Paul’s Three Rules for Contentious Church Life

Sermon on August 26, 2018

“This is how one should regard us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. Moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found faithful. But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by any human court. In fact, I do not even judge myself. For I am not aware of anything against myself, but I am not thereby acquitted. It is the Lord who judges me. Therefore do not pronounce judgment before the time, before the Lord comes, who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart. Then each one will receive his commendation from God. I have applied all these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, brothers, that you may learn by us not to go beyond what is written, that none of you may be puffed up in favor of one against another.”

1 Corinthians 4:1-6

Some of you who are old enough will remember the comedian Bob Newhart’s routine where he would act out a telephone conversation with historical figures, but of which the audience could only hear one side. On one occasion he was Sir Walter Raleigh explaining to Queen Elizabeth this new substance called tobacco that he was going to bring back to England. Part of what made it so funny is how Newhart drew out your imagination of what the speaker on the other side was saying. That was the part you could not hear. 

If such a routine could be practiced for clarity rather than humor, then the Apostle Paul was the real master of that. That is because, as you will recall, this letter of 1 Corinthians is a response to their letter to him, filled with a series of questions. It was a sort of “Ask Pastor Paul,” except that there are moments that reveal that the Apostle was a little bit on the defensive. Not all of the replies are to honest questions, but some are responses to accusations made against him. But even if we cannot quite make out what the Corinthians on the other line were really saying, there is something very clear that emerges. In church life, even when we cannot get to the bottom of things, and cut through the “he said, she said,” Paul gives us three rules for church life that are sure to keep us on the straight and narrow.

• Let’s Not Presume Upon the Stewardship of Another

• Let’s Not Judge Before the Appointed Time

• Let’s Not Go Beyond What is Written in Scripture

Doctrine. Since the Lord is our Master, Judge, and Lawgiver, let us look to His verdict on fellow servants. 

Let’s Not Presume Upon the Stewardship of Another

Why not? Because the Lord alone is Master of each one! ‘This is how one should regard us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God’ (v. 1). We must recall basic biblical grammar: What is a STEWARD? This was the household slave in the ancient world: one who the master of the house entrusted all of his resources, often including the education of his children. In just a few chapters he will exclaim, “Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!” (9:16) This is the lament of a steward. It comes from a man who knows that the Lord of all masters has given him one main job. 

This is how one should regard us. Now who should we all regard in this way? If Paul had said “as stewards of God,” more directly, we would have a most clear answer. Everyone who is in Christ is a steward of God. That is, we have all been entrusted with the glory of God in this life. That is, in a general sense, about the mysteries of God. But again, the main context here is about servants in church as church servants: and all the more so those who engage in the ministry of the Word, because the content of the stewardship is “the MYSTERIES OF GOD.” Those are things to be unpacked, and such requires a skill. Jesus alternatively referred to these as scribes of a kind.

Therefore every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house, who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old (Mat. 13:52).

On the one hand, Paul is immediately speaking of the apostles when he says “us,” yet on the other hand, he is, by extension, speaking of all those who are entrusted with the apostolic message: namely, pastors and teachers of that same Word. 

True apostolic authority is an authority that cannot be abused or ignored. It cannot be abused without the punishment of the King coming down on that teacher or shepherd that abuses either the teaching or the sheep. Why? Because the authority is a stewardship. It is not the property of the undershepherd, but of the Chief Shepherd. So he says, “We refuse … to tamper with God's word” (2 Cor. 4:2). The steward cannot abuse it. He is under orders to delivery very particular words. But for that same reason this authority cannot be ignored. Jesus said to those would-be apostles: “Whoever receives you receives me” (Mat. 10:40). Thus the speaker and the hearer each have a stewardship unique to them. Each will give an account.

‘Moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found faithful’ (v. 2). Verse 2 is the upshot of verse 1. The big question is this: Is the teacher faithful to his main charge? The main charge is to declare what Paul calls elsewhere “the whole counsel of God” (Acts 20:27). So faithfulness—not eloquence nor “wisdom”—is what matters, Paul would have said; nor flashiness, we might add, nor success, nor popularity, nor vulgarity. Consider the wisdom of God in preserving this one-sided conversation between Paul and the Corinthians. We do not really have to know all the ways that these factions held him under suspicion. God gave us the side of the conversation that the Spirit perfectly applies to our situation by these words. Faithfulness to this gospel call is the perennial metric.

What is the upshot of all this? We ought not presume upon the stewardship of another. The charge that God has given to his servants of his church is not the personal property of anyone except for God. And that puts both the servant and those tempted to command him on high alert. 

Let’s Not Judge Before the Appointed Time

Why not? Because the Lord alone is the Judge who is coming with the only verdict that matters. ‘But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by any human court. In fact, I do not even judge myself’ (v. 3). At first it can look like Paul is getting testy here; but notice that he forbids judgments of Paul both from Paul’s critics and from Paul. The reason he can do that quite literally has to do with the gospel.

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus … Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us (Rom. 8:1, 33-34).

Here is that section of the Corinthian letter that does not get as much attention. And there are probably many reasons for it; but I can think of two. First, we live in a culture that does not like to judge (or at least it thinks it does not like to judge); second, we live in a culture in which the most serious judgments we make are consumer events, or in other words commercial transactions. We have replaced the judge’s gavel with the microphone drop. 

Now this is a most interesting verse that people who push ahead into church leadership do not understand in the slightest. Here we have a dirty little secret uncovered. Dirt on an potential opponent is convenient! Perhaps that does not strike anyone as profound. Anyone who watches politics knows that. But what place does such a dirty judgmental mind have in church? Well, I am afraid to say, it has had an enormous place in the church in every era. But Paul says, ‘For I am not aware of anything against myself, but I am not thereby acquitted. It is the Lord who judges me’ (v. 4). I have known people who try to push ahead by pushing you down by your sins. And when you defend yourself against the charge, the response is, “Oh, so your perfect?” “You’re without sin?” It is a passive-aggressive line of questioning.

What does this mean? Does Paul mean that he is sinless? No, of course not. Does Paul mean that he is a sinner, but that he just cannot think of any particular sins off the top of his head? That would be equally ridiculous. No, this is strictly judicial language; and it is used all over the New Testament. For example in the elder qualification passages, that often abused phrase “above reproach” (Titus 1:6), is courtroom terminology. There are other Greek words to mean “sinless” or “spotless.” This has to do with an outstanding charge that would have to be dealt with in God’s community court. 

So Paul’s meaning in Titus 1:6 is this: Does he have any outstanding charges against him? If so, that has to be taken care of. In other words, is he under (or should he be under) church discipline? If a servant is not the legitimate, present object of church discipline, then they are qualified to serve, all other things being equal with respect to qualifications, of course. What then is Paul doing here? He is playing innocent in the courtroom he just got dragged into. And he is playing innocent because he is innocent. He is calling those Corinthians on their courtroom bluff. They want to pretend that Paul is on trial, but Paul is saying, “Well I am not aware of any written record of an actual, specific charge, in an open, honest format. Why, did you have an actual biblical obligation that I have ignored or disobeyed?” The burden of proof is on the accuser.

If this is not a legitimate church discipline matter, then anyone making judgment is holding out for a final judgment; and that belongs to God alone. These are the only two kinds of legitimate judgment: in God’s final court or in God’s appointed church court. Anything else is “out of court.” ‘Therefore do not pronounce judgment before the time, before the Lord comes, who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart. Then each one will receive his commendation from God’ (v. 5). Very often people think they are not in the false judge’s chair because they do not join the ringleaders. They do not raise their voice with the mob. They wash their hands like Pilate did. But in their minds they imagine what they know “really” happened. They receive gossip as if it were the verdict of justice, and they act accordingly. They separate from friends. They use phrases like “what happened,” when they closed their ears and eyes in God’s appointed courtroom to what happened. They do not want to hear real honest testimony. They opt out of God’s way of judging, supposing they are not making a judgment at all. But the Spirit says here, through Paul, that Christ will bring to light what we often want to keep in darkness.  

Let’s Not Go Beyond What is Written in Scripture

Why not? Because the Lord has given us Scripture alone as the final rule on Christian service as well as of Christian behavior. He says, ‘I have applied all these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, brothers, that you may learn by us not to go beyond what is written, that none of you may be puffed up in favor of one against another’ (v. 6). So the reason to not go beyond what is written is that the Corinthian favoritism and faction-building will be undercut. It will be shown to have no basis in Scripture. 

That said, let us remove one thing this does not mean. “Do not go beyond what is written” does not mean to avoid extra-biblical resources or logical inferences. This would be a favorite proof-text of anti-intellectualists everywhere if we failed to make a point to say NO! Look at the context. Paul is specifically addressing Scripture alone as the basis on which to bind the conscience of ministers, in contrast to forming factions around mere mortals. In other words, it is the punchline to our Big Idea: Since the Lord is our Master, Judge, and Lawgiver, let us look to His verdict on fellow servants. This last part is just the “Lawgiver” part. Christ is our Lawgiver and His Word (the Scriptures) are the code of law. How do we look to God’s verdict on fellow servants? Well, as much as He gives us in this lifetime, we derive it from the Bible. 

Can you see the unity in Paul’s thought, from verses 1 through 6? Hopefully no one received the impression that Paul was saying back in verse 1, “Hey, back off man! We’re apostles! We’re above judgment!” Not at all! Rather, do make practical judgments: but do it on the basis of Scripture and with an eye toward moving on in unity. So Paul says, 

Do not despise prophecies, but test everything; hold fast what is good (1 Thess. 5:20-21).

If the Word is being faithfully preached and if there is no legitimate moral charge against the ministers, it is nowhere on the job description of church members to hold their pastors in a permanent inquisition.  

Notice again, ‘I have applied all these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, brothers’ (v. 6a) The same law that stands over the people stands over the pastors; but, conversely, the same law that stands over the pastors stands over the people. No one has any right to hold any other church member in Suburban Purgatory. In fact there is no such place, and we should not be the inventors of such. Instead, if there is truly a wrongdoing, according to some real standard in God’s word, Jesus says that you go to that person with the real charge of a specific sin; and “if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses” (Mat. 18:16).

Sadly, Christians will form factions in church that presume to rise above God’s courtroom. Instead of fact-finding in Jesus’ way, we rally around “our guy.” But Paul ends this with the words: ‘that none of you may be puffed up in favor of one against another’ (v. 6b). The law above one officer and another, and above officers and laypersons, is a law of perfect equity. And this equity is meant to produce humility. Is there church conflict on that “other line”? Perhaps we cannot hear the voices on the other line in our own day anymore than we can hear the other line in Corinth. But is there conflict? Well then, do not do the natural, normal, worldly thing. Observe those virtues which lead to equity: patience, humility, kindness, and hope.

The one who states his case first seems right, until the other comes and examines him (Prov. 18:17).

Do not line up behind “your guy.” Place yourself instead under God’s perfect law and its Perfect Lawgiver, who has given us a right way to handle legitimate cases of judgment that his word gives to the church; and then all the rest waits for Judgment Day. 

Practical Use of the Doctrine

Use 1. Admonition. I mentioned from what Paul said in verse 5, that Christ will bring to light what we often want to keep in darkness. And that should be a terrifying thought to us all, but for Christ. Jesus says that “nothing is covered that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known” (Mat. 10:26); and Paul adds to that, “on that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus” (Rom. 2:16). Have you ever said to yourself, or cried out to God, “If only you revealed all that really happened!” “If they could only know what’s in my heart!” But I think we know that this request is for a double-edged sword that would not fall out well for us either! What did Spurgeon say? “Brother, if any man thinks ill of you, do not be angry with him; for you are worse than he thinks you to be.”

Use 2. Consolation. What then is our hope? The prophet Zechariah had a vision, of a priest with dirty clothes. The name of the priest was the Jewish form for Jesus, and there were two angels involved:

Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him. And the Lord said to Satan, “The Lord rebuke you, O Satan! The Lord who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Is not this a brand plucked from the fire?” Now Joshua was standing before the angel, clothed with filthy garments. And the angel said to those who were standing before him, “Remove the filthy garments from him.” And to him he said, “Behold, I have taken your iniquity away from you, and I will clothe you with pure vestments.” And I said, “Let them put a clean turban on his head.” So they put a clean turban on his head and clothed him with garments. And the angel of the Lord was standing by (Zech. 3:1-5).

We need no answer from ourselves to the accuser, but we do need one from Jesus who partook of the same human nature, stood under trial in our place, “that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery” (Heb. 2:14-15).