August 19, 2002
BaptistWay Bible Study for Texas lesson for Sept. 22
No room for bragging in the servants' quarters
___1 Corinthians 4:1-14, 21
___1 So then, men ought to regard us as servants of Christ and as those entrusted with the secret things of God. 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 till the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men's hearts. At that time each will receive his praise from God.
___6 Now, brothers, 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 take pride in one man over against another. 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 become kings--and that without us! How I wish that you really had become kings so that we might be kings with you! 9 For it seems to me that God has put us apostles on display at the end of the procession, like men condemned to die in the arena. We have been made a spectacle to the whole universe, to angels as well as to men. 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. Up to this moment we have become the scum of the earth, the refuse of the world.
___14 I am not writing this to shame you, but to warn you, as my dear children. ... 21 What do you prefer? Shall I come to you with a whip, or in love and with a gentle spirit?
___By Bob Nickell
___Perhaps you have seen the television commercial where Nolan Ryan, the ex-Texas Rangers pitcher, quotes Dizzy Dean, a major-league pitcher of a bygone era, regarding bragging. Ryan says, "As Dizzy Dean used to say, 'It ain't braggin' if you can do it.'"
___The Apostle Paul would concur with the spirit of Dean's quote. For there were some Christians at Corinth who were bragging, as though they could save themselves. Paul realized there was no room to boast because he did not create nor manifest salvation; it is a gift of God.
___As is true in building any structure, there must be presuppositions that one accepts which are basic to the foundation of their belief system. Paul was establishing love as the main building block of the foundation he was constructing. Because grace or love is the choice of God, all other blocks must conform to the cornerstone, which is God's love.
___Based on love as the foundation, Paul then asserts that salvation is an act of God, based on his love for mankind. Since love is the motivation behind God's act of salvation, it must be recognized as a gift of God--it cannot be earned, nor obtained by any act of man. It must be accepted in freedom, just as it was freely given.
___Therefore, since salvation comes from God's love as a gift to men, we have no claim to boasting, because we cannot do it! We can merely accept it, then live it out. Paul thus applies the next building block--servanthood.
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___Servanthood
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___Paul notes at least two qualities of a servant: They are to be responsible to their Master, and they are to be trustworthy.
___ The Greek word for servant in this context is "huperetas"--an under-rower, a person who serves as oarsman in the lowest deck of a ship. The mysteries of God (v. 1), to which the servants are to be responsible, refer to the good news of salvation revealed in God's activity in Jesus Christ.
___"Mystery" does not refer to advanced teaching nor undiscovered knowledge. Rather, to that which has been revealed in Christ and made known to men. By referring to "servants" and "mystery," Paul brings the attention in the church back to Christ and away from any church leader. Neither the mystery nor the responsibility of servants have anything to do with Paul, Peter or Apollos.
___The significance of the apostles is to proclaim the message of the master, as good stewards/servants are expected to do. One of the expectations is for the servant to be responsible to the master. In so doing, the servant must remember his master's things are not his; his things are the master's.
___A second expectation that has been noted is that a servant is to be trustworthy. Evidently, some in the church at Corinth had questioned Paul's dependability. Paul contends that only the master can determine faithfulness, not the other servants.
___To judge Paul's ministry too quickly, "before the time (v. 5), before the Lord comes" is presumptuous on their part. He is willing to leave judgment of his ministry, and the ministry of any one else, up to God, for God knows the hearts and motives of all people.
___This perhaps is Paul's way of saying, "Get over it!" Squabbling and quarreling over position and fame in the kingdom are not the tasks of the servant. The task of a servant is to be obedient to the Master.
___As the story is told, the beginnings can be traced to Sept. 14, 1898, at the Central Hotel of Boscobel, Wis. John Nicholson arrived at 9 p.m., looking for a place to relax and rest. Since he arrived so late, he discovered all the rooms were taken. The clerk, hating to turn him away, suggested he might want to share room 19.
___The occupant of that room was a man name Samuel Hill. Because he was tired, Nicholson decided to accept the invitation.
___Before turning in for the night, Nicholson opened his Bible. At age 12, he had promised his dying mother he would read the Bible every night at bedtime. "Read it aloud," said Hill. "I'm a Christian, too."
___Nicholson read John 15, and the two knelt for prayer. Then they stayed up until 2 a.m., talking about their relationship to Christ and their individual journeys of faith. Both were encouraged to hear of the struggle and faithfulness of another Christian man who spent large segments of his life traveling.
___This would not be the last time that these two men would meet. Nicholson and Hill bumped into each other again the following May in Beaver Dam, Wis.
___It was after this meeting and time spent in conversation that they began to dream about forming an association of Christian salesmen. They made the decision to do that and set the first meeting for July 1, 1899. The first meeting of the association by some standards would be considered a failure. Only three showed up--Nicholson, Hill and a man named Will J. Knights.
___While some would have been discouraged, these men forged ahead with their plans to mobilize Christian commercial travelers for encouragement, evangelism and service. They did not know what to call the group, but after time spent in prayer Knights suggested the name of Gideons.
___The name Gideons is now familiar to travelers everywhere. Most have seen the distinctive stamp placed on the Bibles that can be found in motel rooms across the country and around the world. The Gideons have distributed over 750 million copies of Scripture in over 170 nations.
___It would have been easy to be discouraged at the first meeting, but these three men did not allow the poor turnout to dampen their dreams for God. (Jeff Dixon, Proclaim, p. 34 Spring 2002)
___A servant is to be faithful and dependable to the Master. So, how does one acquire a servant's heart?
___A servant's heart
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___The servant's heart begins with the acceptance of salvation as gift. Paul and Apollos were not in competition with one another, nor were their allegiances divided (4:6). They were to be the example the Corinthians were to immulate. The Corinthians seemed to be forgetting the gifts they prized so highly were not a reflection of their ability but of God's grace.
___In verses 8-13, Paul compares his apostleship to the kingly reign of the Corinthians. Discipleship is not a life of royalty and being served, but a life of serving; not a life of self-pleasing, but self-giving. It is obvious that they believed the kingdom had come and was being completed in them (v. 8). "Already you are filled" means that they possessed satisfaction, riches, lordship at the present time, not in the future.
___Paul compares his life, and that of the other apostles, to the misunderstanding of the Corinthians (v. 10-13). For while the Corinthians were living as kings, the apostles are like men sentenced to death. Paul continues the analogy: "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."
___Paul, in his sarcasm, is making his point clear: Those who think like the Corinthians neither understand God's kingdom nor servanthood, for true servants do not speak of what they have received, but they speak of what they have shared with others.
___Paul understood the life of a servant is to be like the life of our Lord--suffering in order to serve others. In his attempt to drive home his message, the apostle is careful not to humiliate and belittle his readers.
___He notes in 4:14, "I do not write this to make you ashamed, but to admonish you as my beloved children." Shame would only humiliate the Corinthians, and he does not want to distance them from him. There is already enough distance between each other, so Paul chose his words carefully.
___The apostle attempted to help the Corinthians "save face" in light of their current problems. Making them angry toward Paul would only add to their division and confusion. His attempt is to admonish--"to caution of an error in a gentle way." Paul was not wanting to alienate the Corinthian church, only to help them see their errors and change.
___His admonition is "to my beloved children." These believers are like children to a father in the eyes of Paul. He is the father who led them to Christ, and helped them to get started in their new journey of faith. He is the only spiritual father they have. He does not resent the others (Apollos, Peter) who have had an influence upon them, but he does take special pride and care in the notion that he led them to Christ.
___Paul drives home his point in verse 21: "What do you wish? Shall I come to you with a rod; or with love in a spirit of gentleness?" As the apostle assumes his role as father, he now places the choice before them. They, by their actions, will chose the type of discipline he will invoke. If he needs to be firm, he will come with a rod; not to literally beat them, but to be firm in his deliberations with them. Paul wants them to understand that their choices carry with them the consequences with which they must live.
___The apostle offers to come to them in firmness or in a spirit of gentleness. He was not afraid to deal with them in either manner. The choice was up to them. He did not remove their ability nor willingness to chose. He only wanted to remind them that they had to live with their decision.
___Living out of a servant's heart is not easy. A true servant carries responsibilities that effect the lives of many, not just the servant alone. A good servant realizes the cost of following his Master's desires and fulfilling the Master's will. A servant understands the amount of sacrifice necessary to be obedient.
Questions for thought and discussion
___ Since a servant is to be both responsible and trustworthy to his Master, in what ways do you express your responsibility and trustworthiness to God?
___ Most Christians are very generous and possess a giving heart, but they also are not well adapted to receiving gifts or compliments. How well do you receive gifts, especially the gift of salvation from God through Christ?
___ Paul said he and the other apostles are "fools for Christ's sake." Have you done anything in the past month or year that would cause others to say, "They are fools for Christ's sake?"
___ It is important to help our brother/sister to grow in their faith, and perhaps to help them see the error of their ways. How do you criticize another person in such a way that you do not damage your relationship with them?
___ Because we must live with the consequences of the decisions we make, how do we refrain from speaking too quickly, acting on impulse or judging too severely?
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