Servants in Ministry
Study Scripture: 1 Corinth ian s 4:1 - 13
Lesson 4

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Key Verse

Let a man so account of us, as of the ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God.

1 Corinth ian s 4:1

 

INTRODUCTION

In addressing the crisis in the Corinth ian church caused by their serious misunderstanding of the message of Jesus, Paul stressed that the brethren were acting in contradiction to the gospel revealed in Scriptures.  

At the heart of their misinterpretation of Scripture, was the substitution of human wisdom for the wisdom of God and their pride in solving their own problems.  

In contrasting the wisdom of the world that they so adored with the wisdom of God, the Apostle showed them that they were only making themselves look foolish in the sight of God.  Judging themselves by the standards of the world led them to believe they were being wise but it fact he warned them that by so doing they were deceiving themselves.  

Note that we can define worldly wisdom as both intellectual knowledge, and as common sense, for both originate with the natural man, speculation of the flesh and opinions about what is truthful and reality as opposed to what is fantasy and/or lies.  

This is a common affliction today for even in the church, we see that people will feel it necessary to express their opinion to disagree with Scripture, thereby showing their intellectual arrogance and their commitment to the wisdom of the world.  

Unfortunately,  Christ ian s today like those in Corinth , assume that the wisdom of the world can be integrated into their Christ ian witness.  Sadly this shows that they now as then do not understand that the only lasting value or understanding comes from God alone.  

We must never forget that worldly wisdom is not only foolish but it is dangerous, for it invariably involves sneaking around and plotting, forgetting that God sees everything.   So the Apostle Paul quotes from Job 5:12-13 to warn the foolish about God’s reaction to them who are so deceived that they trusted men who are filled with the secular wisdom of age, the wise men, the scribes, and the debaters.

 “ He disappointeth the devices of the crafty, so that their hands cannot perform their enterprise.

He taketh the wise in their own craftiness: and the counsel of the froward is carried headlong.

They meet with darkness in the daytime, and grope in the noonday as in the night.”  

Worldly wisdom cannot bring us to God, and cannot make us understand the heart and mind of God.  It cannot teach us how to live.  It is stupid and senseless. It does not give us quality of life, but in reality undermines the quality of our life.  

Chapter 3: 22-23 openly declares that God has given all the brethren every resource and every necessary power in their inheritance with Jesus Christ.  They had riches that they did not really understand or take advantage of in their ignorance.  In following human leadership based on secular wisdom they were selling themselves short.  

They should instead be profiting from spiritual leaders such as Paul himself, Peter and Apollos that God had brought into their lives and through whom they had received spiritual lives in Jesus.    

After showing them that they had been missing the greatness that God had offered them, Paul then sets out to teach the Corinth ian s how they should view the teachers and preachers with whom God had blessed them and in addition how they should view themselves.  

We see in the passage we study today the true view of a minister of Christ, as opposed to the distorted views held by the Corinth ian church. Paul showed them that though they were attracted by the ‘hot shot’, great eloquence, flashy rhetoric and style of the leaders they loved, true spiritual leaders were very different.  

We will view an accurate presentation of what teachers and preachers in the church should be like. Paul clearly shows us how to:

-identify the true leaders

-the responsibilities of these leaders

-what is required of them, and

-how or who should evaluate their ministry.

Note that this true view of leaders and the nature of their ministry reveals the massive inadequacies of many leaders. Clearly, they do not have the correct apostolic view of themselves, and this shows up in their unbiblical behaviour.

THE TEXT

Verse1.   Paul tells us who the true leaders are and defines precisely what it means to be a servant of Christ.  He first deals with the identity issue.  He begins by telling them how they should regard him and other emissaries of God.  

In identifying these ministers of Christ Paul does not call them by any great title such as Doctors, Rabbis, Popes, Senior Pastors or any such thing as is popular today.  Even when he uses the word Bishop, it is not used in the same sense that we think of people today who are called bishops, or masters over many churches.

Paul uses a Greek word “HUPERETES” which literally means “under-rower”.  Everybody in the church in Corinth would know what this word meant, for they were right where the warships of Rome were transported across the strip of land on which their city stood. That isthmus separated the Ion ian Sea from the Aegean Sea . They knew that these war galleys had a low deck on which there were single rows of benches on both sides of the ship where the rowers sat, facing a little deck raised above them on which the captain sat.  

These rowers were galley slaves and were chained to the benches in the bottom level of the Roman warships. Their job was to row in exactly the way the captain commanded.  They had to be completely obedient to the captain’s command.  When he wanted them to stop they had to stop immediately.   

These were the lowest and the most menial of slaves.  They could do nothing without receiving a command from the captain of the ship.  They had the lowest rank, and no galley slave was more highly regarded than any other galley slave.  Their labor was the hardest, their punishment for not doing their work to suit the captain was the worst imaginable.  They were never appreciated.  Their existence was hopeless.  

So when Paul described himself and others such as Apollos and Peter in that way, using that word, they knew that Paul was telling them that he and other apostles were servants, not big shots at all and certainly not domineering commanders.   

They were servants completely under the control of Christ.  His eyes were fixed on them and he told them what to say and where to say it, what to do and what not to do.  They were not there to please men but to please God and they were servants of Christ, slaves of Christ, under rowers.  

Now it is not often that theolog ian s and leaders will ever tell you that that is really what they are supposed to be.  What we see throughout Christ ian history are people who are generally elevated and exalt themselves, who act according to the wisdom of the world and of course demand exceptionally great benefits from the people to whom they are supposedly ministering.   

After all, they will tell you that they deserve luxury, certainly more that you the lowly members of the congregation are entitled to. They certainly with tell you that they are somewhat more advanced in faith and spirituality and in anointing than you.  God made them that way, and so they should benefit more than you from being in the church.  They, their friends and families, are entitled to do what they want irrespective of what Scriptures say.  They are certainly not equal to you and the normal rules should not apply to them.   

They do not accept the kind of status that Paul was presenting and note that Paul did not mean that his position was supposed to be a prestigious position.  

The next word that Paul uses is the Greek word “oikonomos” which is translated “steward”.  

But note carefully that it too was also a slave.  In Greek households the steward was a slave who looked after all the affairs of the family. He directed the staff who were the other slaves, being placed in charge of the material resources of the House and responsible for its efficient functioning.  

This was a position of great responsibility and trust and the Master looked to the steward to assign tasks to the other slaves and ensure that everybody did their work to please him.  

We see clearly that Paul insisted that apostles were mere men chosen and appointed by God to be his servants and given authority to serve as stewards of the “mysteries of God”.   

They were not to be put on any pedestal.  They were servants, and servants were owned by their master.  They did not own anything for themselves.  

Servants did not own or possess their followers and could not boast about their followers.  The false leaders and teachers by so doing, were proving themselves to be false.  

It is true that the stewards had an important job to do and their Master had given them authority to act on his behalf, but they were still slaves, were not to please men, but to please their Lord and Master. He was their only Judge and  the only one to whom they had to answer.  

Let us not pass over lightly over the stewards duties.  They were responsible for the mysteries of God, the secret and hidden wisdom of God.  They were to tell the world the indispensable, life saving, immensely valuable truths that God had revealed in his Scriptures.  These truths were only to be found in Scripture and nowhere else.  

These truths could not be discovered by natural reason or by human observation and they could not be discovered by secular research, or people's opinions.  They were things revealed by God alone, and so they were powerful, sharper than any two edged sword, capable of penetrating down to the inmost being and therefore these revelations could change lives.  

Some reminders of these mysteries are:  Mark 4:11 tells us of the ‘ mystery of the kingdom of God ”.

2 Thessalon ian s 2:7 tells us of the “mystery of iniquity” or of lawlessness.

1 Timothy 3:16 however tells us of the counteracting power of “the mystery of godlessness.

Then Ephes ian s 3:1-6 tells us of the “mystery of the church”.  

Leaders must be speaking continually and reminding the people of these and other mysteries. If they do not, they are betraying the fact that they are not true leaders or stewards.  Maybe they do not know of these mysteries.  Maybe they are afraid to speak of them, for the truths implicit and explicit in the words of God might not match with their life and they are embarrassed. But whatever the reason, appointed stewards should only be regarded as true stewards of God, if they bring the life transforming doctrines of the “mysteries of God”.   

As stewards, servants and followers of Christ, we must understand that if the world hated Jesus and judged him falsely, then the world will do the same to us.  As servants and ministers of Christ we should expect no less.  With respect to God, we are servants, slaves.  

But within that role that we play to and for God, we are also referred to as stewards.   Stewards must remain confident that the Lord will keep us as Christ ian s to ‘that day’.  Stewards must keep at the top of their minds that they are entrusted with taking care of the household of God.   

Why is this so?  The world has rejected God, and so is blinded to many truths.  We as Christ ian s, servants of God, ministers of God through the Holy Spirit are guided and taught the mysteries of God, so that we will understand our purpose and God’s will.

Verse 2.   The critical responsibility of a steward was that there must be faithfulness, the efficient management of the Master’s resources.

Thus, the requirement or duty of stewards is highlighted.  Scripture says that we are to be faithfully or found faithful when doing our service to the Lord.   In all our actions, executed in mind, body, and spirit, we are to heed the instructions of the Holy Spirit and act accordingly.  When we are carrying out the will of God, we must purpose in our minds and bodies that it is good, as it is the will of God we are doing.  We should act in total belief and acceptance that God’s will, will be done, because His word does not return unto him void.  

There must be faithfulness in dispensing, setting forth the mysteries of God.  That and only that makes a person a good steward.  If a person is not faithful he is not a steward.  An ‘unfaithful servant’ and an ‘unfaithful steward’ is a contradiction in terms.  

When we don’t focus and trust in God and doubt comes into play, we are less successful in our service to God.  The ‘faithfulness’ manifests itself in us by our trust in God and hence accessing the strength He provides us, in order to accomplish the tasks He has set before us and doing so according to His will and not any last minute improvisations of our own.    

In their general conduct, part of being faithful is living a life that is just and holy, as the Lord had dictated.  The only way to do this is to decrease self and increase that which the Lord has created in us, so that He will get the increase (John3:30).  

Verse 3.  In this verse Paul looks at the issue of who decides whether or not a person who is a steward is faithful.  Paul is really looking at how the Corinth ian s were judging himself and other apostles and evaluating them as God's stewards.  

As Paul has mentioned, it does not really matter to him that others of the faith or outside the faith judge him.  Paul realizes that the judgment from any man bears no value on his salvation  or his service to God.   

The Corinth ian s might consider that he's not a great, eloquent, or highly regarded person, but the only important judgment is the one that God makes.  

We can understand Paul’s position, and admire his restraint, for these Corinth ian s, who were certainly not very knowledgeable about the wisdom of God should not even have been trying to judge the apostles.  But that is what they were happy to do.  

It should be noted here that congregations react to leaders or stewards in a few different ways, in order to pressure them into one or another direction.  

Some will give praise and adulation to swell the head.  They will tell you how great a blessing you are.  But one has to be very careful on hearing these things, for it tends to make you forget that you are simply an under-rower and all the praise and glory is not yours.  

Then the second kind of pressure brings with it constant attempts to line up everyone with personal interpretations and often current popular trends which might excite people’s imagination and interest, but which often cannot be proved from the word of God.  This often ends up tying the hands of leaders, for then the word of God cannot be thoroughly examined.  

Then there is the other kind of pressure where people are openly hostile and antagonistic, hoping thereby that people will cease presenting the word of God.  

All of these pressures can be overcome if leaders remember that they are stewards of the word of God, and that they work for God, and not to please people.  

But Paul goes even further.  He says that there are dangers even in his own attempts at self examination.  If he cannot rely completely on his own self evaluation, how could he allow the judgment of the Corinth ian s with their very limited knowledge of the truth to influence him! 

Note that we must be careful in our estimation of our self for oftentimes it is wrong. We are almost always too hard or too easy on ourselves.  The Bible does say that self examination is a good thing (1 Cor. 11:30 – 32).   

This act of self examination will allow us to see where in our lives we are faltering or where in our lives we need the Lord to take control. We might likely be striving against him and that is what is causing us to be pulled away from Him.  It doesn’t have to result directly in obvious “sin”, but when we do not do God’s will, then we are essentially committing sin against God, because we are in disobedience.  

So through the guidance of the Holy Spirit; listening and then acting according to the Holy Spirit ( a two fold response), we can correct our lack of obedience and allow God to completely use us the way He wants.  Sometimes God would have us do a certain task in a particular way, that would be beneficial to our lives.  Due to our lack of obedience He allows us to go off in another direction so that He may use that circumstance to teach us something about Him and ourselves, while still accomplishing His goals.    But in this scenario, we will probably not be as blessed as we could have been.   

This is part of the chastening process where God will allow and correct our mistakes because He has a greater plan in store for us.  Note that if God does not chasten us, then we know that we are truly not his children.  All of us need some chastening at some times in our life.  

We must understand that judgement is a prerogative of God and not man.  So there is a distinction that exists between the words examination and judgement.  When Jesus judges, it will be according to the motives of the heart, not only the outward action.

Verse 4.

Paul states that he himself is not aware of anything that he is doing at the moment that is against what God wants; for he apparently has dealt with everything that God had revealed to him about himself.  

But even the awareness or his clear conscience does not mean that he had been acquitted of everything and that he was home free.  Even if he was not aware that he was doing anything wrong at the moment, that does not mean that everything was all right.  

He knows that in reality, it is not his evaluation that counts, but it is the evaluation of the Lord that is important.  

What is interesting is that Paul uses the present tense of the word when he says that the Lord judges.  This means that the Lord is judging him continually, it is going on all the time.  

By this Paul is telling us that judgment must always be on God's behalf and we have the right to judge sin if something is clearly defined in Scripture as sin and is evident in our life (1 Corinth ian s 11:17-31) and in the life of another.  This latter right is indicated in 1 Corinth ian s 5.  

We have studied the Book of Proverbs where we were told about the gullible, the fool, the naïve, the sluggard, the scoffer and many other types of people. We were told to deal with these persons according to their character. Proverbs tell us that we must judge character, obviously as described in this Book of Scripture.  

What the Bible does not tell us however, is that we are to judge others or to speak against others in matters which the Scriptures have not defined as sin.  If we do that, acting without biblical support, we are placing ourselves in the position where we think we know better than the Word of God.  Whether or not we realize it, we are taking onto ourselves the right to pass judgment on God and his law.  

The stress by Paul is really on the evaluation which will be made by the only person who is qualified to judge.  So we remember Paul’s counsels to Timothy in 2 Timothy 2:15 that he be diligent to present himself approved to God.  

Paul completely attributes any power, knowledge, or wisdom that he has to God. God is his source.  

However, Paul can say confidently that he is justified!  Why is this so?  Well, Paul is looking towards Jesus.  He knows the sacrifice Jesus has made for him.  With the blood of Jesus Christ over him and the Holy Ghost with him, Paul knows that God the Father will see him as an acceptable steward, not of himself, but because of Jesus’ blood.  So to that end Paul is confident that he will be justified in God’s sight, just as God has justified many other saints before him.  As part of this Paul acknowledges the sovereignty of God over everything.

Verse 5.   Another reason that they should not try to judge the apostles is now presented to the Corinth ian s.  They must be very careful and cautious if they cannot prove there is biblically defined sin in the apostles.  

With respect to all other matters, Paul now points to the fact that any judgment we make now might very well be premature, that is, “before the time”.  

His focus is on divine judgment, the judgment of believers in Jesus Christ, in which the outcome is not punishment but rewards.  This introduces the idea of God’ s praise at the time of judgment.  

Because there will be this time of judgment and God will praise as he sees fit, Paul says that we should judge nothing before the time, leave all judgement to God. The important thing is that we assist our brethren or look to correct our faults through the guidance of the Holy Spirit before the judgement of God takes effect.   

Paul says that the day of judgement is coming and that will be when the Lord Jesus returns.  This statement carries with it a lot of doctrine about who Jesus is, His mission and His second coming.  

Note that a few lines above this statement, Paul had warned the Corinth ian s to be careful how they build on the foundation he as a wise masterbuilder had laid.  He had warned them that every man's work would be made manifest and purged by fire on that Day. (See 3:12-15.)  

Upon Jesus’ arrival, judgement will follow.  At this stage, any secrets hidden by men (Christ ian s and non-Christ ian s) will be brought to light.  Anything that is in our hearts, to which other men are not privy, will be exposed.  Our sins as well as our good deeds will be out in the open for men to see.   

The Bible does not excuse anyone from this process.  This is another testimony to God’s sovereignty and justice, as well as God's impartiality.  He is no respecter of persons.

This tells us that not all the secrets held will be bad.  Some will be good works done by His children from good and wholesome motives.  

We should remember that there are many people who have gifts which they exercise that would not result in visible outcomes, that is, outcomes that men notice or will appreciate even if they see them.  

After God examines all the thoughts, actions and motives of every single person, the appropriate level of rewards will be issued and every believer would have the praise they deserve, after his or her work is tested. God’s favour will be on those who are doing His will!  Every man will have his praise of God.

Verse 6.   Paul now deals directly with the Corinth ian s pride and makes it clear that his teachings about who he and Apollos was, their position and their attitude to their ministry, had direct implications for them.  

Everything he had been saying about the apostles and their true spiritual teachers, had all along been intended to teach them to follow the apostolic model of Paul and Apollos.  The Corinth ian s should like them, be completely submissive to the authority of the Bible.  In other words, what was good for Paul and Apollos, was good for them also.  There should never be one rule for the Apostles and Apollos and a different rule and standard of behavior for the other teachers they were so fond of.  

“It is written”, says Paul and this means that the Old Testament Scriptures have laid out how stewards should be.  They were to be faithful, serve in humility and support the teaching ministry of each other.  

Both he, Peter and Apollos were serving as illustrations or models, so that the Corinth ian s would have an example they could follow  The apostles were controlled by the Scriptures, which forbade them from judging one another according to the flesh.  

They should learn that Scripture had warned against thinking of men as higher or better than they really were.  This disobedience to Scripture had made them arrogant, or literally “puffed up”.  

Paul is saying that all those matters discussed about the judgement of God, such as the resurrection of Jesus, the sanctification and justification of God’s stewards as Apollos and Paul, had been passed on to the brethren at Corinth,  to make them stronger in the faith.  

With this knowledge, and knowing that God will be our judge and is the only one who should judge us, they should not under any circumstance consider themselves to be better than what or who they were.  

It was evident that at Corinth , some of the brethren were thinking of themselves more highly than they should have, perhaps due to a position they held or some other external reason, forgetting what was taught to them by God.   

It was arrogance that led to their rivalry and then to loyalty to their favorite teachers, and the disrespecting of others.  The problem with divisions came about because they were not following Scripture.  They had departed from “what is written” and being proud of themselves for their carnality and their impiety.  

The word ‘puffed up’ is used three times in this chapter and the word described the work of the bellows that blacksmiths used to push hot air into the heart of the fire to make it hotter.  Paul used this expression to tell them that they were really blowing hot air, puffing themselves up in self-importance.  In doing so they had gone beyond Scripture, giving man the praise and glory, instead of giving God the praise and glory.

Verse 7.   Paul puts forth three question to which, if they were to attempt to give an answer, would show them that they were simply proud and self -deceived .  

First, he asked them what made them think they were superior to any other person. ‘Who maketh thee to differ from another’?  

Clearly that kind of view of oneself is foolish.  It is strange that these slaves and poor people in the church who were not very noble, or even intellectually strong, now considered themselves so high and mighty.  

Second, he asked them, “What do you have that you did not receive?”, questioning their ability to explain whether or not they created the abilities of which they were boasting.  Wasn't it God who should be boasting rather than they?  

Third, he asked them why is was that if what they possessed was a God-given gift, why were they behaving as if it were not a gift? 

He is trying to point out that God is the one who created us and sustains us.  We do not even know ourselves as well as we think we do.  So how can we really say how we differ from one another, or isolate what is different in us or what is important.  Instead of boasting, they should be using any difference they found in themselves to glorify God.   

The other point made by Paul concerns what they had done to become great.  Did they really have control over their lives, so that they were responsible for their success.  And if so, couldn’t they be more successful by creating others after their image, so that they may have a following.  Was there anything inside of us that depends really is deserving of praise?  

These questions put out by Paul are rhetorical in nature. It seems Paul is trying to say to the people at Corinth , that if they considered themselves great because of something they did or obtained with the help of others, then they really had no cause for self adulation.   

The glory belonged to the giver, not to the one that simply received the gift, or to the one who became great because they were put into that position by someone else.  

The glory that men experience seems to be a direct reflection of an external gift lifting them from the position they were in, to something better.  But the key point here is that it is a gift, or given to us by someone else.  All blessings originate from God and whether we are Christ ian or not, we owe him praise. 

Verse 8.    Paul here delivers a sarcastic rebuke.  He read their minds and saw that their boasting was foolish, for they were claiming to be the source of something which had been given to them by a generous God.  

He now confronts them, for they were living with the illusion that they were wealthy and  had  no need of anything. They had become pleased with themselves, self-satisfied and complacent.  

So Paul said sarcastically that they now looked on themselves as having “already” become filled, literally full with food after a big meal; “already” become rich, having all the material things that they needed;  “already” arrived, no longer having to hunger and thirst after righteousness.  Meanwhile Paul and the other apostles and Apollos had not yet become filled, rich or arrived.  

This was massive arrogance and pride.  Today some have even said that they are better that the apostles, and are now at a higher stage.  

This reminds us of many today that think that they have “already” entered the kingdom, “already” arrived, and so can “already” claim all the blessings from Christ's work on Calvary .  They look down on those that they claim do not have their faith and who are forced to suffer, not able to experience success and the good life now.  

This illusion of having arrived is quite common.  

So Paul says that the Corinth ian s (and of course people who think similarity) are living under the illusion of not needing Paul or apostolic influence.  They are self-appointed Kings, exalted, independently reigning, no accountability, accepting no spiritual authority over them.  

The gifts that Paul said they received, they seem to have directed towards worldly benefits. Since they looked at their gifts from a worldly perspective, when these gifts  were acquired, then praise was due them.   

Paul warns us and reminds people that when individuals are blessed, they tend to look past God and start to attribute their gifts and success to something internal. 

So Paul says with sarcasm, that he wishes their success could be shared with others including them, the apostles.  It would be great if they were really reigning already, for then he Paul would also begin to reign too.

Verse 9-13.    Paul now contrasts the illusion under which the Corinth ian s lived with the reality of life lived by the apostles, their fathers in Christ, who were fighting a terrible war as servants, under-rowers and stewards, slaves of God with a critically important assignment.   

The apostles lived lives full of weakness and were constantly humiliated.  Paul lists all the things that the Corinth ian s would never like or appreciate, since they came out of a Greek culture which prized eloquence, flash, strength and elitism.  

Note that Paul is warning them in a fatherly way, that there is a real world that is tough, cruel and unforgiving.  They on the other hand were living in a dream world and kidding themselves, while the apostles were fighting the fierce battle.  

Now the question must be asked as to why the Corinth ian s did not understand that if they identified themselves with Christ, they would as Jesus himself said, inevitably suffer rejection, persecution and affliction.  Why would they not understand that the world would hate them!  

We know the reason for this.  Paul had told us that they had not paid attention to “what is written”, instead leaving the Scriptures behind, and following some other source of ‘truth’.  They were wrong.  In addition they twisted the Scriptures about prophecy, distorting the doctrine of the resurrection, future judgment and the blessings of Christ kingdom.  To confirm this read 1 Corinth ian s 15.  

Note the same thing is happening today in the churches.  

Paul then begins to describe his lifestyle which fits perfectly with the preaching of the cross of Christ.  He knew that if Jesus, the beloved Son of God, suffered a humiliating death and if the apostles were to follow Jesus' footsteps, they would face humiliation at every turn.  He also knew that if the Corinth ian brethren were truly Christ ian s, they too would be regarded as worthless by the world and deserving of death.  

Paul uses several phrases to describe the lifestyle of every true Christ ian .  Let us look at them carefully.  

First, the apostles are last.

Second, they are appointed to death.

Third, they are ‘a spectacle to the world’.

Fourth they are ‘fools for Christ sake’.

Fifth, they are the ‘filth or scum of the world’.

Verse 9.   God had allowed the apostles to be last, says Paul sarcastically.  The Corinth ian s who were boasting in their worldly wisdom thought that they had ‘arrived’, while the apostles had not. The picture Paul paints is that they were sitting on ‘high’, looking out on the apostles who were a shame and a reproach.  

So Paul said he was not complaining, for he knew that he was last.  The world believes that we are way behind them and that they are better than us.  They will promote others and give others the best jobs, treat them well, but will not promote us and will put us last.  

So Paul adds that God has chosen to make them appointed to death.  They would be persecuted, they will be humiliated and they will be killed.   

Standing for the truth of the gospel would so offend the world, that they the apostles were going to always be in danger of death. They would ultimately be killed just as their savior was killed.  

God has also chosen to make them a ‘spectacle’.  This word is an interesting one.  When a Roman general won a big victory, there would be a procession back in Rome led by the victorious general, followed by his victorious army. Behind them in chains would be the king that had been defeated and his losing, defeated army would come behind him.  The citizens of Rome would jeer and mock them and then follow them to the arena, where these losers would fight wild animals and die for the sport of the citizens of Rome . This was a ‘spectacle’, theatre, public humiliation and horror for the losing army.  

So Paul is telling the Corinth ian s, who knew exactly what he meant, that God had made the apostles a ‘spectacle’ for their benefit.  This was a life-and-death struggle waged before the world, men, and the angels.  

This was reality.  They were models or patterns for Christ ian s. In contrast the Corinth ian s were living a dream world, under an illusion.

Verse 10.   In the view of the world, according to its standards, they are really foolish.  But this was God's wisdom.  

Note that this is a rebuke to those ministers who go to great lengths to cultivate an image of worldly success.   

The description of the apostle sounds like those lowest on the totem pole today, the homeless, the abused and the poor.  It certainly does not sound like the impeccably dressed ministers of God with many expensive homes and mansions, expensive suits and lots of money, reaping praise from the world.  

The Corinth ian s thought that manual labor was only fit for slaves.  A man had to be strong and powerful.  It was offensive to be otherwise.  But Paul was saying that look, we are weak, we are despised, we work with our hands, we are persecuted, we are not conquering heroes, we are suffering servants, we boast about our weaknesses.  But you think you are better, so go ahead and fool yourselves.

Verse 11.   Paul now tells us what it is really like to live as an apostle.  

Apostles traveled a lot and faced lack of food, accommodation, deprivations and dangers from robbers.  The word ‘roughly treated’ or ‘buffeting’ is the specific word used to refer to be beatings a slave would get from his master.  

So Paul is presenting a picture that would be very disturbing to the Corinth ian s.  This was not for them an ideal way of life, certainly not what they thought God would demand of his servants.  They forgot that Jesus told one person that the Son of man had nowhere to lay his head.

Verse 12.   Paul continues to point out things that he did which were offensive to the Greek ideal.  Great people did not work, but had slaves.  Manual labor was not nice and not recommended.  

It is interesting to read 2 Corinth ian s 11:23-28 where Paul went into even more details about his suffering.  He gave them the full unpleasant facts of the Christ ian life.  

The apostles were only concerned with humility and faithfulness.  They knew that their weaknesses provided God with an opportunity to show his power.  

So when they were defamed and slandered, they did not fight back. Greeks would not support that kind of behavior.  When the apostles were persecuted they accepted the suffering and just kept on working.  

Paul is presenting the Corinth ian s with things that they certainly did not want to hear or did not want to accept.  But every true Christ ian has to accept these truths.  It really is no use feeling that God will take you out of tribulation because you are so nice.

Verse 13.   Here comes the final humiliation.  The apostles saw themselves as being on the bottom, just like rubbish, dregs, the scraping off after a meal.  

One scholar points out that the word off- scouring has an even worse meaning than what we think.

We are told that during times of plague and famine in ancient Greece , they would throw some worthless people into the sea while saying “Be our offscouring”. The victims were called ‘scrapings’ in the belief that if they were thrown out into death, that would wipe away the guilt of the community.  

There is in this word an element of sacrifice on the behalf of people.  So Paul could be using the word to indicate that he is garbage and despised, as well as being a sacrifice on the behalf of the Corinth ian s.  

Clearly, it is a depraved lie from the pit of Hell, to tell people that God wants all Christ ian s to be rich, healthy and satisfied, and that if you do not have these things you  either don't have enough faith or you need to give them more money.   

Paul contradicts that totally.  Manipulating the Christ ian faith for selfish advantage is an extreme perversion.  

 It is interesting that in the next verse Paul declares that he is not writing these things to shame them, but to warn them.  They were his beloved sons and he did not want them to stay under and illusion.

CONCLUSION

Brethren, there is a real world.  The Scriptures tell us what the world is like. We must follow “what is written”.  

We must not let the flesh, and the things of the flesh drag us along the road to destruction.  The life of Jesus and the apostles are models for us.  

Actually, the problem in the church today is basically that we are not willing to have the world laugh at us.  So the church will silently or half-heartedly go along with the idea that the Bible is not completely correct. The church will support the unbiblical feminist causes, sexual  immorality of all sorts including homosexuality, and supporting standards approved by the world.  

The discussion in this chapter really teaches us how to respond to the mistreatment of the world.  Jesus is our model and the apostles are our model.  The way of the world is not  our model.  

Let us focus on who we are and what God expects of us.