Do you have an annual review? These used to be common in many jobs, although I think that they are often being replaced by more frequent feedback, these days. In the stereotypical illustration, a nervous employee goes into the manager’s office, ready to have their year’s worth of hard work boiled down to a few over-simplified summary statements, like “Meets expectations”.
You may have heard of cases where an interview candidate treats an employee (perhaps a receptionist) poorly at the prospective job site, only to find out that this employee is the hiring manager. If we treat people differently at work (which I do not recommend, of course), it’s important to know which ones are actually impacting our career!
As we wrap up a mini-series of articles looking at 1 Corinthians 4, the author Paul’s ultimate accountability isn’t to a doctrine of Apollos, Peter, or the Corinthians church. There’s no need for an “annual review” of Paul by the elders of the Corinthian church. He is only accountable to God for his faith, his teaching, and his behavior.
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 until the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of the heart. At that time each will receive their praise from God.
1 Corinthians 4:3-5 NIV
https://bible.com/bible/111/1co.4.3-5.NIV
Perhaps individual factions in the Corinthian church were judging other teachers, and evaluating how accurate they were in light of their own leaders. Paul doesn’t care how his teaching compares to that of Apollos, Peter, or any other evangelist, though. While this letter confirms how much Paul loves the Christians in Corinth, he ultimately only cares how he is doing in God’s eyes.
In the same way, our purpose is not to have a faith that exactly matches the official doctrine of our church, or agrees with our pastor (or teacher) on everything, or aligns with whoever we’re talking to at the time. Instead, our role is to have a clean conscience before God, and to be as closely aligned with His truth as we can, regardless of what others say.
In fact, even if we are sure that we’re right, believe that we have it all figured out, and feel good about ourselves, those things don’t actually matter either if our viewpoint doesn’t agree with the truth of God.
Of course, it’s OK to listen to another point of view, research it against the Bible, and talk with God about it. God might be using another believer to teach you something. However, in the end, only God knows our hearts, and only He can provide a valid benchmark for our beliefs.
May our hearts be those that, when God compares them against the truth that He knows (and is), He is pleased with us.
Having looked at various statements made by Paul in 1 Corinthians 4 over the past several articles, when it comes to stepping up to our role in God’s family, let’s remember the three points that Paul made about those who make disciples (which I think applies to all of us, when God calls us to help others in their walk with Jesus):
- We are servants. God is in charge, and He is the one who gives us instructions. His plan is better than your plan or my plan, anyway.
- We are farmers. There is work for us to do, but just as God is the one who actually makes plants grow, only He can make a disciple grow.
- We are workers. We’re not supposed to be the manager, section leader, CEO, or chief engineer of our own lives, much less anyone else’s. Even human authority that exists on earth is established by the authority of God (see Romans 13:1-5). Instead, we should be on the same team – in the same family, really – as every other Christian who is working to fulfill their part of Jesus’ commission to make disciples of Jesus. And, it’s OK to seek to become a “master builder” in the kingdom of God.
And, since we have been entrusted with the most important message in the world, let us make sure that we understand, obey, and pass on that message as accurately as possible. A lost and hurting world is counting on us to get the message right as we share the mysteries of God. Having those revealed to us comes with a great responsibility.
From Sunday School lesson prepared for March 10, 2024
References:
- The Lookout, March 10, 2024, © 2024 Christian Standard Media.
- Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
- The College Press NIV Commentary – 1 Corinthians, by Richard E. Oster, Jr. © 1995 College Press Publishing Co.
Those Who Sin Differently 