The Love One Another Podcast | Episode 10 - The Cost of Apostleship

This is the Love One Another podcast from Beach Point Church.

Together, we're exploring the first letter to the Corinthians, with the hope that we will be formed by the way of the cross and the love of the one who bore it.

Admitting, as this letter says, that we are nothing without love.

Love, empowered by the Spirit through the work of Jesus, is an unstoppable force.

It invites each of us to join God in the work of redeeming all things back to God.

With that in mind, let's open our hearts to God's word today.

Today's reading is 1 Corinthians 4, verses 8 through 21.

1 Corinthians 4:8–21

Already you have all you want.

Already you have become rich.

You have begun to reign in that without us.

How I wish that you really had begun to reign so that we also might reign with you.

For it seems to me that God has put us apostles on display at the end of the procession, like those condemned to die in the arena.

We have been made a spectacle to the whole universe, to angels as well as to human beings.

We are fools for Christ, but you are so wise in Christ.

We are weak, but you are strong.

You are honored, we are dishonored.

To this very hour we go hungry and thirsty.

We are in rags, we are brutally treated, we are homeless.

We work hard with our own hands.

When we are cursed, we bless.

When we are persecuted, we endure it.

When we are slandered, we answer kindly.

We have become the stem of the earth, the garbage of the world, right up to this moment.

I am writing this not to shame you, but to warn you as my dear children.

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.

Therefore I urge you to imitate me.

For this reason I have sent to you Timothy, my son, whom I love, who is faithful to the Lord, to remind you of my way of life in Christ Jesus, which agrees with what I teach everywhere in every church.

Some of you have become arrogant, as if I were not coming to you.

But I will come to you very soon, if the Lord is willing, and then I will find out not only how those arrogant people are talking, but what power they have.

For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk, but of power.

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?

Paul said, Corinthians, I will turn this car around, figuratively, of course, because Paul didn't know about cars.

The Corinthians were divided and in conflict, much like children in the backseat of the car.

And Paul made an explicit appeal to his role as their spiritual father, even going so far as to call them his dear children.

He even went so far as to give his Corinthian children options.

Shall I come to you with a rod of discipline?

Or shall I come in love and with a gentle spirit?

But why were the Corinthians divided and in conflict?

What problem was Paul addressing?

Some people in the Corinthian church had status.

Some people had wealth, some people had power, while others did not.

There was stark inequality in the Corinthian church, and this inequality had led to division because those with status, wealth, and power had begun to lord it over those without status, wealth, and power.

We don't see exactly how they're lording it over the others, but we do see how Paul openly mocked their status, wealth, and power in verses 8 through 13 by comparing their puffed up status with the humble status of the apostles.

The Corinthians were rich, Paul was poor.

The Corinthians were reigning over the world.

Paul was waiting for Jesus to reign.

The Corinthians were wise in Christ.

Paul was a fool.

The Corinthians were honored.

Paul was dishonored.

But it isn't the example of the puffed up, high-status, wealthy, and powerful Corinthians that Paul called them to imitate.

It was his example.

Therefore, he said, I urge you to imitate me.

Just like the Corinthians, it's easy to find ourselves divided within the church, both here at Beach Point and across the broader Big Sea Church.

We can be divided by our status within the church or in the world.

We can be divided by our income or our finances.

We can be divided by our power in our community or in the broader society.

C.S.

Lewis wrote in The Weight of Glory He who has God and everything else has no more than he who has God only.

To love one another is to see one another as brothers and sisters in one family.

Not divided between who has more and who has less, who is more powerful or who is less, who has status and who is less.

We cannot lord what we have over those who do not have it because the true gift is what each of us has.

Jesus.

And as a parent corrects their child, so Paul is prepared to correct the Corinthians and us when we may be tempted to see what we have, who we are, where we live, how much money we make, or any other marker of our status, wealth, and power as something we can lord over our brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus.

Let's take a moment to respond to this day's reading.

Paul urged the Corinthians to imitate him rather than those who are puffed up by wealth, power, and status.

Who in your life has modeled humility and faithfulness in a way worth imitating?

What are some ways inequality, whether financial, social, or status related, can create division with the church today?

How can we guard against this at each point?

Where do you feel the temptation to lord over others?

Whether through your career, success, financial security, education, or influence, and how can you surrender that to Jesus?

Thank you for taking intentional time today to align yourself with God's love and the call to love one another.

You can find the Love One Another Sermon Series and other resources at Beachpoint.com/slash messages or on the Beachpoint Church app.

May you carry the love of God in every encounter you have today.