First Corinthians 3 and 4
Monday, January 13 1 Corinthians 3:1-9
“I couldn’t talk toyou as I would to spiritual people”
Paul suggests that the reason he has notshared more of the divine wisdom with them is that they have not beenspiritually mature enough to receive it; they remain “infants in Christ.” While they had experienced new birth, insteadof growing up and maturing they had remained in a state of spiritualinfancy. In this condition they wereneither able to cope with the adult problems that confronted them nor receivemature teaching from Paul about God.
For Paul at Corinth it was easy to tellwho was maturing and who was not: Where there was a spirit of love and unitythey were mature in Christ, and where there was strife and jealousy they wereinfants in Christ. This is a much bettersystem for judging maturity than many people use today. We have a tendency to equate beingspiritually mature with how people talk or with the activities in which theyparticipate. But Paul tied spiritualmaturity to character and attitude where the Spirit of God was creating inChristians the fruit of the Spirit (“love, joy, peace, patience, etc.”Galatians 5:22-23).
I desire to grow spiritually as aChristian, Lord, and not remain a “babe in Christ.” Amen.
Tuesday, January 14 1 Corinthians 3:10-17
“The foundation isJesus Christ”
Paul consideredhimself the wise master builder of the Corinthian church by virtue of hishaving begun the work there and having nurtured it during its first year and ahalf. But even as he began to writeabout the great care which needed to be exercised in building upon thatfoundation, he felt the need to remind the church what the foundation was –Jesus Christ. And while the church mighthave a variety of builders and different materials, Jesus was its only foundation. This was the church’s real basis of unitythen, and it remains so today.
Paul concedesthe possibility of different qualities of spiritual work being laid upon theoriginal foundation, and his writing suggests that it is not always possible atthe time to tell the difference between the various kinds of work that aredone. That which seems deep may actuallybe quite shallow, and something that creates great excitement may just as soonbe forgotten. But, when Christ returns,what has been done in the church will be judged.
Ourchurch’s foundation is you, Jesus, and you are the source of our unity. Amen.
Wednesday, January 15 1 Corinthians 3:18-23
“Stop deceiving yourselves”
The chaptercloses with Paul repeating his appeal to banish divisiveness. The quarrelsome Corinthians are deceivingthemselves into thinking they are wise by following society’s standards ofself-promotion, when in fact they must become foolish by the world’s standardsand embrace godly wisdom. The futile endof those who fail to take this corrective action is underlined by twoScriptures: Job 5:13 and Psalm 94:11. Inboth Old Testament contexts, sinful, godless behavior is in view, so it isclear that Paul is not condemning all wise people, merely those who think theycan be wise without God.
A final reasonfor the futility of such attitudes is that the Corinthians already haveeverything they could legitimately need or want in Jesus. Paul shows them this by turning their slogansupside down. They do not belong to Paulor Apollos or Peter; those leaders, as servants, belong to them, as doeseverything else in creation, present and future, inasmuch as they are in Christwho shares in all the Father’s wise provision for his children.
In Christ,Father, you have given me all I need. Amen.
Thursday, January 16 1 Corinthians 4:1-7
“Regard us as servants of Christ”
With this chapter Paul concludes hisappeal for unity among the Corinthian factions. He brings the discussion full circle: having begun with the wrong way totreat the apostles (overly exalting them), he now elaborates the right way toconsider them. They should not be pittedagainst one another as if they were rival leaders, but recognized as “servants”and “overseers.” Together, these twowords describe Paul, Apollos, Peter, and their peers as answerable primarily toGod but with authority over their charges.
The key task of an overseer isfaithfulness to his master, not kowtowing to every demand of hisunderlings. The Corinthians’ view ofPaul matters little relative to God’s view of him. Even his own self-estimation pales againstthis divine evaluation. All humanjudgments not only lack God’s omniscient perspective but also remain premature. Only when the Lord returns and judgment isgiven will all the facts be known and all the thoughts and intentions of humanhearts disclosed (see for example Matthew 10:26), enabling a wholly fairevaluation of Christians’ behavior.
You alone, Lord,are capable of accurately judging human motives. Amen.
Friday, January 17 1 Corinthians 4:8-13
“You claim to be sowise in Christ”
Paul shifts tone abruptly and unleashes abitter criticism, dripping with irony and sarcasm. They see themselves as “wealthy” and “royal”spiritually, wise in their own eyes, but their view of their maturity is arrogantand misguided. In their “wisdom” they havesomehow come to believe that all of the blessings of the messianic age havealready arrived. If that were true, thenPaul and his companions would have been experiencing the same freedom fromimperfection that these Corinthians claimed.
Instead, Paul uses two metaphors toillustrate the apostles’ situation: first, he imagines himself and hiscompanions as prisoners of war in a victory procession by the opposing army;second, he envisions the frequent outcome of such capture – thrown to thegladiators or wild animals in the sporting arena. He then proceeds to provide a morestraightforward list of hardships. Hecloses this section with a remarkable model of how to respond in godly fashionto ungodly treatment and echoes several sayings of Jesus from the Sermon on theMount.
I would rather be a fool for you, Jesus,than wise in the world’s eyes. Amen.
Saturday, January 18 1 Corinthians 4:14-21
“I am not writingthese things to shame you”
As abruptly as Paul’s sarcasm began, itnow equally abruptly gives way to tender tones. The right way for Corinth to view its apostles in general, and Paul inparticular, is as special relatives. Their local leaders are their current spiritual teachers, but Paul istheir spiritual father. This parentalimagery accounts for Paul’s concern and strong warnings. He encourages them to imitate him, just as afather in the ancient world regularly taught his sons a trade by modeling it asthey studied under him as apprentices.
He would like to be personally presentagain to model correct Christian living, but he believes the Lord wants him tostay in Ephesus a little while longer (1 Corinthians 16:8-9). So he has sent Timothy as his personalsurrogate. Paul closes this four-chaptersection of his letter with a final warning. He is coming soon, Lord willing, even though some in Corinth are saying thathe will not. If he speaks gently to themin person, it is out of love. But ifnecessary he will come, metaphorically speaking, with the rod of discipline.
Asyour beloved child, Father, you discipline me that I may become like Christ. Amen.