The Kingdom Heart and Task of an Apostle (Part 2)

Now the apostle Paul, in his correction to the misguided notions which the believers in Corinth had, assumed what our Lord told the 12. He had come to understand this fully and thus we find the Lord’s way of relating and loving as a spiritual leaders enacted in his ministry.

Comments on Text: 1 Corinthians 4:1-21

First, notice that the apostle Paul gives them this corrective: “Think of us [apostles] in this way: as servants of Christ and stewards of God’s mysteries.” (v.1)

Apostles have been called and equipped and commissioned by Christ to proclaim and teach and lead others into an accurate knowledge of God, in knowing God’s Messiah and his way. They are entirely servants whose legitimacy as spiritual leaders and teachers comes from their fidelity to the Masters teaching and way of life. They protect  the Lord’s word by accurately teaching and shepherding others into practice of the faith of Jesus the Christ.

There is no presumption here or selfish ambition or aim at self-aggrandizement. Apostles are to point to the Lord and not to themselves. They can do this if they humble of heart; with such a “heart-attitude” they can become like finely tuned instruments that the Holy Spirit can play to convey the piercing beauty of God’s revealed truth and love. And so the Church has seen them and esteemed them—receiving their testimony and teaching regarding the Gospel as the deposit to be guarded by each generation.

Thus in Paul’s case, he say that he is not concerned with how anyone judges him. For he will stand to be judged by Christ himself, as his servant. And so will all whom he bears testimony to. (See vv.2-5)

Second, notice that the apostle states the principle which he and the other apostles, and his co-workers, live by: “Not beyond what is written.” (v.6). As “servants of Christ and stewards of God’s mysteries” (v.1) they are bound by God’s truth. They cannot (and dare not) ever merely assert their own opinions or seek self-aggrandizement or fame or a popular following. They are merely servants of the living God!

Many among the believers there in Corinth did not understand this. They thought very highly of themselves and had welcomed other Jewish teachers from Jerusalem who flattered them and told them things they preferred to hear:

“Already you have all you want! Already you have become rich! Quite apart from us you have become kings! If only you had become kings, so that we might be kings with you!” (v.8)

Can you hear the irony in his words? He is mocking their arrogance—attempting to verbally shock them into recognizing their folly.

And to drive his point home he contrasts himself and the other apostles with their notions of exalted spiritual positions, call it a kind of elitism.

Notice what the apostle Paul did not do (4:9-18): He did not brag about the spiritual authority, or of his position of authority in the spiritual realm or of miracles performed, etc. He did not call down upon them curses or threaten them. Rather he describes humility and service in action. His was the way of Christ himself!

The apostle loves the Corinthian believers and only wants their best. And so he reminds them of the his essential relationship to him: He had become their “spiritual father” in teaching, modeling and guiding them into the faith of Jesus Christ in that crucial formative time of their lives. His point is simple: He of all people should be honored by them and listened to by them.

And then he concludes this section of the letter with a warning to some there: To those who persist in their obstinate and arrogant assertions to having superior knowledge and authority and right to rule in the Church (4:19-21).

Did you pick up what he was asserting here? As an apostle he does have the right to wield spiritual power! He is the servant of Christ, the Son of the living God, and thus can speak with authority in the Name of Jesus. However, while that is all genuinely true, he does not want to come to them in this way. Rather, he wants to come to them in a “spirit of gentleness” (v.21).

So then, the apostle needed to hammer home for them that his role as an apostle Messiah Jesus was to safeguard the treasure of the faith of Christ, to faithfully execute the task of a “steward” of this truth and to call them into the same fidelity. This was for their own good to listen to him.

“Indeed, in Christ Jesus I fathered you through the gospel. I appeal to you, then, be imitators of me.” (vv.15-16, NRSVue)

He was working and serving them, as was Timothy and the others, spiritually unified with Christ himself, and thus he could act decisively as was needed. And whatever he taught them, or they heard from any of his co-workers, is also what he taught in all the churches. This was the aim of his calling as an apostle: To establish and fortify and build up others in the faith of Messiah Jesus.

So then we have here two passages that illuminate much that we need to know about what being an apostle was, and what it entailed and what was required of them. In this we have the criteria for the role of an apostle of Christ.

The historic view of the apostles has been thus: Those who had authority to preach, teach and interpret what the Lord Jesus did and taught as the eye witnesses. They being eye witnesses and commissioned, along with their fidelity to this unique mission, is what qualified some of them to become the human authors or influencers of the New Testament writings. And so, in part, in the Church we have associated the New Testament writing as part of Scripture too. For they bore the authority in the heavenlies to write with clarity and authority, just as OT authors did. All of this is certainly true.

But today what are we to make of those taking the title of “apostle”? Is that appropriate? How are we to think of this gift of apostleship for today?

First, I would suggest that we reserve for the original eyewitnesses the term “Apostles”—with a capital “A” for clarity. This group would include both men and women—for both men and women followed him and were commissioned when he left the earth to ascend. And we know from the early traditions and history that both men and women were involved in evangelizing and planting of churches.

However, that generation of eyewitness have all died and are no longer on earth. Instead, we are to “contend for the faith that was once and for all handed on the saints.” (Jude 3)

Second, I would suggest that we retain the use of the term “apostle” and “apostolic”. For there have always been those, both women and men, generation after generation, whom the Holy Spirit has gifted and directed to found new Christian communities. This gift is necessary, just as much as the evangelist, or prophet, or pastor or the teacher.

Yet we must weary of those leaders who insist on be referred by in accord with a title, or in relation to their position or official role within a congregation or organizational structure. Anyone who wields a title in order to manipulate or coerce others is to be noted and confronted. Such a person is conceited and dangerous—just as those men who had come to have such pervasive influence among the Corinthians were.

Let us remember the example of our Lord, and that of the apostles. Let us keep to the Lord’s word, to the Gospel and ourselves steward the faith. Let us act in accord with the Holy Spirit’s gifting and empowerment together as the one Body, unified together in love and fidelity.