Read Deuteronomy 3, Isaiah 62, and 1 Corinthians 4.
This devotional is about 1 Corinthians 4.
In today’s reading Paul continued speaking to the Corinthians about how they were dividing their church by championing one church leader over another. Instead of taking sides over whether Apollos was better than Paul, Paul urged them to “regard us as servants of Christ and as those entrusted with the mysteries God has revealed” (v. 1).
Paul and Apollos were on the same team–the same team as each other and as the Corinthians.
They were there–and each of us is here–to serve the Lord.
What standard, then, do we use when considering the Lord’s servants? Verse 2 says, “Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful.” Was Paul faithful to do the work God commanded him to do? Was Apollos faithful? The answers to these questions were the only ones that mattered.
Are you faithful in performing the ministry God gave you to do? Only God really knows and his judgment day will reveal the truth about it (v. 5). So instead of evaluating God’s servants before that time (v. 5a), we should simply strive to serve the Lord faithfully today.
As always there are false teachers within the church who threaten it and there are biblical teachers who strengthen it. Who is your favorite teacher? I have learned a great deal from many pastors and Christian teachers and scholars. Each of them has his strengths and weaknesses but the Lord does not want us to compare them and rank them against each other.
Nor does he want them to battle it out between themselves.
Instead, he wants them to be faithful to what he gave them to do and for us to be thankful for the work they do for him.
It is definitely a good thing to appreciate the ministry of others; Paul certainly felt that the Corinthians should have appreciated his ministry to them more than they did. As long as you don’t elevate any man to a level of infallibility or trust his word against the clear teaching of God’s word, there is nothing wrong with appreciating a man who is being used by God. Just don’t let your godly appreciation turn into an ungodly adulation that brings discord and strife into the body of Christ.