8 Already you have all you want! Already you have become rich! You have begun to reign—and that without us! How I wish that you really had begun to reign so that we also might reign with you!
9 For it seems to me that God has put us apostles on display at the end of the procession, like those condemned to die in the arena. We have been made a spectacle to the whole universe, to angels as well as to human beings.
10 We are fools for Christ, but you are so wise in Christ! We are weak, but you are strong! You are honored, we are dishonored!
11 To this very hour we go hungry and thirsty, we are in rags, we are brutally treated, we are homeless.
12 We work hard with our own hands. When we are cursed, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it;
13 when we are slandered, we answer kindly. We have become the scum of the earth, the garbage of the world—right up to this moment.
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.
16 Therefore I urge you to imitate me.
1 Corinthians 4:8-16
Here we see Paul seemingly mock the Corinthians. The Corinthians were on milk, not solid food. They are wise in their own eyes but had nothing. Yet, even after harsh judgment, Paul compares himself to them. He is poor, foolish, and condemned in comparison to the Corinthians who he calls rich and who have all they want. Paul, an expert builder, a man who eats spiritual solid food, is now going hungry and thirsty and in rags for the sake of Christ. In the midst of this, in verse 16, he says to imitate him! how obscure to the conventional mind! He is hungry, thirsty, mistreated, and homeless.
Paul was a leader among the Pharisees and an outstanding citizen and now he looks like a beggar. Paul was rich and now is poor. Yet, he understood how to be content physically but non-content spiritually. The Corinthians had the opposite view. They were content spiritually yet moiled to maintain physical abundance. Paul’s joy and peace was in Jesus. For him, the physical became irrelevant as he focused on the spiritual.
Someone once said to me: “Dan, it’s not the Scriptures that I don’t understand and struggle with, it is the ones I do understand!” This is so true. We pretend we know how to live our life according to the Scripture while we debate theology or the end times. However, if we were honest with ourselves, we would admit that it is the day to day walk of a Christian that becomes a theological mental burden. So many leaders think that they have Christianity figured out. So many sermons have guidelines and formulas to follow. It is as if we pursue the “easy button” in our quest for spiritual fullness, but is this the way God intended?
The truth is that the heart of man is not so simple. If God wanted the answers to be simple, he would of made it that way. He intended Christianity to be a bit fuzzy so that we would struggle and by doing so learn. This is why Jesus taught with parables. The word imitate literally means to take or follow as a model. Paul was a true model because he was modeling how to live in the spirit and not in the flesh. This goes against what we are taught in this world and even goes against some conventional Christian wisdom. Yes, I believe in faith, I believe God will bless us financially. But, I also realize that this is not a given and we have to follow and live not for the blessing but for the blessing we can give others. There will be seasons in our life but the challenge is to live for Christ the same in each season.
I noticed something unique in this age of technology. The easier the access to information the less likely I am to use it. I notice this with my children as well. They may provide an essay but fail to spell check when it is only a couple of clicks away. If they had to look it up in the dictionary I’m willing to bet they would more likely check. Why? because when we have to work for something we begin to take ownership and when we take ownership we take responsibility. The same is true for Christianity. When we struggle and make a commitment to truly find out what each one of us truly believe on the hard questions, we take responsibility. At this point we can imitate Christ and Paul.
For example, so many things in the world take the balance of wisdom to understand such as the book of Job. Why do righteous suffer? Some by choice and others by divine plan. But we know no matter what place we find ourselves in whether rich or in need, God will not put us through what we cannot bear. In my own personally life, there were times I was at some very low places. But, God raised me up and provided a good life. However, I am no longer afraid of losing all I have as I was then even though now I have more to lose. Yes, I still fear losing my wife or children, but the physical and financial are not as important. We all fear hitting the bottom, but for me, it was the best thing that ever happened.
Sometimes God has to bring us to the worst place so that we can truly appreciate his blessings. Therefore, we should not match ourselves with someone else and this was Paul’s point. The reality is that some are on milk, some on solid food, some may prosper from Christianity, and some will suffer for it. There are those that have faith to heal and some have just enough faith to enter the Kingdom. Everyone is different yet God accepts us all and for that I am truly thankful. I know I can be foolish, in chains, and weak yet still be mighty in the Kingdom of God.
No responses yet