1 Corinthians 4:1-5

 Having shown the great and glorious work of the church, Paul returns to the idea of the ministers who work to serve the church. This passage echoes 3:10-15 in that it deals with the individuals who serve the church. But here, Paul makes it very personal, regarding himself specifically and how he viewed his own work and his own responsibility regarding the Corinthians church.

This is a personal passage, but the main point is not the personal testimony. Paul is using his own attitude as an example of how Christian workers ought to behave. Remember the general context—Paul is still dealing with the problem of sectarianism. And this whole attitude—the attitude of competition and vainglory—the exaltation and idolization of individuals—that attitude is incompatible with the attitude of a Christian worker—or at least, the attitude a Christian worker ought to have.

In the last chapter, Paul spoke of the relationship between the minister and the church—he compared the church to a farm and the ministers to those who plant and tend the crops. He compared the church to a building and compared ministers to the carpenters who build it. He took a sort of detour to discuss what the church is and how Christians ought to themselves, but here, in verse 1, he again picks up the idea of ministers, specifically himself.

There were some at Corinth who saw Paul as a leader, who had rallied around him as some sort of religious icon. There were others in the church who seem to have viewed him unfavorably, perhaps for being different from Apollos or Peter. And Paul makes it clear that he had no interest in either attitude. He had not come to Corinth to build a following, nor was he deterred by the voices of critics. He had no care for either fanboys or haters. Paul was not primarily concerned with how people felt about Paul. That did matter—this will come up later in the chapter—but it only mattered in so far as it affected his ministry.

Because that is the main point here. That is what Paul was; that is what he wanted people to see him as—a MINISTER of Christ. We are familiar with the term as a term for a preacher or religious leader. But literally, the word means one who ministers, that is, one who serves. The Greek word translated minister can also be translated servant—originally, the word referred to those who rowed the oars on a boat; it is someone who works in order to forward something or someone else. Paul was not a master but only a servant, an oarsman, not the captain. 

Not only does Paul refer to himself as a minister, but also a STEWARD. A steward is someone who is in charge of a household; manager might be the closest word in modern English. A familiar example of this can be found in the Old Testament, in the story of Joseph and Potiphar. “And Joseph found grace in his sight, and he served him: and he made him overseer over his house, and all that he had he put into his hand. And it came to pass from the time that he had made him overseer in his house, and over all that he had, that the LORD blessed the Egyptian's house for Joseph's sake; and the blessing of the LORD was upon all that he had in the house, and in the field. And he left all that he had in Joseph's hand; and he knew not ought he had, save the bread which he did eat. And Joseph was a goodly person, and well favoured.” (Genesis 39:4-6)

We see that Joseph was in charge of Potiphar's household, with great control and the duty to see to his affairs. That is what a steward is. That is how Paul describes himself, but he says specifically that he was a steward of the mysteries of God.  A mystery is a thing which was once unknown but is now revealed; a mystery is not darkness, but rather the thing in the darkness which is seen when the lights come on; it is not deception but denouement. Specifically, for Paul, this was usually the gospel—what someone called “God's secret plan.” “Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ) Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit.” (Ephesians 3:4-5) The gospel is something once hidden, now revealed—it was God's plan, something that God wanted to be published to the world and, to that end, it was entrusted to the care of Paul and all other preachers of the gospels. (Paul had a special responsibility as an apostle, but that doesn't seem to be the point here.)

A steward was a man with tremendous responsibility and authority. And for that reason, the main thing, the absolute essential for a steward is faithfulness or trustworthiness. We saw that Potiphar has absolute faith in Joseph and Joseph lived up to that trust. A steward who was not faithful would soon be relieved of his post. It would be a poor thing if the steward took the riches entrusted to him for running the household and used them for his own benefit. And it would be a poor thing for a preacher of the gospel to use his position for himself; for him to do anything except disperse the riches of truth which he had been given.

The people at Corinth were looking up to preachers as something greater than them; but Paul is reminding them that he is only a steward, a servant working for God. The fact that Paul was a preacher was not an achievement, not a testimony to Paul's greatness. It was a task that had been given to him. As he says Later: “For though I preach the gospel, I have nothing to glory of: for necessity is laid upon me; yea, woe is unto me, if I preach not the gospel!” (1 Corinthians 9:16) He was a steward to God and so he had the duty to be faithful.

But was Paul faithful? There seems to be something of a defense here. Perhaps part of the sectarian spirit in Corinth had to do with an attack on Paul. Perhaps the followers of Apollos or Peter did not merely lift up their individual preacher but also sought to tear down Paul. Certainly, in 2 Corinthians, Paul deals with the fact that there was enmity against him in the church, so it is possible that it was already present.

In any event, Paul recognizes that some would question his faithfulness. There would be some who would want to judge. And that brings us to what some refer to as the Three-Fold Judgment—the three kinds of judgment which man must fact; or the three sources from which judgment will come.

First, Paul speaks of being judged by the Corinthians themselves or, more generally, any kind of “man's judgment.” the NET Bible translates this part of verse 3: "So for me, it is a minor matter that I am judged by you or by any human court.”

We recognize the reality of this—humans are constantly passing judgment on one another. At least 40% of human conversation involves passing judgment—for good or evil—on other people. Only God can judge me, but other people are sure enough going to try. As an old cliché put it: Everyone's a critic.

This judgment is very real. And it may have its merit—certainly, people are sometimes right in their judgment. And the desire to be approved and fear of being condemned does cause men to do right (though it also often has the reverse effect); perhaps without this the world would be a worse place. But that was not what Paul was concerned about.

The second judgment is the judgment of self. “Yea, I judge not my own self.” Most of the time, when people say “I don't care what other people think,” the reason is that they are too concerned with what they themselves think. But Paul was no narcissist. In verse 4, he says he knows nothing by himself. A better translation would be nothing AGAINST myself. Looking at himself honestly, he was not aware of any sin or wrongdoing; his conscience was clear. He could look himself in the face without shame. 

But that, in itself, was not enough. “Yet am I not herby justified.” Paul's own appraisal of Paul was not sufficient. "For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things." (1 John 3:20). This seems to mean that often our self-appraisal is wrong; we feel guilt when there really is no cause. John is saying that just because we feel bad doesn't mean that we are in the wrong—God is the only one who can judge for sure. And here Paul shows the other side of this—even if we feel clear, that is only our feeling—God is the one who knows the truth.

And that brings us to the third judgment, which is the judgment of God. Paul was aware that he would be judged by God. God will judge everyone and everything, but I think the idea connects directly back to verse 1—Paul was a minister and a steward on behalf of God; he answered to God, and it was God who would judge him. "Who art thou that judgest another man's servant? to his own master he standeth or falleth. Yea, he shall be holden up: for God is able to make him stand." (Romans 14:4) Paul was God's servant and God's judgment was the only judgment he cared about. The judgment of other people or himself was only meaningful in so far as they informed that judgment. 

So this was Paul's position. He was nothing more than a servant of God, doing the work that God had given him and looking to God for commendation or condemnation. Verse 5 takes this and turns it around on the Corinthians. “Therefore”--this is a connecting word, connecting verse 5 to the verse before it. Paul turns his previous testimonial into an exhortation. “Judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts: and then shall every man have praise of God.” There is coming a time when God will judge all men. He will reveal the truth that has been previously hidden and will reveal the secrets of man's heart. "For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil." (Ecclesiastes 12:14) At that time, each man will receive the reward he deserves. He will be accurately judged and appraised by God. That day is coming, the day when all men will be accurately judged. And we should be wary of trying to anticipate that judgment.

This is a familiar concept. We all remember that Jesus said: “Judge not.” I didn't even bother looking up the reference for that because it's so familiar. And even if some people have taken it in a very wrong way and spread it to degrees that are inconsistent with the Bible, the base truth is still there—that we have neither the ability nor the authority to judge other people.

But I think here that that Paul is taking this idea in a different sense. The idea of judgment here is not so much bout good and evil, at least as I see it. Remember, this is still under the subject of sectarianism. There is nothing within these chapters to suggest that the followers of Apollos were accusing Paul of being hypocritical, though it is certainly possible. Rather, the debate seems to have been about which preacher was the most effective, which was the best speaker, the best theologian, and the best preacher. And Paul is saying that he and the other ministers are working for God and only God can judge how effective each preacher is. This ties back to the picture of judgment we saw in Chapter 3. Each man's work—and how it has contributed to the church as a whole—will be judged, but we can't tell now the result of that future judgment.

That is why this sectarian spirit is so wrong—why it is so silly to fight over different preachers and their various abilities. Because the preachers are not working for themselves or even, in one sense, for the church. They serve God and can receive their reward only from God—not from us.