The servants of Christ

“So then, men ought to regard us as servants of Christ and as those entrusted with the secret things of God.  Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful.  I care very little if I am judged by you or by any human court; indeed, I do not even judge myself.  My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me.  Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait till the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men's hearts. At that time each will receive his praise from God.” (1 Corinthians 4:1-5)

                This is what the hymn “Praise Thee, Precious Savior” verse 1 and chorus say: “How I praise Thee, precious Savior, That Thy love laid hold of me; Thou hast saved and cleansed and filled me That I might Thy channel be.  Channels only, blessed Master, But with all Thy wondrous power Flowing thro' us, Thou canst use us Every day and every hour.”  The word of God that is behind this hymn is 1 Timothy 1:12 – “I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength, that he considered me faithful, appointing me to his service.”  Paul confessed to Timothy how he thanked Christ Jesus not only for saving such worst sinner like him but also for appointing him to His glorious service.  I hope and pray that this Paul's confession of thanksgiving would be my confession and your confession as well.  I hope and pray that we may be able to praise and pray ‘Lord, give us great strength and use us according to Your will’ by understanding God’s saving grace more and more as we live our Christian life and by giving thanks to God.

In 1 Corinthians 4:1-5, Apostle Paul talks about the servants of Christ.  In particular, in verse 1, Paul continually writes to the Corinthian church saints, saying that they should regard him or his co-workers as “servants of Christ” (v. 1).  I want to receive God's lesson from this three points of thought about servants of Christ under the heading “The servants of Christ.”  I hope and pray that we may be blessed to be praised by God for being established as servants of Christ.

The first thing I want to think about is, “Who are the servants of Christ?” (The identity of the servants of Christ).

 Look at 1 Corinthians 4:1 – “So then, men ought to regard us as servants of Christ and as those entrusted with the secret things of God.”  Apostle Paul already said in 1 Corinthians 3:5 that he and Apollos were only servants, through whom the Corinthian church saints came to believe.  In other words, Paul told the Corinthian church saints who boasted of him or Apollos: 'We are nothing' (v. 7) and 'We are just the servants of the Lord' (v. 5).  And then in 1 Corinthians 4:1, Paul told them they ought to regard Paul and Apollos as servants of Christ.  In the English Bible, the same word "servants" were used in both 1 Corinthians 3:5 and 4:1.  But in the original Greek, the two words are not the same but are two different words.  The word used in 1 Corinthians 3:5 is “diakonoi,” and the word “deacon” is derived from it.  This word means ‘serving people.’  However, the Greek word used in 1 Corinthians 4:1 is not the word “diakonoi” but “huperetes,” which literally means “under rowers” ​​under the ship.  According to Pastor John MacArthur, the slaves who were rowing under the ship at that time were the ones who did the poorest work, the ones that no one envied, and the ones most despised.  The word that had this meaning later came to refer to a person who absolutely obeyed all authority (MacArthur).  In short, Paul told the Corinthian church saints who boasted of Paul, Apollos or Peter that they were slaves of the Lord who were absolutely obedient to the Lord and His commands.

The Christ's servants are the Lord’s slaves who obey His commands.  And they are lower slaves.  Do we have this slave-consciousness?  If we, like Paul, have this slave-consciousness, what should we do to the Lord's command?  Shouldn’t we obey the Lord's command?  I remember I preached before that we needed ‘slave-consciousness.’  But for some reason, I think we have more master consciousness than slave consciousness.  How do we know this?  We can know this by seeing whether we are obeying God's Word and serving Him or disobeying His Word and being served by others.  We need service consciousness.  In order to do this, we must have a humble heart like Apostle Paul.  What is that humble heart?  As John 3:30 says, we should have attitude of “He must become greater, I must become less” (Jn. 3:30).  This is the heart and attitude of the servants of Christ.  And the thing that was entrusted to these servants of Christ is “the mysteries of God” (1 Cor. 4:1).  Thus, Paul told the Corinthian church saints that they ought to regard Paul and his co-workers as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God (v. 1).  Here, what does “stewards” mean?  The literal meaning is a house manager (MacArthur).  What Paul said here was that he and his co-workers were the servants of Jesus Christ, those who preach the mystery of God in the house of God.  What, then, is “the mysteries of God” spoken of by Paul here?  It means what was hidden before is now revealed —the gospel of Jesus Christ.  After all, Apostle Paul said to the Corinthian church saints that he and his co-workers were the Christ's servants, preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ, the mystery of God, to them, the house of God (3:9).  You must regard me and other pastors as the servants of Christ and the stewards of the mysteries of God.   You should consider us to be the servants of Christ who preach the gospel of Jesus Christ, the mystery of God, to you, the house of God.  Therefore, you should not boast the Christ's servants.  Rather, you must boast only Jesus Christ and preach the gospel of Jesus Christ.

The second thing I want to think about is “What is essential for the Christ's servants?” (The necessity of the Christ's servants).

 Look at 1 Corinthians 4:2 – “In this case, moreover, it is required of stewards that one be found trustworthy.”  After Paul told the Corinthian church saints that he and his co-workers are the Christ’s servants and stewards of the mysteries of God (v. 1), he told them what is required of stewards is that they must be found trustworthy (v. 2).  The Christ’s servants are stewards.  The Lord gave the Christ’s servants to serve the church, the house of God.  How does the Lord want the Christ's servants to serve His church?  He wants us to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ, the mysteries of God (v. 1).  And the Lord demands faithfulness to us who are preaching the gospel (v. 2).  In other words, those who preach the gospel of Jesus Christ must be found faithful.  When Paul said "Now it is required that those who have been given trust must prove faithful” (v. 2), the word “it is required” means ‘it is earnestly demanded.’  In other words, Paul said to the Corinthian church saints that it is faithfulness (or trustworthy) that he and his co-workers are eagerly demanded by the Lord as the Christ's servants.

What does “faithfulness” or trustworthy refer to?  It refers to the servants’ obedience to their masters and their commands certainly and consistently.  Therefore, the Christ's servants must preach the gospel of Jesus Christ, which the Lord has commanded and entrusted to them, certainly and consistently.  When I applied these words to myself as a pastor, I remembered the words of the Lord’s promise of John 6:1-15, the two fish and five loaves miracles.  And while holding on to that promised word of the Lord and praying during the Morning Prayer, the indwelling Spirit gave me understanding that I must meditate His words diligently and share them to other as Jesus.  And I devoted myself to the Lord to share His words certainly and consistently until His second coming or until the moment I meet the Lord.  This is what Psalms 101:6 says: “My eyes shall be upon the faithful of the land, that they may dwell with me; He who walks in a blameless way is the one who will minister to me.”  The Bible says that the eyes of God shall be upon the faithful of the land so that they may dwell with Him and that they may minister to Him.  Shouldn’t we be His faithful servants?  There is a mission the Lord has given to each of us.  In fulfilling that mission, it is faithfulness that the Lord demands from us.  Look at Matthew 24:45-46: “Who then is the faithful and sensible slave whom his master put in charge of his household to give them their food at the proper time?  Blessed is that slave whom his master finds so doing when he comes.”  As I think of these words, I enjoyed the grace of reaffirming what I should do as a servant of Christ.  It is that I want to enjoy the blessings of the Lord by being faithful in the ministry of the Word in sharing with His people from time to time as the servant of Christ.

The third and the last thing I want to think about is “What assessment should the Christ’s servants focus on?” (The evaluation of the Christ's servants).

Look at 1 Corinthians 4:3-4: “But to me it is a very small thing that I may be examined by you, or by any human court; in fact, I do not even examine myself.  For I am conscious of nothing against myself, yet I am not by this acquitted; ….”  Apostle Paul told the Corinthian church saints that it was very small thing for him to be judged by others, even though those who boasted of him were certainly among the Corinthian church saints.  What did he mean?  To him, the Corinthian church saints’ praise or criticism was very small thing.  I am sure among them there were those who boasted Paul praised him.  For example, suppose they could say something about Paul like this: 'Oh, he is very faithful man of God.  As a servant of Christ, he boldly and faithfully proclaims the gospel of Jesus Christ even in the midst of persecution.’  Although Paul could be well pleased and fond of these commendations, he regarded their judgment as a very small matter, whether it is a compliment or criticism of men.  Paul even told the Corinthian church saints “I do not even judge myself (v. 3).  What did he mean?  Paul said that he didn’t even judge himself because not only other people’s judgments were unreliable, but also he couldn’t believe his own judgments.  Then he said, “My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent” (v. 4).  What did he mean?  Paul said that when he looks back on his life, he didn’t know any serious sins that he committed, so he knew nothing to blame himself.  But Paul knew that even though he knew nothing to blame himself, it didn’t make him innocent.  Why did Paul consider it so small that he judged himself or that others judge him?  The reason was that as the Christ’s servants, the most important judgment for him was the judgment of the Lord.  That was why he said to the Corinthian church saints, “It is the Lord who judges me” (v. 4).  Why did Paul value the judgment of the Lord over others or his own?  We can see why in verse 5: “Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait till the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men's hearts. At that time each will receive his praise from God.”  The reason why Paul focused on God's evaluation rather than people's evaluation was because only God knew the motives of men’s hearts.  Isn't it true?  Although we judge others based on their actions, isn’t it true that only God who sees our hearts knows the motives of our hearts?

We should focus on God's evaluation rather than people's or our own evaluation.  As Christian servants, we should not sway by praises or criticisms of any person or group of people as we faithfully carry out the commission that the Lord has entrusted to us.  Rather, we must value the Lord's evaluation when He comes back as our most important evaluation and faithfully carry out the commission that the Lord gave to each of us in order to be praised by Him.  Therefore, on the day that when He comes back, when we meet the Lord, I hope and pray that we may be able to hear from Him “Well done, good and faithful servant!” (Mt. 25:21) by being faithful to the commission given to each of us as the Christ’s servants and His stewards.