What Happens to a Church When Christ is Not Central Tolerance and Judgments I Corinthians 4

What Happens to a Church When Christ is Not Central

Tolerance and Judgments

I Corinthians 4

With all that said about tolerance we need to be careful

We must remember what our goal is when Christ returns, to receive His praise

The praise of others and even our own mental justification will not matter

Only God’s praise will matter

May He say to you and I

May He say to the Church that lives in a diverse and tolerant world

Well done good and faithful servant 

Tolerance and Judgments

I Corinthians 4

There was great diversity in Corinth.

In order to have diversity there has to be tolerance.

The word tolerance is used a lot in America.

Tolerance is not the final goal.

I believe you cannot have

tolerance without intolerance. 

Tolerance has to have a limit.

When you hear the cry for tolerance,

it usually comes from a place of intolerance.

The people living in Corinth were very diverse.

There had to be a lot of tolerance to keep the peace.

But that did not mean

everything in Corinth was good.

Paul saw things in the Church being

tolerated that were changing the Church.

  

It is one thing to give space for diversity,

 but when in the name of tolerance we change,

than our diversity is compromised.

This is what was happening to the Church.

Christ was no longer central and

the identity of the Church was changing

to be like that of the culture around it.

Look at how Paul handled this problem.

The first things Paul addressed

was who we are listening to.

 

Paul reminds us that all

leaders are servants of Christ.

  

So then, men ought to regard us as servants of Christ

and as those entrusted with the secret things of God.

1 Corinthians 4:1

Servants have a responsibility

to carry out the Master’s desires.

Now it is required that those who have

been given a trust must prove faithful.

1 Corinthians 4:2

Paul was clear that the tolerance of the

community is not the standard for the Church.

There were a lot of things tolerated in Corinth

but in the Church those things are not tolerated.

Many of us feel comfortable doing things

because everyone else is doing them.

We call that “Community Standards”.

Paul says…

I care very little if I am judged by

you or by any human court;

 indeed, I do not even judge myself.

1 Corinthians 4:3

Paul did not put a lot of value on others

judgments and the courts of the land.

This is not to say Paul did not have respect

for others or the courts of the community.

Paul realized we can justify anything in our minds.

Like Proverbs 16 says…

 There is a way that seem right to

a man but the end is destruction.

We can have a clear conscience and still be guilty.

My conscience is clear,

but that does not make me innocent.

 1 Corinthians 4:4a

If Christ is the center of the Church

then He is the one to judge all things.

It is the Lord who judges me.

1 Corinthians 4:4b

Paul is telling us to take a long term prospective.

Look at when the Lord comes.

He will judge and expose

even the motives of the heart.

You and I should judge ourselves not

by the community standard or even

the justification in our minds, but…

We should judge ourselves with a view

of praise from God when He returns.

Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait till the Lord comes.

He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives

of men's hearts. At that time each will receive his praise from God.

1 Corinthians 4:5

There were many who became wealthy

in Corinth to the point they felt

they were kings people of authority.

They looked down on Paul and others

because they had nothing of earthly value.

The Church at Corinth had

become very tolerant and diverse.

Social status brought in a lot of division.

But Paul did not back down and become

tolerant of the things taking place in the Church.

Paul reminded them that he birth them

into the Church; he was their spiritual father.

Paul said he was not afraid of the words of the arrogant.

Because he would come in the power of God.

With all that said about tolerance, we need to be careful.

 We must remember what our goal is

when Christ returns, to receive His praise.

The praise of others and even our own

mental justification will not matter.

Only God’s praise will matter.

May He say to you and I…

May he say to the Church that lives

in a diverse and tolerant world…

Well done good and faithful servant! 

Scripture Reading

1 Corinthians 4 NIV

4:1 So then, men ought to regard us as servants of Christ and as those entrusted with the secret things of God. 2 Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful. 3 I care very little if I am judged by you or by any human court; indeed, I do not even judge myself. 4 My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me. 5 Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait till the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men's hearts. At that time each will receive his praise from God.

6 Now, brothers, I have applied these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, so that you may learn from us the meaning of the saying, "Do not go beyond what is written." Then you will not take pride in one man over against another. 7 For who makes you different from anyone else? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?

8 Already you have all you want! Already you have become rich! You have become kings — and that without us! How I wish that you really had become kings so that we might be kings with you! 9 For it seems to me that God has put us apostles on display at the end of the procession, like men condemned to die in the arena. We have been made a spectacle to the whole universe, to angels as well as to men. 10 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! 11 To this very hour we go hungry and thirsty, we are in rags, we are brutally treated, we are homeless. 12 We work hard with our own hands. When we are cursed, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it; 13 when we are slandered, we answer kindly. Up to this moment we have become the scum of the earth, the refuse of the world.

14 I am not writing this to shame you, but to warn you, as my dear children. 15 Even though you have 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 am sending 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 whip, or in love and with a gentle spirit?