1
Corinthians 04A
Part 2
– Humbleness – the Spectacle
1 Cor. 4:7-13
When Paul called himself and the other apostles “a
spectacle unto the world”, there in verse 9, he was using an image familiar to
the people in the Roman Empire. The government kept the people pacified by
presenting entertainments in different cities.
The amphitheaters would be filled with citizens, eager to see men compete
in the games and prisoners fight each other and with wild animals. In fact, the Greek word translated spectacle
gives us our English work “theater”. How
bout that? We have all seen movies of
the fights in the Coliseum at Rome.
When the “main events” were over, then the poorest and weakest prisoners
were brought in to fight with the wild animals.
No one really expected to see much from their
performance.
With that in mind, look at the picture Paul paints of
the Apostles. But it forms the
background for a series of contrasts that Paul presents for the purpose of
trying to humble the Corinthians.
First,
Kings – prisoners (vv. 7-9)
The question in verse 7 should make all of us stop and
think. I like the NAS translation of the
first question: “Who regards you as superior?”
A young preacher once said to a friend, “Please pray that I will stay
humble”. The friend then said, “Tell me,
what do you have to be proud about?” Now this is good so listen closely. Why would anyone regard us as superior? Perhaps it is our own biased opinion that
makes us feel so important. Something
that we need to continually remind our selves is what John the Baptist said back
in John 3:27-31, “A man can
receive nothing, except it be given him from
heaven. He (meaning Christ) must
increase, but I must decrease”. That is
an awesome passage of scripture.
In verse 8, Paul is being a little sarcastic when he
calls the Corinthians kings. “I wish I
could reign with you and be important!
But instead, I must go into the arena and suffer for the Lord Jesus
Christ. You are first in men’s eyes, but
we apostles are last”. However, in the
eyes of God, the Apostles were first.
There is NO place for pride in the ministry. My soul, if Paul considered himself to be
last on the program, where does that leave the rest of
us? We are always wrong when we measure
by any other standard than that which God has given in His Word. We are also wrong when we boast about our
favorite preachers. This is not to say
that faithful servants cannot be recognized and honored, but in all things, God
must be glorified (1 Thes. 5:12-13).
Second,
Wise men – fools (v. 10a)
According to the standards of men, Paul was a fool. Had he kept his job as a Jewish Rabbi, he
could have gone far in the Jewish religion and probably made a lot of
money. Also, had he not followed God’s
call to the gentiles, he could have avoided a lot of trouble. But when Paul asked God, “What would You have
me do?”, he really meant it.
The Corinthians were “wise in their own eyes”, but they
were actually fools in the sight of God.
If we depend on the wisdom of the world and go by the standards of the
world, we too are fools. To become
spiritually wise we must become a fool in the eyes of the world (1 Cor. 3:18). I often
find myself quoting those words of martyred Jim Elliot: “He is no fool who gives
what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose”. (Tell Jim Elliot story).
Third,
Strong men – weak (v. 10b)
There was a time
when Paul gloried in his strengths; but then he met Jesus and discovered that
what he thought were assets were really liabilities (Phil. 3). And here is the lesson that Paul learned: it
is through personal suffering that you will discover that your spiritual
strength is the result of personal weakness (2 Cor.
12:7-10). It is only in God’s kingdom
and in His work that strong is weak and weak is strong.
The Corinthians had a real problem here. They were proud of their spiritual
achievements. The various groups in the
church were proud of their human leaders and of their favorite preachers and
that made them weak. Strength only comes
when God gets the glory. Here is how
Paul puts it: “My strength is made prefect in weakness” (2 Cor. 12:9).
Forth, Honorable – despised
(vv. 10c-13).
In one of my studies I came across a writer who used the
word “crux” in describing the last of several matters related to the church at
Corinth. I can’t remember the last time I saw or heard
that word used. Listen to all the words
he could have used: root, bottom, heart, core, nub, nitty-gritty, or bottom
line. As for me, I’m a “bottom line”
kinda guy.
So, the “bottom line” of the whole matter is this: the
Corinthians wanted the honor that comes from men, not the honor that comes from
God. They were trying to make
them-selves look good by associating with “great men”. Paul’s warning was this: “If you associate
with us, you had better be ready for suffering and trouble. We apostles are not held in honor, we are
despised!”
Paul then
described the sufferings that he had to endure as a servant of God. The fact that he worked with his own hands as
a tentmaker would have lowered him in the eyes of many, because the Greeks
despised manual labor.
Now here is what really made Paul great; the way he
responded to the way people treated him.
What
life does to us depends on what life find in us. Life had tried
many times to destroy me but it will not because “greater is He that is in me
than he that is in the world”. Paul did
exactly what Jesus commanded all of us to do when in similar situations (Matt.
5:44) “love your enemies, bless those that curse you, do good to them that hate
you, pray for them that despitefully use you, and persecute you”. Get over the idea that we have to
retaliate. In all
things respond in LOVE.
And what was Paul’s reward for this: men treated him “as
the filth of the world (v. 13). Paul and
the other Apostles were treated just like Jesus was treated; but God vindicated
them and brought glory to His name.
Two of the most
important characteristics of a minister of Christ are faithfulness in service
and humbleness of mind. He must be
willing to work and willing to suffer.
It is one thing to be faithful and quite another to be popular. A third characteristic is that of tenderness
(the father).