1 Corinthians 4 - 3.3.2023

Scripture - What stood out?

1 CORINTHIANS 4:14-15

14 I am writing this not to shame you but to warn you as my dear children. 15 Even if you had ten thousand guardians in Christ, you do not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel. 

Observation - What does it say?

The apostle Paul dealing with several issues in the church of Corinth, in this particular section, addresses humility in leadership and the leadership structure of the church (asserting himself towards the top and rightly so).

Understanding - What does it mean?

Remember when…dad had threatened to take out the yellow wiffle ball bat??

Sometimes it was mom doing the threatening. Sometimes it was grandpa with his long plastic green shoehorn! Almost as dreaded as the yellow bat! Sometimes it’s your boss with a well deserved warning from work. 

The apostle Paul was a good dad.

He loved his kids. And when he saw his children getting out of line he gently reminded them who their father was. Not their boss but their dad. A dad who loved them. Members of the Corinth church were becoming arrogant, stumbling through various church issues I imagine. And it appears there were several influential voices beginning to rise up and cause commotion. The apostle reminds them who papa is. As for the overall level of nonsense? Paul in no uncertain terms asks them to cut it out:

21 What do you prefer? Shall I come to you with a rod of discipline, 

or shall I come in love and with a gentle spirit?

Life Application - How can I apply this to my life today?

Lord, has pride crept into my spiritual life somehow? If this is why you have highlighted this verse to me then please root it out. Show me if I have wronged my spiritual parents. Show me how I can correct these issues, Lord! Correct my heart! Correct my mind! Please, help me to make my conscience clear, though it makes me  not innocent. Lord, may you be my judge. In the name of Jesus, do I pray, amen.

-kenneth lee