must also be a
servant, a galley slave, of Scripture. His function is to obey God’s
commands as revealed in His Word.
Later in the epistle Paul says, “For if I preach the
gospel, I have nothing to boast of, for I am under compulsion; for
woe is me if I do not preach the gospel” (1 Cor. 9:16). His
preaching the gospel was no cause for boasting or praise; he was only
doing his duty, just as his Master had commanded (Luke 17:10). It had
not been Paul’s idea even to become a Christian, much less to
preach the gospel. Before the Lord abruptly confronted him on the
Damascus road, Paul (then Saul) was the furthest possible from
serving Christ (Acts 9:1–6).
In his second letter to Corinth Paul describes in some
detail what the life of a minister of God is like. He can expect
affliction, hardship, distress, beatings, imprisonment, turmoil,
sleeplessness, and hunger—as well as purity, knowledge, patience,
kindness, the Holy Spirit, love, the word of truth, the power of God,
and the weapons of righteousness (2 Cor. 6:4–7). God’s servant
sometimes appears as an enigma and a paradox:
by glory and dishonor, by evil
report and good report; regarded as deceivers and yet true; as
unknown yet well-known, as dying yet behold, we live; as punished yet
not put to death, as sorrowful yet always rejoicing, as poor yet
making many rich, as having nothing yet possessing all things. (vv.
8–10)
The minister of God cannot depend on his appearance
before other men. Their opinions vary and change, and are never
reliable. A servant’s obedience should be to his master alone, and
his desire should be to please his master alone. Paul sought to do
only that which the Lord called him to do. His calling was to preach
the Word of God (Col. 1:25), to take the Word and give it out. In
that he was faithful.
God’s ministers are not called to be creative but
obedient, not innovative but faithful.
stewards of god’s mysteries
Ministers of the gospel are also stewards of the
mysteries of God. The Greek (oikonomos) for steward
literally means “house manager,” a person placed in complete
control of a household. The steward supervised the property, the
fields and vineyards, the finances, the food, and the other servants
on behalf of his master.
Peter speaks of all Christians being “good stewards of
the manifold grace of God” (1 Pet. 4:10), but ministers are
stewards in an especially important way. The minister “must be
above reproach as God’s steward” (Titus 1:7), because he is
entrusted with proclaiming the mysteries of God.
As mentioned in a previous chapter, a mystery
(mustērion), as used in the New Testament, is that which was
hidden and can be known only by divine revelation. As a steward of
God’s mysteries, a minister is to take God’s revealed Word and
dispense it to God’s household. He is to dispense all of God’s
Word, holding nothing back. Paul could tell the Ephesian elders, “I
did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable,
and teaching you publicly and from house to house, solemnly
testifying to both Jews and Greeks, … declaring to you the whole
purpose of God” (Acts 20:20–21, 27). That which is profitable is
“all Scripture” (2 Tim. 3:16). The reason so many Christians have
spiritual malnutrition is that so many preachers dispense an
unbalanced diet of biblical truth. What they preach may be
scriptural, but they do not preach the full counsel, the whole
purpose, of God.
Some years ago I read a magazine interview of a certain
well-known pastor. The gist of his statement was:
I decided that the pulpit was no
longer to be a teaching platform but an instrument of spiritual
therapy. I no longer preach sermons; I create experiences. I don’t
have time to write a systematic theology to give a solid theological
basis for what I intuitively know. What I intuitively believe is
right. Every sermon has to begin with the heart. If you ever hear me
preaching a sermon against adultery, you’ll know what my problem
is. If you ever hear me preaching a sermon about the coming of Jesus
Christ, you’ll know that’s where I am heart-wise. It so happens
I’m not hung up on either of those areas so I’ve never preached a
sermon on either one. I could not in print or in public deny the
virgin birth of Christ or the physical resurrection of Jesus Christ
or the return of Christ. But when I have something I can’t
comprehend, I just don’t deal with it.
That is the description of a totally corrupted and
perverted ministry. Those who listen to that man are not hearing all
God has to say. Rather than bringing men to God, he is standing
between men and God. God’s Word is explicit about adultery, the
virgin birth of Jesus, and His second coming. God’s ministers are
not required to fully understand those truths, but to fully and
faithfully proclaim them. Otherwise they will be “like many,
peddling the word of God” (2 Cor. 2:17), selling a cheapened gospel
and a cheapened Bible, made more palatable by removing essential
truth. Acceptance of such a huckstered message may be damning.
“Therefore,” said Paul, “since we have this
ministry, … we have renounced the things hidden because of shame,
not walking in craftiness or adulterating the word of God” (2 Cor.
4:1–2). The preacher or teacher who disregards certain Scripture
texts, or twists them to support his own ideas and programs,
adulterates the Word of God. The cults try to support their false
doctrines by using Bible texts out of context and with
interpretations that clearly contradict other texts. But the Bible is
not a repository of prooftexts for men’s opinions; it is the
repository of God’s truth—of which the minister of God is a
steward. His concern should not be to please his hearers or to
dispense his own views but to “be diligent to present [himself]
approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed,
handling accurately the word of truth” (2 Tim. 2:15).
A minister who does not study the Word cannot properly
teach the Word. He cannot handle accurately that which he does not
know. Under his care, as Milton observed, “The hungry sheep look
up, and are not fed.”
The Requirement of the Minister
In this case, moreover, it is required of stewards
that one be found trustworthy. (4:2)
By far the most important quality of a good steward is
faithfulness, trustworthiness. He is entrusted with his master’s
household and possessions; and without faithfulness he will ruin
both. Above all, God wants His ministers, His servant-stewards,
to be trustworthy. God desires that His spiritual ministers be
consistently obedient to His Word, unwavering in their commitment to
be faithful. He does not require brilliance or cleverness or
creativeness or popularity. He can use servants with those qualities,
but only trustworthiness is absolutely essential. It is required.
Paul sent Timothy to minister to the Corinthians because
that young man was “beloved and faithful” (1 Cor. 4:17). Paul
knew that he was completely dependable to preach and teach God’s
Word. He did not have to worry about Timothy’s adulterating the
gospel or giving up in confusion. He was faithful to God’s calling,
just as Paul himself, “by the mercy of the Lord [was] trustworthy”
(7:25). In the book of Colossians Paul mentions two other co-laborers
who were outstanding in trustworthiness. Epaphras was a “beloved
fellow bond-servant” and “a faithful servant of Christ” (1:7).
Tychicus was a “beloved brother and faithful servant and fellow
bond-servant in the Lord” (4:7).
Servanthood and stewardship are inseparable from
faithfulness. An unfaithful servant or an untrustworthy steward is a
self-contradiction. “Who then is the faithful and sensible slave
whom his master put in charge of his household to give them their
food at the proper time?” Jesus asked. “Blessed is that slave
whom his master finds so doing when he comes” (Matt. 24:45–46).
When the Lord returns, the only absolute requirement by which He will
judge His servants is faithfulness: were they true to their Lord’s
commands?
God supplies His Word, His Spirit, His gifts, and His
power. All that the minister can supply is his faithfulness in using
those resources. The work is demanding but is basically simple:
taking God’s Word and feeding it faithfully to His
people—dispensing the mysteries of God, proclaiming the hidden
truths He has made known. There is to be no glory here, ranking one
above the other. The best that any minister can be is faithful, which
is just fulfilling the basic requirement.
The Evaluation of the Minister
But to me it is a very small thing that I should be
examined by you, or by any human court; in fact, I do not even
examine myself. I am conscious of nothing against myself, yet I am
not by this acquitted; but the one who examines me is the Lord.
(4:3–4)
Paul was not bragging or placing himself above other
ministers or above any other Christian. What he said about his own
attitude toward himself should be said by every minister and every
Christian. It should be a very small thing to any of us when
our ministry or our spiritual life is criticized or praised, whether
by fellow Christians, by any human court, or any other of
man’s tribunals. We can benefit greatly from the counsel of a wise,
spiritual friend, and sometimes even from the criticisms of
unbelievers. But no human being is qualified to determine the
legitimacy, quality, or faithfulness of our work for the Lord. We are
not even qualified to determine those things for ourselves. Matters
of outward sin are to be judged as 1 Timothy 5:19–21 indicates. But
apart from the discipline of sinning servants, we can make no
absolutely accurate judgment as to the faithfulness of heart, mind,
and body of any servant of God.
Examined and examine are from anakrinō,
which means “to investigate, question, evaluate.” It does not
mean to determine guilt or innocence, as the King James (“judged,
judge”) suggests. Human court (anthrōpinēs hēmeras)
literally means “human day,” that is, a day in a human court. No
human being, or group of human beings, is qualified to examine and
evaluate God’s servants. No Christian, and in this context
especially God’s ministers, should be concerned about any such
evaluation. Only God knows the truth.
others’ evaluation
We should not be offended when people criticize us, or
show false modesty when they praise us. We should simply say with
Paul, “But we all, with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the
glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from
glory to glory” (2 Cor. 3:18). Our focus is on our Lord Jesus
Christ. We know that we are being transformed into His image because
He says we are, not because of what we can see or what others can
see.
A caring minister of Christ cannot be insensitive to the
feelings, needs, and opinions of his people. He should not try to be.
A sincere word of appreciation after a sermon is encouraging, and
reflects spiritual concern and growth in the listener’s life. A
word of helpful criticism can be a needed corrective and even a
blessing. But no minister can remain faithful to his calling if he
lets his congregation, or any other human beings, decide how true his
motives are or whether he is working within the Lord’s will.
Because their knowledge and understanding of the facts are imperfect,
their criticisms and compliments are imperfect. In humility and love,
God’s minister must not allow himself to care about other people’s
evaluations of his ministry.
his own evaluation
Nor must he allow himself to care about his own
evaluation of his ministry. All of us are naturally inclined to build
ourselves up in our own minds. We all look into rose-colored mirrors.
Even when we put ourselves down, especially in front of others, we
often are simply appealing for recognition and flattery. The mature
minister does not trust his own judgment in such things any more than
he trusts the judgment of others. He agrees with Paul that his own
evaluation may be as unreliable as that of anyone else.
Spiritual introspection is dangerous. Known sin must be
faced and confessed, and known shortcomings are to be prayed about
and worked on for improvement. But no Christian, no matter how
advanced in the faith, is able to properly evaluate his own spiritual
life. Before we know it, we will be ranking ourselves, classifying
ourselves—and discover that a great deal of time is being spent in
thinking of nothing but ourselves. The bias in our own favor and the
tendency of the flesh toward self-justification make this a dangerous
project.
Paul knew of no serious sin or deficiency in his own
life. I am conscious of nothing against myself (cf. 2 Cor.
1:12). But he knew he could be wrong in that assessment; even as an
apostle he could be wrong about his own heart. He, too, needed to
remember to take heed when he stood, lest he should fall (1 Cor.
10:12). So he continued explaining to the Corinthians, yet I am
not by this acquitted. But that did not let him matter either. He
was not proud that he knew of nothing wrong, and he did not worry
because he might be mistaken. His own evaluation, favorable or
unfavorable, made no difference.
The only evaluation that makes a difference is the
Lord’s. The one who examines me is the Lord. Only His
examination counts. Paul had long followed the counsel he gave to
Timothy: “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God” (2
Tim. 2:15). He was not concerned about presenting himself to others
for approval, or even to himself for approval, but only to His Lord.
A minister serves his people spiritually only when he is
a faithful servant of Christ and steward of the mysteries of God. And
God alone is the judge of the true spiritual value of that service.
god’s evaluation
Therefore do not go on passing judgment before the
time, but wait until the Lord comes who will both bring to light the
things hidden in the darkness and disclose the motives of men’s
hearts, and then each man’s praise will come to him from God.
(4:5)
God has a day planned when He will both bring to
light the things hidden in the darkness and disclose the motives of
men’s hearts. Those two phrases refer to the attitudes of the
inner man, which only God can see. Ultimate judgment of every kind,
including the evaluation of His servants’ ministries, will be by
Him and in His time. God’s people, including the ministers
themselves, have no business passing judgment before [that]
time. We see only the outside, the visible, and cannot know
what is hidden in the recesses of the soul.
Because Paul speaks here of each man’s praise,
I do not believe things hidden in the darkness refers to sins
or anything evil, but simply to things presently unknown to us. The
passage emphasizes that every believer will have praise, no matter
what his works and motives, because “There is therefore now no
condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 8:1). All
Christians will have some reward and some praise. Who will receive
much and who will receive little only God knows. But once the wood,
hay, and straw are burned away, the gold, silver, and precious stones
will remain to be eternally rewarded.
We do know, however, that the rewards given will not be
based on the degrees behind our name, the numbers we have preached to
or witnessed to, the programs we have planned and directed, the books
we have written, or even the number of converts won to Christ through
us. It will be based on one thing alone: the motives (boulē,
“secret thoughts”) of [our] hearts.
One of the marvelous experiences we will have on that
day will be to realize that many dear saints, completely unknown to
the world and perhaps hardly known to fellow believers, will receive
reward after reward after reward from the Lord’s hands—because
their works were of gold, silver, and precious stones. Their hearts
will have been pure, their works will have been precious, and their
rewards will be great.
Because God will reward according to the motives of
men’s hearts, our single purpose in life should be that,
“whether, then [we] eat or drink or whatever [we] do, [we] do all
to the glory of God” (1 Cor. 10:31). That motive should determine
everything we think and do.
It is good when fellow Christians can speak well of us
sincerely. It is good when our own conscience does not accuse us. But
it will be wonderful beyond description if, on that day, our Lord can
say of us, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”
Paul’s purpose here is to show that because all
ministers are no more than servants and stewards, because neither we
nor they can properly evaluate the value and worth of their ministry,
and because God alone can and will give the proper estimate in a
future reckoning day, it is not only destructive but ridiculous to
cause divisions in the church by arguing over who is the most honored
servant.1
1
MacArthur, J. F., Jr. (1984). 1
Corinthians (pp. 95–103). Chicago: Moody Press.
