Contemplate these questions while you dwell in 1 Corinthians 4:1-21:

1. How does Paul contrast the values and priorities of the Corinthian church with the standards he believes they should uphold as servants of Christ? How does this challenge common societal notions of success and wisdom?

2. In verses 8-13, Paul describes the contrasting experiences of himself and the Corinthians. How do these descriptions highlight the disparity in their perspectives and aspirations? What message is Paul trying to convey through this contrast?

3. Paul emphasizes that the kingdom of God is not merely about talk, but about the power of God unto salvation. How can believers ensure they are prioritizing the true power of God in their lives over worldly wisdom and pursuits? What practical steps can be taken to align with God's priorities?

Transcript:

 All right, so as we look at chapter four, Paul is uh being pretty savage with the Corinthian church here, isn't he? He is kind of letting them know what he thinks about their attitudes and so He starts off by saying this is how one should regard us as servants of Christ and stewards of the mystery Mysteries of God moreover is required of stewards that they be found faithful.

He is telling them. Hey,  we are your servants. And what is required of us is not that we advance ourselves, that we do well for ourselves, but instead, what matters is whether or not we're faithful to the gospel that we've been called to proclaim. Are we faithful to the message? Are we faithful to God's word?

Are we faithful to who God has called us to be? That is the standard. So, they're talking about all these different things in the church in Corinth. They have all these teachers who are saying different things. And suddenly Paul is saying, Hey, are you learning the right things? Are you valuing the right things?

And we go down to this section. If we were to read some of these verses, verse starting with verse eight, uh, on their own and stop at a certain point, we would maybe be a little confused because Paul ends up, basically saying the things that we value as humans  are not the things that the church in Corinth that we are to be.

Pursuing.  Look at verse 8. Already you have all you want. Already you have become rich. Hey, look, great for you. The world thinks you're fantastic. This is all that you could ever want, right? This is, this is, these are the things that we value. But like we see in verse 10, we are fools for Christ's sake. He's talking again here about this wisdom that of the world that the people have been pursuing.

Paul's saying we're not wise in the eyes of the world. We're, we're fools for Christ's sake.  But then he says, but you're wise. And he's saying,  you're acting like you're better than the ones who brought you the message. You're acting like you're better than the ones that God has called to be stewards, that somehow you're wise, even though the wisdom of, uh, wisdom is exalted in the world and the foolishness of God is, is what you're to seek out because that's the true wisdom.

You're not doing that. And you see here, he says, we are weak, but you're strong. You're held in honor, but we in disrepute. He's saying, hey, we're the apostles. We're the ones who have been called to the message. We're the ones God has ordained. We're in disrepute in the world, but the, but you're, you're seeking praise.

Your people love you.  He says, we as apostles, hunger, and thirst, poorly dressed, they're homeless, but you're doing good.  And he's saying, You are not seeking out the things of God. You're seeking out the things of men.  We see this is at the last part of verse 13. We have become and are still like the scum of the world, the refuse of all things.

He's saying, hey, this is who we are in the eyes of the world. This is what God has called us to do, to be contrary to the world. We're looked down upon.  But you're not doing that.  This is kind of hard for us. If we were to stop, would have stopped at verse 13. We might have been confused, but verse 14 as we see here, I do not write these things to make you ashamed.

But aren’t, that just honestly, that just cracks me up. You know, if you and I were to read that and then read that Paul is trying to make them shame. Hey, you're rich. Hey, you're wise.  And Paul then says, I’m being kind of harsh with you. I didn't, I didn't mean to, uh, make you ashamed there. We would be completely confused.

But Paul is, Paul is coming at them hard here. This is, this is something that I'm calling you to do. I'm not trying to shame you. You need to seek out the things of God.  For though you have countless guides in Christ, you do not have many fathers.  They need someone to emulate, they need someone to imitate someone who has, has lost all things for the gospel, that who, who is seeking out the wisdom of God, not the wisdom of the world.

And so, he's saying, instead of imitating those among you who are telling you to be wise and smart and rich and, and well off, instead imitate me. That is seeking humility, that is being faithful to Christ.  So that's why Paul says that he sends Timothy.  And then we see in verse 20, For the kingdom of God does not consist in talk, but in power.

And so, all these people have been talking a good game. You know, we don't know what it looked like exactly, but do this and you'll be well liked by the world. Um, do this and you'll have wealth. Do all these things. And there's this fancy talk going on. That's the whole thing that we've seen. There's this worldly wisdom going on in the church in Corinth.

But Paul's saying it does not, the kingdom of God does not consist in talk. In other words, vain talk, vain things, the things of the world, but instead in the power of God. And we know what Paul thinks the power of God is. The power of God is salvation in Christ. That when we are humbled, he exalts us in salvation through Christ.

That's what they are to seek out. Not the fancy talk of people giving them worldly wisdom, but instead the wisdom of God. That is the power of God into salvation.  And so as we think about this passage, I think that even though I have kind of laughed at how this whole passage goes, just because it just, It's hard for us to understand and we would think that we would want wealth, that we would want worldly wisdom.

But instead, Paul says, you know, I'm not trying to shame you because you have those things, right?  What this passage causes me to do is say, what do I value? What do we value?  Do we believe the kingdom of God is consistent talk? Or do we believe that the kingdom of God is centered on the power of God to save?

Are we trusting in what God has actually entrusted us with, and that is salvation.  And it's hard because we want to seek out the things of the world, and many times we are blessed with the things of the world, but it's important that we never see those things as what truly matters. Instead, we need to trust in what God has given us and feel  that he has truly blessed us in those things.

Not the earthly things, but in the things of his.  which is salvation, love, joy, peace, self-control, the hope that we have in Christ.  May we root ourselves in those things, not in the things of the world.