Today, we are looking at 1 Cor. 4: 14-21 and the title of the message is ‘Send Who You Know’.
The main thought is that we need to know those we send to do ministry. They need to have the ability and faith to work with people who are discovering God and starting to grow in their relationship to Jesus Christ, our Lord. This is called discipling, and we are all called to disciple others to build the body of believers for God.
Let me set the scene for the Scripture passage we will be reading and applying to our lives.
Paul, an apostle (follower of Jesus Christ), has been travelling around to many cities to set up churches of Christian believers for the first time. He keeps in contact after he leaves by writing letters of encouragement and cautions to those churches.
He first went to Greece, and Corinth, about 50 A.D., on his second Missionary journey. He ministered in this city for a year and a half and wrote his first epistle to the Thessalonians from there.1 He eventually returned on a later journey. This letter, 1st Corinthians, was written between those journeys.
Paul’s ministry and travels in Greece were a result of his nighttime vision in the city of Troas.
Acts 16:8-10 NIV
8 So they passed by Mysia and went down to Troas.
9 During the night Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia standing and begging him, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.”
10 After Paul had seen the vision, we got ready at once to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.
The city of Corinth is situated 40 miles from Athens on a narrow strip of land between two inlets. 2
Above the city and to its south rises the high rock – Acro-Corinthus. It is 1,500 feet higher than the city. Atop this was the temple of Aphrodite, the goddess of love. A large percentage of those who lived in Corinth were given over to the vicious and voluptuous practices of the worship of this goddess. Thus, Corinth was the most notorious seat of immorality in the Roman Empire.3
The church in Corinth was starting to develop disagreements and factions in the congregation, and incorrect behavior and beliefs were showing up. Things like immorality, lawsuits, meat offered to idols, false Apostles, problems about marriage, disorderly conduct of assemblies, and heresies about the resurrection. 4
Therefore, Paul writes this letter and tells the church that he is sending Timothy to them to help.
We find out that Timothy’s relationship with Paul started earlier, as it states here:
Acts 16:1-4 NIV
1 Paul came to Derbe and then to Lystra, where a disciple named Timothy lived, whose mother was Jewish and a believer but whose father was a Greek.
2 The believers at Lystra and Iconium spoke well of him.
3 Paul wanted to take him along on the journey, so he circumcised him because of the Jews who lived in that area, for they all knew that his father was a Greek.
4 As they traveled from town to town, they delivered the decisions reached by the apostles and elders in Jerusalem for the people to obey.
To be a leader in the Jewish church, a male had to be circumcised. So for Timothy to be accepted in ministry, he needed to take that step in obedience. If Timothy was going to minister only to Greek Christians, he could have not bothered with circumcision. Since he was travelling all over with Paul, it was necessary.
Also in Paul’s letter to the church in Philippi, he encourages them about Timothy.
Philippians 2: 19-22 NIV
19 I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, that I also may be cheered when I receive news about you.
20 I have no one else like him, who will show genuine concern for your welfare.
21 For everyone looks out for their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ.
22 But you know that Timothy has proved himself, because as a son with his father he has served with me in the work of the gospel.
Now, let us read the passage for today.
1 Cor. 4:14-21 NIV
14 I am writing this not to shame you but to warn you as my dear children.
15 Even if you had ten thousand guardians in Christ, you do not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel.
16 Therefore I urge you to imitate me.
17 For this reason I have sent to you Timothy, my son whom I love, who is faithful in the Lord. He will remind you of my way of life in Christ Jesus, which agrees with what I teach everywhere in every church.
18 Some of you have become arrogant, as if I were not coming to you.
19 But I will come to you very soon, if the Lord is willing, and then I will find out not only how these arrogant people are talking, but what power they have.
20 For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power.
21 What do you prefer? Shall I come to you with a rod of discipline, or shall I come in love and with a gentle spirit?
When we read a passage of Scripture, we need to understand where it is coming from and why it was written before we can apply it to today’s life that we live. That is why I set the background of Paul and Timothy. Now let’s look at a couple of other passages that give some enlightenment to this passage. In verse 15, Paul mentions guardians. Here is another place that guardian is mentioned.
Galatians 3:23-25 NIV
23 Before the coming of this faith, we were held in custody under the law, locked up until the faith that was to come would be revealed.
24 So the law was our guardian until Christ came that we might be justified by faith.
25 Now that this faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian.
This is talking about the old and the new, before and after Christ, old law and new law. As a Christian, we are freed from having the old law controlling our lives. The law is still there as a guideline but no longer binds us to it.
Next, we look at the power that Paul mentioned in verses 19 and 20. There, he is telling the Corinthians that he will be looking for the power of Christ in them. Here is an example of how it works.
Acts 13: 9-11 NIV
9 Then Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked straight at Elymas and said,
10 “You are a child of the devil and an enemy of everything that is right! You are full of all kinds of deceit and trickery. Will you never stop perverting the right ways of the Lord?
11 Now the hand of the Lord is against you. You are going to be blind for a time, not even able to see the light of the sun.”
Immediately mist and darkness came over him, and he groped about, seeking someone to lead him by the hand.
So Paul deals with many issues in the Christian churches as he ministers and evangelizes. He considers his relationship with Timothy to be like a father and a son. He relates that to God as father and he is the son. This is important when you look at the church as a family. We need there to be fathers and mothers in the church who show the new followers of Jesus how to live like a Christian. We need to be imitators of Christ so people see Him in us!
Terence Chatmon, in ‘Do Your Children Believe?’, writes:
‘Do you know what you want for your children? The one thing? Here’s mine. My one thing is “to make Christ known to my kids.” That’s it. To know him is to love him. To love him is to trust him. And trusting him will lead them to a life far beyond what they could ever create for themselves.
If I do nothing else but share the gospel with them, I’ll call it a good life. That’s why I’m trying to live out my faith, staying consistently under the power and control of the Holy Spirit. I fail at it so often, and I know I’ll continue to fail going forward, but I go back to the cross every day. I must. The cross is all I have. I’m nobody without his mercy and forgiveness. Jesus died to give me grace, and he rose from the grave to give me hope. So I rush back there every single day in repentance because I want my kids to see the gospel — to see Christ, not me — to see that his grace is always needed, and yet it’s always enough. I want them to see the gospel both shared and lived. I want them to see their dad surrendered sacrificial, humble, and dependent. I want them to know Christ and what he can do.’ 5
Paul talked of one more thing in our passage for today. Verse 21 is the question – does he come with the rod of discipline or with love and a gentle spirit? He is asking the Corinthian church which way they prefer.
We need to realize that when we reach out to people to show God’s love, we need to imitate what Jesus would do. Most often, Jesus dealt with all people with love and a gentle spirit.
As we see people leaving our family here at First Baptist, are we sending them out to spread God’s wonderful Gospel of love and truth? Do we know who we are sending and trust them to show Christ to their new neighbourhood?
I consider Caroline for example, as one of our family. We know her and want to encourage her to be a light for Jesus in her new community – go with love and a gentle spirit.
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