The Enduring Appeal of a Frictionless Faith (1 Corinthians 4:6-13)

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. [7] For who sees anything different in you? What do you have that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it? [8] Already you have all you want! Already you have become rich! Without us you have become kings! And would that you did reign, so that we might share the rule with you! [9] For I think that God has exhibited us apostles as last of all, like men sentenced to death, because we have become a spectacle to the world, to angels, and to men. [10] We are fools for Christ’s sake, but you are wise in Christ. We are weak, but you are strong. You are held in honor, but we in disrepute. [11] To the present hour we hunger and thirst, we are poorly dressed and buffeted and homeless, [12] and we labor, working with our own hands. When reviled, we bless; when persecuted, we endure; [13] when slandered, we entreat. We have become, and are still, like the scum of the world, the refuse of all things. (1 Corinthians 4:6-13)

I. “Danger, Disciple of Jesus!”

For some reason, when I think about the word “danger”, the first thing that comes to mind is the robot's warning in the 1960's TV series, “Lost in Space”. Do you remember that warning? Yes! “Danger, Will Robinson!” In a similar way, through our main text this morning, 1 Cor. 4:6-13, God wants to alert all of us to danger this morning: “Danger, disciple of Jesus!”

II. The Passage: “We Have Become a Spectacle to the World” (4:6-13)

As we seek to both understand God's word this morning, and to live in light of God's word today and this week, let's begin by thinking about the opening statement of verse 6. Do you see there how the Apostle Paul has once again mentioned himself and Apollos (another Christian leader who served for a time in Corinth)? Think about his statement in verse 6, “I have applied these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit”, that statement points us to a closer context, specifically verses 5-9 of chapter 3. That's where Paul corrects the Corinthians' distortions regarding the relationships and roles of leaders in the early church. These men were not rivals jockeying for positions of power and influence. Such leaders were simply God's servants who worked together to bless God's people, fellow workers who fully depended on God's power to grow the church. And if Jesus is Master over these (4:1) “servants” and “stewards”, then it is him they seek to please; not the Corinthians, and certainly not the world. That's why the previous verse, 4:5, ends with the reminder that, on the day Jesus Christ returns to this world, each one will receive the only praise that matters, his or her ultimate commendation, which comes from God and God alone.

So as we learned from verse 6, Paul has applied these truths about being God's servants, about trusting in God's power, about building up God's people (who are God's temple), and about God's matchless position over us, he has applied these things (look back at verse 6) “that YOU [Corinthian Christians] may learn not go beyond what is written”. Now, what exactly does he mean by “what is written”? Is he talking about this letter from him, or maybe a previous letter? Though he did have authority as an apostle, and therefore wrote with authority, I think Paul is referring here to the five Old Testament verses or passages he's already quoted in chapters 1-3; that would be Isaiah 29:14  in 1:19,  Jeremiah 9:22–23 in 1:31, Isaiah 64:4 in 2:9, Job 5:13 in 3:19, and Psalm 94:11, which he quotes in 1 Corinthians 3:20.

What do all of those verses have in common? All of them are reminders that the fullness of God's wisdom exposes the emptiness of our so-called wisdom; and therefore, we should never lean on or boast in human wisdom, but on and in God and God alone. But Paul's gracious warning in verse 6 about not going “beyond what is written”, beyond the life-giving and life-sustaining boundaries of God's word, beyond God's protective guardrails, that warning is helpful for us in terms of making sense of the rest of our text this morning. Here's how: I believe God would have us consider this morning the contrast Paul presents here between what we find in verses 6b-8, and what we find in verses 9-13. Let me explain what I mean by just diving in.

So first, let's think together about how vs 6b-8 reveal for us the danger of going beyond what is written. Now, these verses don't describe every possible danger of breaking through those guardrails. But nevertheless, the foundational danger Paul reveals here should get our attention; because if we don't understand that danger, we open ourselves up to even more danger.

Notice how this danger is first described in the remainder of vs. 6. He doesn't want them to go beyond what is written, “..that [as another translation puts it] none of you will be arrogant, favoring one person [i.e.,one leader] over another” (CSB). So what Paul is describing here is the danger of human arrogance. As we've been hearing about since chp. 1, this is the arrogance of thinking that any of us can have the last word, the final determination, about God's servants. When we do this, we hurt both ourselves and the unity of the church.

But that arrogance is also apparent in verses 7 and 8. Do you see it there? “For who sees any-thing different in you?” (i.e., Who has made, or who has judged that, you are somehow better than the rest of us?) What do you have that you did not receive? If then you received it [...if you can acknowledge that fact], why do you boast as if you did not receive it?” Paul wants them to see how their arrogance has distorted their perspective. In their judging and criticisms and divisiveness as Christians, they've forgotten how they even became Christians. They've forgotten that they would not be in Christ, that they would not even be a church, unless God had given them everything, and that through the ministry of others. And so, as Matthew Henry wrote several centuries ago, “...those who receive [everything] should be proud of nothing”.

And this correction continues with a bit of well-placed sarcasm in verse 8. Now, to get the sense of what Paul's saying here, I think it's helpful to read something like “it seems” before each of these phrases: [It seems, Corinthians] you already have all you want! [It seems] you've already become rich! [It seems] without us you have somehow become kings!” And in light of what Paul will go on to describe, he adds, “And would that you did reign, so that we might share the rule with you!” Why is this arrogance so dangerous? Because it leads us to a distorted mindset, one in which I practically live as if all things were from and for me, rather than from and for God.

But do you remember the contrast I mentioned earlier, between verses 6b-8, and verses 9-13? What's fascinating here is that as Paul moves on to verse 9, he sticks with this idea of... danger or risk. You see, what verses 9-13 reveal is, in fact, second, the danger of not going beyond what is written. When we stay within the gracious guardrails of Scripture, when we acknow-ledge God's ultimate authority, and do not lean on our own wisdom, we can expect genuine risk in terms of our relationship with the world. Listen again to how Paul describes that risk...

For I think that God has exhibited us apostles [the very same leaders you want to divide over, the very same leaders you claim to follow... God has exhibited us...] as last of all, like men sentenced to death, because we have become a spectacle to the world, to angels, and to men. We are fools for Christ’s sake, but [somehow] you are wise in Christ. We are weak, but [some-how] you are strong. [Somehow] you are held in honor, but we in disrepute. To the present hour we hunger and thirst, we are poorly dressed and buffeted and homeless, and we labor, working with our own hands. When reviled, we bless; when persecuted, we endure; when slandered, we entreat. We have become, and are still, like the scum of the world, the refuse of all things.

Do you see the contrast? The Corinthians have wrongly believed that the gospel is about a kind of spiritual wealth and spiritual power and spiritual position that even the world will respect. But Paul loves them enough to remind them that the message of Christ crucified is a message that leads to a relationship with the world often marked by rejection, not acceptance; by dishonor, not honor; by ridicule, not praise; by loss, and not gain. So...

III. Faith and Friction

In light of the contrast God has presented for us here, let me ask you a question this morning: are you trying to find a version of the Christian life that is somehow... risk-free?

For example, one in which there is no risk in terms of your reputation, or no risk in terms of your finances, or no risk in terms of your feelings, or no risk in terms of your relationships, or or no risk in terms of your comfort, or your ambitions, or in some cases, even your physical safety? If there is no risk-free human life, then there certainly is no risk-free, Christian life. Jesus himself taught us...

“If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. [19] If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.” (John 15:18–19)

Friends, if you want to be liked by the world, then don't follow Christ. If you want a life of ease in this world, then don't follow Christ. But all this language sounds so severe, doesn't it? “If the world hates you”? We're the “scum of the world” and the “refuse of all things”? Is that accurate?Well, we know in many places, over the centuries and even still today, this is exactly how Christians are viewed, and exactly how they are treated. But what about us? Though it doesn't always, or even... usually, look like the worst possible outcome for us, we're reminded here that our faith in Christ will always produce some level of friction.

But why? This is where there's often confusion today. The hatred Jesus talked about in John 15, the rejection and ridicule that Paul writes about here, these are not the result of differences regarding things like morality. You may believe certain things (in fact, biblical things) about, for example, abortion or homosexuality. And because of that, someone might find you and your views... offensive. Brothers and sisters, that is not what Paul is talking about here. This is what Paul is talking about: 1 Corinthians 1:23... “...but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles”. Since chapter 1, Paul has not veered away from the offense of the cross. Yes, discussions about morality may be part of our call to repentance. But we have to do better at not putting the focus on divisive, hot-button issues, instead of the God-rejecting heart underneath every sin. It is the lordship of the crucified Christ that stands as the ultimate reason the world hates us and views us as “fools”, as “scum”, as “refuse”.

But none of this applicable if you don't actually live for Jesus. When a person trusts in Jesus as their only hope, they don't get a mark on their head or begin to smell different. No. They begin to think and feel and live... differently. But like the Corinthians, each one of us is daily tempted to cling to the world's values; and as a result, to modify our faith, so it becomes... frictionless. We close our mouths. We look the other way. We go with the flow. Some do this out of fear. Some, like Paul's readers, do this out of arrogance.

This morning, God wants you to consider your faith. Is it possible that you have modified your new life in Christ, so that it fits better with your old life? Here's another question to consider: does the description in vs. 9-13, this life exemplified by the apostles, does it sound appealing to you? The only reason any of us would live this life, that any of us would accept the risks associated with this kind of faith, is if the payoff was far, far greater than the cost. When Paul tells his readers that Jesus “will sustain you to the end, guiltless” (1:8), that we are “being saved” by “the word of the cross” (1:18), that before the ages “God decreed” this path “for our glory” (2:7), that “all things are yours, whether... the world or life or death or the present or the future—all are yours, and you are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s” (3:21-23)... when Paul writes these things, God is giving us reassurance that, even if the world begs to differ, “he is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep in order to gain what he cannot lose”. Think about it: if all things are ours, what reason do we have to ever go beyond what is written? May God help each one of us to see both the ways we've modified our faith, and the ultimate safety/fullness that is ours.