1 Corinthians 4:1-21 Unity around the Qualities of Leadership
1 Corinthians 4: Let a man so account of us, as of the ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God. 2 Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful. 3 But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged of you, or of man's judgment: yea, I judge not mine own self. 4 For I know nothing by myself; yet am I not hereby justified: but he that judgeth me is the Lord. 5 Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts: and then shall every man have praise of God. 6 And these things, brethren, I have in a figure transferred to myself and to Apollos for your sakes; that ye might learn in us not to think of men above that which is written, that no one of you be puffed up for one against another. 7 For who maketh thee to differ from another? and what hast thou that thou didst not receive? now if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not received it? 8 Now ye are full, now ye are rich, ye have reigned as kings without us: and I would to God ye did reign, that we also might reign with you. 9 For I think that God hath set forth us the apostles last, as it were appointed to death: for we are made a spectacle unto the world, and to angels, and to men. 10 We are fools for Christ's sake, but ye are wise in Christ; we are weak, but ye are strong; ye are honourable, but we are despised. 11 Even unto this present hour we both hunger, and thirst, and are naked, and are buffeted, and have no certain dwelling place; 12 And labor, working with our own hands: being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we suffer it: 13 Being defamed, we intreat: we are made as the filth of the world, and are the offscouring of all things unto this day. 14 I write not these things to shame you, but as my beloved sons I warn you. 15 For though ye have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet have ye not many fathers: for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel. 16 Wherefore I beseech you, be ye followers of me. 17 For this cause have I sent unto you Timotheus, who is my beloved son, and faithful in the Lord, who shall bring you into remembrance of my ways which be in Christ, as I teach everywhere in every church. 18 Now some are puffed up, as though I would not come to you. 19 But I will come to you shortly, if the Lord will, and will know, not the speech of them which are puffed up, but the power. 20 For the kingdom of God is not in word, but in power. 21 What will ye? shall I come unto you with a rod, or in love, and in the spirit of meekness?
We have been studying 1 Corinthians for a number of weeks now. And I let you know that the epistle was written because of the many problems that existed in that church. I’ve looked at a number of outlines of the book from other pastors and expositors and it’s pretty consistent across all of them to use the word “problems” to describe Paul admonition to them.
All of them say, “Corinthians? They had problems.” This is the list of problems from one commentator I read.
I found another who made a pictorial outline of all their problems and Paul’s response to that problem. He summarized the problems as…
Still another outlined the book this way.
So, obviously everyone seriously reading this letter would understand that Paul is addressing a number of problems in their assembly.
And as many of us know, the more problems exist in an organization, usually the more factions and divisions there are as well. People divide up into groups to grouse about who is to blame for the problems, who is right, who is wrong, and whose side you are on.
So, that brings us to an explanation as to which problem Paul addresses first. Paul knows that before he can address the individual problems in the church, he has to address the spirit of disunity that exists there. He has to address all the little groups that had formed in opposition to the other little groups. You can’t solve problems unless you come to some common ground; some agreement about basic values and principles. So, four chapters in 1st Corinthians are dedicated to those basic values. We’ve been through these over the last weeks. Paul instructs them as to God’s definition of wisdom; that is a foundational value, the message of the cross, the work of the Holy Spirit, the definition of maturity and its reward; those are all basic, foundational values.
If they all came to a common understanding of those foundational doctrines, much of the disagreements would disappear. Well, we have come to the last of the four chapters about factions. Paul concludes this section about factions by instructing them about a final, very important area, they need to agree on; leadership.
They have to agree on leadership in order to dissolve factions. What do we mean? If an organization of any sort is to succeed in accomplishing anything, they have to agree on who the leaders are, how they get their position, and how they will lead once they have the position. You can have common values about many things, but someone has to take the helm and push or pull or persuade or encourage the people to go forward to living out those values. How do we choose a leader? Do we choose our leader? Is the leader the person who pushes the hardest to make it to the proverbial throne; sort of a “king of the hill” type leader? Is the leader the most popular? They win by popular vote? Is the leader the one who is well-spoken, or influential in the community? We have to agree on this basic principle of leadership.
And so, Paul spends all of chapter 4 talking about leadership. More specifically he is talking about spiritual leadership in the church. Leaders in the church are to be different than leaders in the world.
I went online to see what worldly advice was available about leadership. Each one implies some aptitude of leadership that is valued by the world.
A leader is a person with a magnet in his heart and a compass in his head. Vance Hainer.
To the world a leader has to have a firm sense of the direction he is taking the organization, and be able to persuade people to follow.
Dwight Eisenhower described leadership as "The act of getting somebody else to do what you want done because he wants to do it." Source Unknown.
Again, that emphasizes persuasiveness. Some other words that say the same thing.
Look over your shoulder now and then to be sure someone's following you. Virginia State Treasurer, Henry Gilmer.
“When trouble arises and things look bad, there is always one individual who perceives a solution and is willing to take command. Very often, that person is crazy.”― Dave Barry
There is some truth in all of those statements. But we don’t just want some truth, or partial truth, we want the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. So, let’s open the Word today to discover “Biblical Qualities of Leadership.”
The sermon today and next week really comes down to two things; What we are to be, and what we are not to be. And in between Paul gives some examples of those two points.
prayer
I. What we are to be: Servants and Stewards
1 Let a man consider us in this manner, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. 2 In this case, moreover, it is required [a]of stewards that one be found faithful.
Leaders are servants and stewards
Now, before we look more intently at these words let me say this. When we talk about leadership, many people will tune out. They will say, “I’m not a leader. I have no position in the church. I don’t want a position in the church. I’m not the pastor, or a deacon, or a teacher.” And, of course, those are the ones we first think of when we think of leadership. But when we discuss Biblical principles of leadership, they apply to all of us; because we are all leaders, official or unofficial. Everyone is a leader from the one who stands behind this pulpit or behind a lectern in a classroom, all the way to the child in the children’s wing who turns to their classmate and says, “Teacher says it’s story time, let’s go to the carpet.” We all lead someone. Our children, grandchildren, fellow learners, brothers and sisters in Christ. Even if we are just encouraging someone to do what the pastor or teacher says, we are leading. And so, these principles of leadership apply to everyone. So, let’s look at them not only as a guide for evaluating those who lead us, but for evaluating ourselves.
Leaders: What we are to be; Servants and Stewards
1 Let a man consider us in this manner, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. 2 In this case, moreover, it is required [a]of stewards that one be found faithful.
First, let’s remember where this whole conversation about factions and leadership began. It began with members of the Corinthian church choosing to identify with one or another of the pastors who had feed their assembly. Paul started the church, so some said, “I am a follower of Paul.” Apollos came later and helped the church grow spiritually, so some said, “I am a follower of Apollos.” Others were influenced by the work of the apostle Peter, so some said, “I am a follower of Peter.”
They were forming competing groups. They were ranking their pastors by their own standards of greatness. So, Paul needs to correct their understanding of standards of leadership in the church. The standards are different than the world’s standards. Jesus had to address the same problem with the 12 disciples.
Matthew 20: 25 But Jesus called them to Himself and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great men exercise authority over them. 26 It is not this way among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant, 27 and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave;
The Corinthians were used to the world’s standards of leadership; A leader is a commander, a type A, get it done personality, a person who demands obedience and punishes disobedience. But Paul reiterates what Jesus said; A leader in the church must be a servant to all.
And some have tried to use the world’s standards of leadership in Christianity. A leader is the toughest take charge person. They run their families that way. They run committees that way. There are pastors who run churches that way. It’s “my way or the highway.” As I mentioned last week, King Louis the 14th led that way. His famous quote was “I am the state,” attributed to him when the Parliament of Paris opposed him on some action he wanted to take. He was saying, “Mine is the only opinion that matters.”
But that is not the standard of leadership in Christianity, the church, or the Christian family, or in any Christian relationship. Paul uses two words to describe himself, Apollos, and Cephas as Christian leaders; Servants and Stewards.
Let’s look at servant first. We think we have an understanding of the word servant. But there is some backgoround that we need to understand here. What did he mean by servant? A better question would be, “What word did he use for servant?”
There are several words for servants and slaves in the Greek language. Our word for deacon is one of them. A deacon is a table server or waiter. A waiter or deacon is one type of servant. We may be familiar with the word “doulos” which means slave, a person owned and under the complete authority of another person. That’s another level of a servant. But Paul doesn’t use either of these words here. He says of himself, Apollos and Cephas that they are hypēretas.
Let a man so account of us, as of the ministers of Christ
The word minister here is hyperetas.
A. hypēretas
I did a Greek word search on the word hyperetas and this is what I found;
5257 hypērétēs (from 5259 /hypó, "under" and ēressō, "to row") – properly, a rower (a crewman on a boat), an "under-rower" who mans the oars on a lower deck; (figuratively)
A hyperetas was an under rower on a ship. The best explanation I can give for that is to show you a picture. A warship was built specifically for speed. They would have three rows of rowers below deck on both sides. And the rowers would be in three levels, an upper middle and lower level. Now which is the best seat in the house in regard to the rowers? The best seat is on the upper row. It is closest to the open-air opening in the deck, closer to the light. Further from the crowded conditions. What is the worst seat in the house? The under rowers. The lowest level of rowers are furthest from the light, the fresh air. The are crowded together, with other slaves beside them and above them. They are at the darkest, hottest, and smelliest place below deck.
Picture on screen
That’s what the word huperetos meant. It was a third level galley slave of the lowest authority. That’s the origin of the word. It changed through history and began to be used in conversation to designate anyone who was a subordinate, a lowly menial laborer. Someone of no position.
That’s the word Paul uses for himself, and other “ministers” of the gospel. They are low level galley slaves. And he says, that’s how I want you to think of us. “Let a man consider us in this manner.”
In other words, he is saying that when they exalted one teacher above another, they were in error. Why do you say, “I am of Paul, and I of Apollos, when all we are is low level slaves.” And that is what a leader in the Church, a Christian organization, a Christian family, a Sunday School class, or a church committee should regard themselves as; a low-level slave.
Now, it is not saying here that we should treat others as though they are the lowest of the low. “You are my teacher, so grovel at my feet. You work for me!” No, he is referring to how leaders should regard themselves, and others regard them, when there is the temptation to put them or myself on a pedestal. Don’t put me on a pedestal because I am a leader or teach the Word, don’t put yourself on a pedestal. You are a slave of Christ, and a low level one at that.
We’re talking here about an attitude. Well, Paul also uses another word for himself and his fellow pastors;
B. οἰκονόμους
Cognate: 3623 oikonómos (from 3624 /oíkos, "house, household" and nemō, "to allot, apportion") – properly, a steward (literally, "household-manager"). See 3622 (oikonomia).
[3623 /oikonómos ("manager") often functioned as the "steward" of a household, and was generally a freedman – i.e. a slave released from forced, legal servitude (J. Thayer).]
Let a man consider us in this manner, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God.
We are stewards. A steward was a household manager. The best biblical example I can think of was Joseph in the household of Potiphar. He was Potiphar’s slave, but he was a high-level slave in charge of other slaves. He was Potiphar’s household manager. If Potiphar grew crops or ran a business, he had a number of slaves who did the grunt work on a day-by-day basis. And he had slaves who prepared food, cleaned, brought water, cut wood for the fireplace, etc. Well, Potiphar was the captain of the Pharaoh’s bodyguard. He couldn’t sit home all day making sure everyone did their job. So, he would look out over his slaves, and choose one who was intelligent, who had an aptitude for management, and make him the manager. Now this is an important analogy for understanding God’s role for the leader in the church, or home or wherever.
Well, what is Paul’s point? That there is one characteristic that is expected of a steward. It is more important than anything else. A good steward probably needs to be intelligent, he needs to be able to get along with people, he has to have a back-bone. But there is something more important than all of those things.
2 In this case, moreover, it is required [a]of stewards that one be found faithful.
He has to be faithful. Reliable
Stewards of the mysteries of God. The mysteries of God here just refers to the message of the gospel that had been hidden until after Jesus’ resurrection. Now the preacher is to explain that mystery to his hearers.
What is required of a steward? That he be clever? Well-spoken? No, that he be faithful. Trustworthy. A good steward was one who could be left in charge while the boss goes on vacation, and the boss knows that he will work, and make sure the work is done in his absence, in the same way he would if he were present.
Generally speaking; Faithful people will never lack for a job. Because it is a rare quality. You do your job, day in and day out, you do quality work. You show up on time. You communicate with the boss. You try to do your best on every task, and all of that, whether the boss is watching or not. And that is the standard for Christian leadership.
What does this say about Christian leadership? It is not designed to glorify people or elevate them above their brothers and sisters, they become the servants to everyone. And it is not a position where you are rewarded for your pizzazz or creativity, but your faithfulness.
What is he saying about the greatest leaders among Christians? They are not great because they are famous, or have written lots of books, or attract the greatest crowds, or those who bore you the least in the pulpit. They are great because they are faithful. In regard to preaching, that means that a great preacher is like a great waiter. What makes a great waiter? The one who delivers the food to you without messing it up. I don’t expect my waiter to be a good cook. I want him to deliver the good food that the chef made in the kitchen.
A faithful Christian leader just makes sure to get the work done that they are supposed to do.
Let’s look a moment at what that means in other areas of Christian leadership. What is faithful leadership as a Bible study teacher? Rightly dividing the Word of truth. Communicating God’s message. What is faithful leadership in your home? Raising your children daily in the Lord, with your life matching your Christian identity. What does Christian leadership look like at work? Working for your employer as unto the Lord.
Nothing flashy. Nothing that brings a lot of glory. We are just 3rd level galley slaves and stewards
Do you want to be a strong Christian leader? Serve people and do it faithfully. Day in and day out. Serve in your home, your neighborhood, your employment, your church. Keep doing it even when no one is looking, or giving you praise for it.
C. How will I be evaluated?
How do I know if I’ve done well? Preachers are judged in this world by the three “B’s.” Buildings, bodies, and budgets. You could add books and degrees. None of that is biblical.
We will pick up with this next time.
In 1972, NASA launched the exploratory space probe Pioneer 10. According to Leon Jaroff in Time, the satellite's primary mission was to reach Jupiter, photograph the planet and its moons, and beam data to earth about Jupiter's magnetic field, radiation belts, and atmosphere. Scientists regarded this as a bold plan, for at that time no earth satellite had ever gone beyond Mars, and they feared the asteroid belt would destroy the satellite before it could reach its target. But Pioneer 10 accomplished its mission and much, much more. Swinging past the giant planet in November 1973, Jupiter's immense gravity hurled Pioneer 10 at a higher rate of speed toward the edge of the solar system. At one billion miles from the sun, Pioneer 10 passed Saturn. At some two billion miles, it hurtled past Uranus; Neptune at nearly three billion miles; Pluto at almost four billion miles. By 1997, twenty-five years after its launch, Pioneer 10 was more than six billion miles from the sun.
And despite that immense distance, Pioneer 10 continued to beam back radio signals to scientists on Earth. "Perhaps most remarkable," writes Jaroff, "those signals emanate from an 8-watt transmitter, which radiates about as much power as a bedroom night light, and takes more than nine hours to reach Earth.'" The Little Satellite That Could was not qualified to do what it did. Engineers designed Pioneer 10 with a useful life of just three years. But it kept going and going. By simple longevity, its tiny 8-watt transmitter radio accomplished more than anyone thought possible.
So, it is when we offer ourselves to serve the Lord. God can work even through someone with 8-watt abilities. God cannot work, however, through someone who quits.
Hebrews 12: 1Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, laying aside every weight and the sin which so easily entangles us, let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,
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