Title: Fools for Christ
Text: I Corinthians 4:1-21
Truth: Genuine Christian servanthood is expressed in sacrificial and exemplary living.
Aim: I want the result to be a servant attitude and actions.
INTRODUCTION
John Woolman was a Quaker who grew up in Pennsylvania in the early eighteenth century. He was a contemporary of George Washington. When he was a boy he was given to the things boys often do—in this case throwing rocks at a robin’s nest occupied by baby robins just hatched. Of course, the mother robin was protective, and young John nailed her with a rock. She fell to the ground dead. Woolman wrote later in his journal, “At first I was pleased with the exploit, but after a few minutes was seized with the horror at having, in a sportive way, killed an innocent creature while she was careful for her young.” That moment was a turning point in his life.
Despite this turning point he still struggled with other forms of youthful temptations, but he held firm to the Bible and the Quaker meetinghouse. In his twenties he heard the voice of God that set him on a path of servant leadership. The voice set him on the course of anti-slavery. He said, “I had many fresh and heavenly openings, in respect to the care and providence of the Almighty over his creatures in general, and over man as the most noble amongst those which are visible.” The heavenly openings he mentions came from Scripture. From Ezekiel, he read of the duty of being God’s “watchman”—recognizing that God was calling him to be the watchman for slaves.
An opportunity soon came. His employer owned a black slave woman and sold her. The employer asked John Woolman to write a bill of sale. He obeyed, but it was an incident that would set him on a course of turning the Society of Friends (Quakers) into an anti-slavery movement. It is a common misunderstanding that Quakers were opposed to slavery from the very beginning. They were not. Many of the affluent Quakers owned slaves. For the next three decades—until the time of his death at fifty-two—Woolman devoted his life to anti-slavery activities.
Unlike many abolitionists, Woolman was no firebrand. He was gentle and persistent. He wasn’t a strong man physically, but he accomplished his mission by journeys up and down the East Coast by foot or horseback visiting slaveholders. His approach was not to censure but to raise questions. What does the owning of slaves do to you as a moral person? What kind of an institution are you binding over to your children? Person by person, inch by inch, by persistently returning and revisiting and pressing his gentle arguments over a period of thirty years, the scourge of slavery was eliminated from the Quakers, the first religious group in America to formally denounce and forbid slavery among its members.
In addition to his personal conversations, Woolman wrote essays and spoke at meetinghouses. He spoke at the yearly meeting of the Friends. Though his primary focus was on slavery, he was also concerned over the treatment of Indians and other humanitarian causes.
John Woolman is one of those remarkable and influential persons of American history that we never hear about. He is a role model of Christian servant leadership—a man of self-sacrifice, sensitivity, and perseverance (Leadership Reconsidered, p. 78-79).
Paul was this kind of leader, too. The apostle is helping this church understand that a growing relationship with Christ that is focused on living out the message of the cross leads us to greater service. The fundamental issue in I Corinthians is that salvation in Christ is to be manifested in a believer’s behavior. The Corinthians were destroying their church because they had a misunderstanding of what it meant to be a spiritual Christian. The first major problem was division in the church over their favorite leader. It wasn’t the quarrel that was the big problem of the church. The problem was the division was rooted in false theology or doctrine. Genuine Christian servanthood is expressed in sacrificial and exemplary living.
Paul reminded them that the central focus of the church was Christ and the message of the cross. They focused on the particular gifts and personalities of Christian leaders. It was a subtle way of exalting self. “I’m a follower of Paul. He is so intellectual.” (Implying I’m intellectual.) “I’m a follower of Peter; he is so passionate for Christ. I’m follower of Apollos; he is so sophisticated and polished in his presentation. I’m a follower of Christ because I am so spiritual.” Paul corrects them. Our life and our church are not about us but about Christ.
In chapter four Paul says he and the other teachers are servants of God. This is the essential element of a servant of God. If the church understood the true nature of Christian leadership they would have a greater appreciation of these teachers, and be even more willing to follow their example.
What are the essential characteristics of Christian leaders? Fathers and mothers, preachers and teachers, role models to children and youth are all in the place of Christian leadership. What are the essential characteristics of Christian leaders ?
First, ….
I. CHRISTIAN SERVANT LEADERS ARE FAITHFUL STEWARDS (1 COR. 4:1-5)
Ministers are servants of the church and servants of the Word, but even more fundamental they are servants of Christ. The word “servant” describes the rowers in the bottom of a ship that propelled the ship forward. The rowers followed the directions of the owner to achieve his purpose.
The word “entrusted” describes a servant who managed the household or business of the owner. His time, talent, and energy were used to carry out the interest of the owner. Think of Joseph in the Old Testament as an example.
The “secret things of God” are the truths of the Christian faith, particularly as they relate to Jesus Christ and the way of salvation. The Christian leader has a place of humility but has been entrusted with the great responsibility of teaching Christ and the way of salvation.
The most important quality of a steward is that he manages his master’s affairs so that the desires of his lord materialize. He must be faithful to that one purpose.
What mattered most to Paul was God’s evaluation of his stewardship, not their evaluation or even his. Paul was open to criticism and being taught by others, but he didn’t live to please them. He lived to please God. People judge without having all the information, but one-day Paul will answer to God, who knows everything. God knows the way he carried out the responsibilities God gave him to perform. The Christian leader focuses on the Lord’s will and how to bring it to past.
Clarence Jordan was a man of unusual abilities and commitment. He had two Ph.D.s, one in agriculture and the other in Greek and Hebrew. He was so gifted he could have chosen to do anything he wanted. He chose to serve the poor. In the 1940s, he founded a farm in Americus, Georgia, and called it Koinonia Farm. It was a community for poor whites and poor blacks. As you might guess, the idea did not go over well in the Deep South of the 1940s. The town people tried everything to stop Clarence. They tried boycotting him, and slashing the workers’ tires when they came to town. Over and over, for fourteen years, they tried to stop him.
Finally, in 1954, the Ku Klux Klan had enough of Clarence Jordan, so they decided to get rid of him once and for all. They came one night with guns and torches and set fire to every building on Koinonia Farm but Clarence’s home, which they riddled with bullets. They chased off all the families but one black family that refused to leave. Clarence recognized the voices of the Klansmen, some of who were church people. One Klansman was a local newspaper reporter. The next day, the reporter came out to see what remained of the farm. The rubble was smoldering, but he found Clarence in the field, hoeing and planting.
“I heard the awful news,” he called to Clarence, “and I came out to do a story on the tragedy of your farm closing.” Clarence just kept on hoeing and planting. The reporter kept poking trying to get this quietly determined man to get angry. Instead of packing, Clarence was planting. Finally, the reporter said in a haughty voice, “Well, Dr. Jordan, you got two of them Ph.D.s and you’ve got fourteen years into this farm, and there’s nothing left of it at all. Just how successful do you think you’ve been?”
Clarence stopped hoeing, turned toward the reporter with his penetrating blue eyes, and said quietly but firmly, “About as successful as the cross. Sir, I don’t think you understand us. What we are about is not success but faithfulness. We’re staying. Good day.” Beginning that day, Clarence and his companions rebuilt Koinonia and the farm is going strong today (Tim Hansel, Holy Sweat, p. 188-189)
The more you know the Bible and the more you know Christian history the more you become aware that the work of God is born along by the innumerable millions of obscure and forgotten Christian men and women that served the purpose of the Lord. The centuries will herald Billy Graham and canonize Mother Teresa, but they will forget those who quietly and devotedly served God. But God won’t forget. He knows they were a vital part in carrying out His purposes. Only eternity will reveal the importance of your faithful stewardship. True spirituality is seen in those who faithfully do what God expects.
Another essential characteristic of Christian leaders is found in v. 6-13.
II. CHRISTIAN SERVANT LEADERS ARE HUMBLE (I COR. 4:6-13)
Paul had described himself and Apollos as farmers, builders, servants, and stewards. They were not to go beyond what God had taught about leaders in the Scriptures. If they avoided this pitfall, they would not take pride in one of their teachers over another (v. 6). They all contributed to God’s kingdom.
To deal with their pride he reminds them they are not by nature superior to anyone else. This is the sin of the judgmental person. They should have been grateful instead of boastful because everything they had was given to them by God (v. 7).
They were acting like they had already received God’s praise and reward at the judgment seat of Christ. In other words, they should have kept their mind on the main business of serving Christ like under-rowers but instead they were acting as if they had already arrived at full maturity. Paul said he wished that were true because that would mean he’d be able to join them in that ultimate exaltation. (v. 8).
Paul uses two images to describe how the apostles were humiliated for the cause of Christ. One is the conquered captives who are forced to fight gladiators or wild animals in the arena. The other is what is scraped off the plate and thrown away as useless. The Corinthian’s were flaunting their pride and living like kings instead of suffering for Christ like their teachers. Their teachers were even willing to be called fools for Christ (v. 9-13).
Paul contrasts the pride of the Corinthians with the humble service God expects. One of the essential characteristics of Christian leaders is humility.
What is humility? Humility involves self-forgetfulness and willful submission. Paul was so focused on serving Christ he ceased being preoccupied with their opinion of him being a success or failure. On the other hand, the Corinthians were all about appearances. Their mind was filled with themselves. When people are self-occupied they are protective, concerned mainly with their interests, and self-advancing. Little slights are big deals. That is a key sign of pride and self-occupation.
Skip looked at the group of suspicious stockholders and wondered what he could do to convince them to follow his leadership. He was 35, looked 13 and was third generation rich. He could tell they thought they were headed for a disaster. He told them a story. His first job was drawing electrical engineering plans for a boat building company. The drawings had to be perfect because if the wires were not accurately placed before the fiberglass form was poured, a mistake might cost a million dollars. At 25, he already had two master’s degrees. He had been on boats all his life, and he found drawing the plans a bit beneath him. One morning he got a call at home from a $6/hour worker asking him if he was sure the plans were right! He was incensed to be questioned and cursed. He told the man to pour the fiberglass. An hour later the worker’s supervisor called and woke him up asking him again if he was sure the drawings were right. He was even less patient.
When the call came from the president of the company he finally got out of bed and down to the site. You can imagine the demeaning thoughts he had about the workers. He found the $6/hour worker looking at the plans with his head cocked to one side. He began to explain and then he realized what was wrong. Skip, being left handed, had switched the starboard and port sides of the boat. In other words, right was left and left was right. Well, he got humble real quick. That $6/hour worker had caught his mistake before it was too late.
The next day Skip found on his desk a pair of tennis shoes in a box for future reference. Just in case he got mixed up in the future, they gave him a red left shoe for port, and a green right shoe for starboard. Skip told the stockholders that those shoes don’t just help him to remember port and starboard, but to listen even when he thinks he knows what is going on. As he held the shoebox up with one red shoe and one green shoe the stockholders relaxed. If this young man has learned this lesson about arrogance, maybe he will be humble enough to learn some things about running a business, too.
The Corinthians exalted their abilities and competencies. This caused people to look at the messenger and not the message. Paul admitted that he was a sinner, he had fears, and lacked exceptional skills and abilities, but his life displayed great power. People would ask, “Where does the power come from?” They would look away from the messenger to the message and there discover Christ. Paul says Christian leaders who are self-forgetful and willingly submit to the message and ministry of Christ are leaders that bring God glory. The challenge is serve Christ by thinking of others and serving their needs.
Another essential characteristic of Christian leaders is found in v. 14-15.
III. CHRISTIAN LEADERS ARE TO LOVE (I COR. 4:14-15)
Paul’s purpose was not to humiliate the Corinthians. But like a good father, Paul admonishes them to correct this fundamental error in spirit and behavior. They may have many teachers to help them grow but there is only one person that is their founder. There was something unique in the relationship they had with Paul. Paul is showing the loving concern of a father. He loves them enough to correct them.
“How are you?” How many times in a day or week do you suppose you ask that question or have it asked of you? I was asked that at the theatre when they took my ticket, twice it was asked in the movie, and the next day the waitress asked this question. It’s actually an intimate question. We’re not asking something that is peripheral like, “How tall are you?” or “When did you wake up this morning?” No, we ask how is the person doing. I know the question is really an unthinking habit of social grace. What we want is a token response of “good” or “fine.”
I asked a fellow pastor that question this week and got a different response. We spent the next several minutes discussing problems he was facing.
The question captures the Golden Rule. The Golden Rule is based on Jesus’ command to love others as we love ourself.
A Christian leader is to express the care of a father for his child. It’s another example of focusing away from himself to others and his Lord. The people who impact us are those who really care to know how we are. Leaders initiate love.
Another characteristic of Christian leaders is example.
IV. CHRISTIAN LEADERS ARE EXAMPLES (I COR. 4:16-17)
Children learn from observing the example of their parents. Children not only need to be taught not to lie, they need to see their parents tell the truth. One of the great needs in our day is for those who profess the truth of the Christian faith to connect it to their conduct.
Nobody is perfect, but every Christian parent is to live in such a way that he can say to his children, “Follow my example.” This is so important to Paul that he is sending Timothy to help them connect truth to behavior. If Paul could come, he would. Since he can’t, he is sending the next best thing, Timothy. That’s how important it is that they obey what they were taught.
There are some things we can learn from reading. You can program your TV or assemble a bicycle by reading the instructions. But has anyone ever seen a book by the title How to Ride a Bicycle? Everybody I know that knows how to ride a bicycle had some help from training wheels and the steadying hand of a parent. In the medical community before they turn someone loose to perform all kinds of medical diagnosis and procedures, they require an internship under a tutor. If you want to paint you usually sign up for a class with someone who is going to show you how to paint.
You can read the Bible and learn much about God. But there are things about God you will never learn in isolation. You need the fellowship of the church to model the breadth of the love of God and length of his forgiveness.
One of my concerns is our young adults who are wanting to build Christian families. All of them want a Christian family, but many of them have never seen a Christian family. They have an idea of what a Christian family is supposed to be like, but they are trying to do something that many of them have never seen. That’s not just difficult, it is almost impossible. They need to see families that have combined Christian truth with Christian conduct. They need to be involved in a church where the leaders live out the truth of Christian families. It is absolutely necessary in our day that Christian leaders set an example of obedient truth.
Finally,...
V. CHRISTIAN LEADERS EXHIBIT SPIRITUAL POWER (I COR. 4:18-21)
Paul concludes with a warning to the troublemakers (v. 18). The emphasis in v. 19-20 is on the certainty of his coming and not the exact time of return. He wants to know if these troublemakers are demonstrating the true power of God to save and change lives.
He uses one more father-child metaphor. I suppose parents have said this sometime to their child, “Are you going to behave or do I need to spank you?” Paul is asking if this letter and Timothy will be enough to correct their arrogant spirit and bad behavior or will he need to discipline them when he arrives? His motive is still love but his manner will change if necessary.
Christian leaders do have the responsibility to call God’s people to repentance. What I want to focus on is Paul’s assertion that Christian leaders are to exhibit spiritual power. The claims of the troublemakers simply will not hold up to this test.
A pastor in Houston was hit in the eye by an errant golf ball. He saw three different doctors but the eye was so damaged it had to be removed and a glass eye put in. When he recovered and preached his first sermon, all three doctors that cared for him through this difficulty came to hear him preach. One was a wayward Catholic, another was a Jew, and the third was something else. After that service, the Catholic doctor told the preacher that his faith had been renewed by the pastor’s response to this difficulty and loss. That is the power of God exhibited through a Christian leader.
All of us need to experience the power of God at work in applying the truth of God to our lives. Some have a habit that binds and burdens them. God has a power to break the chains of that habit. Some have fears that steal away their peace and joy. God has a power to bring such peace that it defies explanation. Wherever it is that you feel weak and defeated, God has the power to take the truth of His Word and make it come alive in your life. If the power of God is stronger than death, it is strong enough for you where you need power.
CONCLUSION
Early in my Christian life I experienced the importance of genuine Christian leadership in sacrificial and exemplary service. I wanted a Christian family but I didn’t know how to achieve it. I read about what Christian families do but I learn better from an example. That’s when I became aware of J.T. Elliff. Three sons—Tom, Bill, and Jim. One daughter—married to Bailey Smith. Grandchildren who are missionaries, pastor (Bartlesville), staff at OU BCM, and a Ph.D. in preaching at SWBTS.
Lost his focus—adultery. Later forgiven by first wife and family. Today, vitally living for Christ. His good and bad example has taught me about Christian leadership.
My life is supposed to be about Jesus and his message. The essential characteristics are a faithful steward, a humble devotion to Christ, love for others, living an example, and spiritual power. When we build those characteristics into our life God can bless us and use us to bless others.
