1 Corinthians: Chapter 4 (verses 6–14)

In this section of his letter to the Corinthians, Paul spoke against the competitive spirit that had caused some of the believers to think that they were greater than others.

I have applied all these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, brothers, that you may learn by us not to go beyond what is written, that none of you may be puffed up in favor of one against another.¹

Paul explains why he has used himself and Apollos as examples of leadership of the church. He was targeting the divisive leadership in Corinth, but chose to soften his reproach by applying the principles of his message to himself and Apollos. Most commentators say that Paul was using himself and Apollos as examples in order not to cause a backlash from the Corinthians due to what he was saying about leadership.

Paul draws attention to the way he and Apollos have worked together. Their humility and not boasting or comparing themselves to each other shows that ministry is Christ-centered. He desires that the believers not be “puffed up,” which refers to a flaunting of oneself over another. Paul is concerned about a deliberate effort among the Corinthians to contrast themselves with one another. This is what is breaking up the community. The Corinthians must not become puffed up against each other based on the gifts they have received.

Paul is referring to Scripture when he warns them not to go beyond what is written. The Corinthians were to learn from Paul and Apollos not to go beyond what Scripture says (what is written).

For who sees anything different in you? What do you have that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it?²

Through these three questions, Paul gets to the heart of what’s wrong with the Corinthian church. First, he asks who sees anything different in them? What makes them so special above others? What qualities do they have that other believers lack? What gives them the right to judge their leaders? They are not different from other believers; all are significant in God’s eyes.

He goes on to ask what they have not received. What abilities or qualities do any of them have that were not given to them by God? The answer, of course, is none; every good gift has been given as a gift from God, including their talents and their personal qualities.³

He then asks, if the only good in them is what they have received as a gift from God, how can they boast about it? How can they lift themselves and their own opinions up above those of other believers if the good in them came not from themselves, but from God’s grace?

Already you have all you want! Already you have become rich! Without us you have become kings! And would that you did reign, so that we might share the rule with you!⁴

From this verse until verse 13, Paul is being sarcastic. He shows the vast difference between the way of the cross, which is followed by Paul and the apostles, and the way of those who consider themselves to be spiritually superior in the Corinthian church. The use of “already” expresses something forcibly and clear, and it helps set the tone and style of what Paul is about to say. By using the phrase “without us,” Paul points out that the “spirituals” say they have something that even the apostles do not. They are behaving as if the cross doesn’t matter.

Paul speaks to them as if he is their father, who thinks of them as beloved children, and who expects them to respond to him as a child to a parent. He knows that his relationship with them is deep and personal, and that he has enough authority that they will not only listen to him but will obey his call to “imitate me.”

He expresses a wish that will not be fulfilled. If they “reign,” he wishes that he would also reign with them. Paul knows that there is a time to come when people will be filled and become rich and will “reign” with God. The Corinthians needed to understand that this glory will only come at Christ’s coming and has no relationship to their secular notion of glory.

For I think that God has exhibited us apostles as last of all, like men sentenced to death, because we have become a spectacle to the world, to angels, and to men.⁵

God has exhibited, or displayed, the apostles as criminals who were sentenced to death. In Paul’s time, those condemned to die were often put on display in order to amuse the people in the amphitheater. Here Paul doesn’t focus on himself, but on all the apostles. He holds up their suffering as a life that is praiseworthy to God.

We are fools for Christ’s sake, but you are wise in Christ. We are weak, but you are strong. You are held in honor, but we in disrepute.⁶

To be a fool for Christ, one must have a strong commitment to the gospel. His followers are to live in a manner which puts faithfulness to Christ above all worldly wisdom or acclamation. They are called to put priority on faithfulness to Christ above worldly wisdom and to embrace humility, sacrifice, and service. Being a fool for Christ is a choice to embrace humility, self-sacrifice, and service for the sake of the gospel, even when it goes against the expectations of the world.

To the present hour we hunger and thirst, we are poorly dressed and buffeted and homeless, and we labor, working with our own hands.⁷

Paul introduces a list of suffering with the phrase to the present hour, which reminds the Corinthians that things haven’t changed in his life since he left them. Their suffering is not a temporary phase that the apostles will grow out of as they become more spiritual. Rather, even as Paul was writing, he and others among them were experiencing suffering for the sake of Christ.

He goes on to list the suffering that is related to his life as an apostle—the persecution, beatings, lack of food and water, having no permanent dwelling place. In doing so, he describes the things which distinguish him from the honored citizens of Corinth, who would not be beaten and who would not have to work with their own hands.

Paul is speaking about his life experiences as he offers them as an example for the Corinthians to follow. He models the teachings of Christ. Being “hungry and thirsty” likely reflected his experience as he traveled to spread the gospel and endured imprisonment.

Jesus spoke of disciples having hunger.⁸ He further spoke of disciples as being “hated” and “excluded” and reviled by society,⁹ which was what Paul and the apostles were experiencing. The term poorly dressed is only found here in the New Testament. The so-called “wise” would likely be well-dressed, in a manner befitting their status in the community. The verb “buffeted” probably points to bodily harm received from the crowds or in prison.

“Homeless” was a state of many of the missionaries, as they were constantly traveling. The word can also mean “vagabond,” one who travels from place to place with no permanent residence. Paul pointed to this as an aspect the Corinthian believers should imitate in him.

Paul then said that he and the apostles labor with their own hands. This was probably his experience as one who spent a great deal of his time teaching and preaching, often into the night, but who also had a “day job” that kept him busy. For you remember, brothers, our labor and toil: we worked night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you, while we proclaimed to you the gospel of God.¹⁰

When reviled, we bless; when persecuted, we endure; when slandered, we entreat. We have become, and are still, like the scum of the world, the refuse of all things.¹¹

Paul echoes what Peter wrote about Jesus: When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly.¹² The Christian response to reviling and scoffing is to bless, to say something good. Their response to persecution was to endure; they didn’t fight back. Peter and Paul were following the Lord’s teaching that Christ’s disciples would be persecuted, and in enduring, they would find life.¹³

To slander means to make false accusations against someone, which Paul says should be met with entreating, with kindness. Paul is saying that when the apostles were slandered, they continued to speak truthfully about Christ, treating others with kindness, even though their opponents deliberately distorted their message.

The phrase like the scum of the world, the refuse of all things, is only used here in the New Testament. The words carry the sense of something which is scraped off or wiped away. Paul wants the Corinthians to see that they shouldn’t expect a life spent in service to God to be one of wealth or status in the eyes of the world.

I do not write these things to make you ashamed, but to admonish you as my beloved children.¹⁴

Paul’s letter was rather hard-hitting for the Corinthians. Even so, Paul was concerned for them as a father with his children. He spoke to them as “brothers and sisters,”¹⁵ but here he insisted that the purpose of his writings was to warn them as a father would warn his children. Fathers sometimes have to strongly warn their children, but they do so because they love them. Paul wanted to make sure that the Corinthians understood this and would stay in relationship with him.

He explained that he did not write these things to “shame” them. He wanted to be clear he was not seeking to make them feel “put down.” His intention was not to demean them in front of each other. Rather his intention was to seek to help them see that their “belonging” is secure, though “in Christ” this will be seen in ways that the world doesn’t recognize.

(To be continued.)

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Note
Unless otherwise indicated, all scriptures are from the Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.