Sunday Praise & Worship 10:00
Christian Education - 10:00 - Casual Dress - Loving Childcare
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1 Corinthians 4:5-7 (November
7, 2004) Scripture quotation taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright© 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.
After the negative campaigning of this election season, most of us are glad it is over, whether or not we are pleased with the results. Why do candidates attack the character of their opponent instead of presenting their own plans and views? Unfortunately, even Christians give into this temptation. Paul, however, has a message for us, a new way of behaving as Christians. We are not to judge another’s faithfulness, but leave judgment to God. This new twist in Paul’s argument serves to reinforce his theme of putting aside divisions and working toward unity. We can’t work toward unity while we are judging our co-workers. The old saying stands true: Bees can’t sting and make honey at the same time. They have to choose. So do we. As we have looked at the first three chapters in 1 Corinthians, we have seen that Paul reminded the Corinthian Christians to put their lives and everything in them into proper perspective. Paul began by reminding them to be grateful and to focus more on what united them with each other rather than what separated them. He also called them to remember that God’s foolishness made sense to them only because they had the mind of Christ. He chastised them for divisions based on certain leaders in the church, and instead, he encouraged them to work together as a team, partners in ministry. In chapter 4, Paul again refocused their perspective by warning them that only God can judge faithfulness and God will only judge when the Lord returns. God has a different perspective than humans; God sees our hearts. We judge by outward appearance, by the way things look. However, we often cannot see the complete picture, but only a snapshot of a particular moment in time. God sees the big picture, including the past, present and future. God also knows that humans are a work in progress, as the Holy Spirit moves in our lives making us more and more like Christ. As we grow closer to Christ, we become more like him, because he shines a light in the deepest parts of our hearts and reveals our true motives. Although people who don’t know God fear this light, we Christians welcome it as our friend. The light of Christ shows us what is really happening in our hearts when we sin, therefore enabling us to see where we need to work with the Holy Spirit. We can confess those most vulnerable areas, unashamed of our sin because we trust God to forgive us through the work of Jesus Christ. Just as we are not to judge others, we are not to judge ourselves, either. Once we confess to God, we let God be the judge, and we discover that our Judge operates on grace. When we change our perspective and allow God to judge both others and ourselves, we find the joy of true humility, remembering that God is the source of all that we have and all that we are. We no longer have to compare ourselves with others, either feeling inadequate or putting others down so that we can feel good about ourselves. Instead, we trust God to see the faithfulness of our actions and to give us the only praise we need. Questions for Reflection
For further study: Look in the back of your Bible for a concordance. Most study Bibles have them. Look under the words Confess, Humility, or Judgment. Read some of the verses listed under these words. How do those verses help you understand this passage better? For next week: Read 1 Corinthians 5:3-8. How do we stop the sin among us? |
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