I Corinthians 4:8-21 - Making the Right Evaluation
- tonight I'd like to begin our time together by asking us
to think about several questions
- let's suppose tonight that your car is giving you problems
and so you take it into the mechanic to be fixed
- INPUT - how important is it that the mechanic makes the
right evaluation of the problem and why is that is
important?
- INPUT - what are some other areas (other than the Christian
life) - where making the right evaluation of the
situation is very important?
- tonight, we're going to be looking at "making the right
evaluation" in the Christian life from I Cor. 4:8-21
- read verse 8
- before we read this whole passage, we need to point out
something about the literary method that Paul is using
- INPUT - in what way is Paul speaking in verse 8?
(sarcastically)
- there's no other way to understand these verses other than
to say that Paul is using what some have called "sanctified
sarcasm" to make a point
- now, we need to talk about that for a minute
- we often talk about sarcasm in a negative way
- INPUT - was it sinful for Paul to speak in this way to the
Corinthians? (no) - All scripture is given by
inspiration of God, (II Tim. 3:16-17
- "Till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one
title shall in no way pass from the law, till all
be fulfilled."
- we believe in verbal, plenary inspiration
- which means that each word in the Bible is inspired
(verbal)
- each word is inspired to the same degree - each one is
equally important (plenary)
- So obviously God knew that this method was the most loving
and effective way to get the point across to the
Corinthians
- there's nothing wrong with the way Paul was speaking
- INPUT - however, does that mean that you and I should go
around trying to imitate that method? (no, because of
the great possibility of sin entering in to the way we
exercised it)
- there are a number of things that the Lord did because He
was sinless that we wouldn't necessarily do because of the
great potential for our own sin and weakness to enter in
- Jesus counseled the woman at the well apparently by Himself
- with just the two of them present
- that’s something we don't do
- because of the appearance of evil
- the possibility of temptation
- Jesus had such perfect control of Hs anger that He was able
to drive the money changers out of the temple with a scourge
of cords and not sin
- We're not going to deal with sinful folks in that way today
because of the great possibility of sinfulness entering in
- ***what can be a thing of beauty and power in the hands of
one person can be a thing of destruction and death in
the hands of another
- cf. Paul Smith - doing a demonstration with explosive
chemicals - (you wouldn't want me doing that)
- Point is - while Paul is using sarcasm here - most of us
would say that:
- because we've wrestled with the sinful use of sarcasm so
much in the past
- because of the great possibility of sinfulness entering
in now
- there would be other methods of communicating truth that
would be wiser for us to use
- READ 9-21
- Paul's addressing an obvious problem in these verses
I. The Problem Paul Addressed
- let's divide these verses this way
- first, let's think about:
A. The Corinthians evaluation of their situation
- INPUT - there are at least six different
words/phrases that Paul uses to describe the way
the Corinthians were evaluating themselves. WHAT
WERE THEY?
1. full (NIV - have all you want)
2. rich
3. reigning as kings
4. wise
5. strong
6. honorable
- INPUT - how would you summarize their evaluation?
(you've got all you need - you've reached all
your goals - you've got the world by the
tail, etc.)
- INPUT - on the other hand, how does Paul evaluate his
situation along with the other apostles?
B. Paul's evaluation of his situation
- I've organized these various characteristics around
four key words
1. spectacles
- when Paul says in verse 9 that "we are being
made a spectacle unto the world", he's calling
up an image that would have been very familiar
to the Corinthians
- when a Roman general won a major victory, it
was celebrated with what was called a triumph
- the general and his troops would enter the city
with great military splendor
- behind them would come the prisoners with the
conquered king and military officers displayed
prominently for everyone to see and mock
- the prisoners were then taken to the arena to
fight the wild beasts
- that was called the "spectacle"
- Paul is saying – that’s what its like to be an
apostle
- one writer translated this verse "God means us
apostles to come in at the very end like doomed
gladiators in the arena."
- now just think about how Paul's description of situation
compares with what the Corinthians were striving for
(we'll talk about that more in a minute)
2. fools
- he said earlier that that the preaching of the
cross is WHAT to those who are perishing?
(foolishness)
- since Paul and the other apostles had been
faithful in sharing the good news of Jesus
Christ-those who did not believe declared them
to be fools
- they were "fools...for Christ's sake"
3. sufferers
- INPUT - what verse does this come through? (12)
- INPUT - what other passage does this sound
like? II Cor. 11
4. scum
- filth and off-scouring (KJV) refer to the
scrapings and off-scouring you get after you've
cleaned a big pot
- you know what that's like - you've just had a
great dinner, and you get up to the dishes
- you do the pots last - WHY? (because you don't
want to get all that junk on the rest of the
dishes (you know what stuff we're talking about)
- in Bible days, that was called filth and dregs
- Paul says – that’s what its like living for the Lord
- now, there's a lot of victories
- many have accepted the Jesus as Lord and Savior and
they love us
- but those who haven't - they have no respect for us
at all
- we're not treated well by them at all
- no riches, no prestige, no honor
- we're spectacles, fools, sufferers, and scum
- now Paul's not bitter about that
- INPUT - how do we know? v. 12 - "being reviled, we
bless, being persecuted - we endure"
- now we've separated these words out to try to get
an understanding of what the words mean
- but Paul weaved them back and forth to communicate
a point
- there's a real problem here
C. What's the problem?
1. There's a great difference between:
- where they thought they were and where they
really were
- where they wanted to be and where God wanted
them to be
- another way of saying that is:
2. they were unable to evaluate themselves correctly
- just like the mechanic needs to be able to know
what's wrong with a car and what needs to be
done to fix it
- just like an economist has to know what's wrong
with economy before suggesting a solution
- just like the physician must be able to make a
proper diagnosis before he can prescribe a
treatment
- evaluation is everything
- Paul says (with tongue in cheek) - you think
you're full, you think you're rich, you think
you're reigning
- I wish you were, he says--but you're not
- you're in trouble because you're not
evaluating yourself correctly
- we see this same problem in counseling
- sometimes the mission boards will ask us to work with
someone or a couple that was sent home from the field
- we've had situations where everyone of those co-workers
gave them negative evaluations - yet they said there weren't
any problems
- they said they couldn't think of anything God wanted them
to change or that they needed to work on
- I've had folks in that situation where I've asked them for
homework to go home and write down the five ways God wanted
them to change the most, and they came back without being
able to make out a list
- we've just come to the position in those situations that
we're not going to try to convince folks that they need
help if they can't see the need in any sense
- I think of one couple that was sent home because the wife
had an affair with someone on the field
- we told them that we would be working with them in their
marriage - they said - "we don't need any help with our
marriage - that affair just happened"
- Was that couple right?
- was everything OK? It just happened?
- see, Paul's talking about an inability to evaluate
ourselves
- INPUT - can you think of another church mentioned in the NT
that had this same problem? (the church at
Laodicea)
- Rev. 3:17 - "Because thou sayest, I am rich, and
increased with goods, and have need of nothing,
and knowest not that thou art wretched, and
miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked."
- one of the main reasons they weren't able to make the
proper evaluation is that they didn't have the correct
standards or goals
3. They were unable to set correct standards or goals
- you realize this makes all the difference in the world
- we can't possibly make the right evaluation unless we
have the right goals
- it would be like you and I taking a trip to
Indianapolis
- I'm driving, and we get down to I-65, and I have
Indianapolis and Chicago confused in my mind
- so I get on I-65 north
- you say - hey, do you know where you're going
- I say - INPUT? (trust me)
- so you doze off and an hour later you wake up and ask
me how the trips going
- IN OTHER WORDS - YOU"RE ASKING ME TO EVALUATE THE TRIP
- I would present to you that I'm completely unable to
make the right evaluation
- why? - because I've got the wrong goal in mind
- so when you ask me how the trips going, I'm going to
say things like:
- it going great!
- we've gone 60 miles
- we're almost to Lowell
- I've made the wrong evaluation because I've had the
wrong goal
- that’s what was happening in the lives of the Corinthians
- their goals were to:
- gain respect from the unsaved world
- be thought of as wise because of the teacher they had
chosen
- to rise up the ladder of material success
- Paul says - you think the trips going great but its not
- because you're heading the wrong way
- you're heading for Chicago when you should be heading
for INDY
- the truth is - the trip is going terrible, because
you're further away from the destination than ever
- now, that’s what was happening in the Corinthian church
- I said when we started this series a couple of months
ago that I wasn't going to present this material as if,
just because it was happening there means it is
happening here
- I don't believe that's true at all - at least not in the
sense that’s it happening to the same degree
- but would you agree with me - that this is an area that
we all have to wrestle with?
- the issue of properly evaluating how we're doing?
- let's think about how we can avoid this kind of lifestyle
- II. Opposites of This Kind of Lifestyle
- INPUT - what are some opposites of this kind of
lifestyle, that if implemented, will help us avoid
the problem we've been talking about tonight?
- If a person is trying to avoid the kind of lifestyle
the Corinthians had - how will that affect their
relationship to the Word of God?
A. Hunger and thirst after righteousness
- Matt. 5:6
- INPUT - why would those who want to evaluate
themselves correctly have a strong desire for
the Word?
- Psalm 107:105 - thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light
unto my path
- Psalm 119:9 – Where withall shall a young man cleanse his
way? By taking heed thereto unto thy Word.
B. Being A learner
I John 1:7-9
- INPUT - what impact would the Corinthians' sin have on
their ability to solve interpersonal problems? (have
trouble solving problems because they weren't willing to
look at their side of the issue first)
C. Looking at your side first
Matt. 7:3
D. Having God's goals
- Rom. 8:28, 29, II Cor. 5:9
- I'm not saying it always comes down to choices,
but if it did come down to a choice between living
for God (and being called foolish by some) or
sinning (and being called wise), which would you
choose?
- in other words - is pleasing the Lord and doing
His will more important than what others think of
you
- let's think of a couple of examples
- Vacation - let's say you're on vacation with some
other families - and the men tend to be macho
types who treat their wives like hired servants
(without the hire!)
- let's say the wife is preparing a meal and
obviously needs some help
- what's the "Corinthian like husband" going to do
because he's in front of his buddies?"
(ignore the need)
- what's the godly husband going to do? (be loving to
his wife - even if he has to put up with some guff)
- let's take another one
- let's say a young person sits down to lunch with
some friends at school
- let's say these are guys that he really wants to
hang around with and this is the first time
they've ever asked him to eat with them
- what's the "Corinthian like young man" going to
do? (forget about praying, sneeze-pray)
- INPUT - if you asked the Corinthian-like young man
at the end of the day about what kind of day he
had, what do you think he might say?
- what would the godly young man do? (thank the Lord
for his food regardless of what everybody else thinks)
E. Dependent spirit
- Psalm 63:1 - "O God, thou art my God, early will
I seek thee; my soul thirsteth for thee, my
flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty
land, where no water is..."
F. Vibrant prayer life
- Psalm 55:17 - "Evening, and morning, and at
noon, will I pray, and cry aloud, and He shall
hear my voice."
G. Humility
- I Peter 5:6 - Humble yourselves, therefore,
under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt
you in due time.
H. Regular and Genuine Repentance
- See, the question tonight is - are you evaluating yourself
biblically and correctly or are you like the Corinthians
who thought they were doing were great when in fact they
were displeasing the Lord
- now I'm surely not saying that those who evaluate
themselves properly will:
- always come out with a tremendously low evaluation
- will always be down,
- and will be overly introspective,
- but we are talking about thinking long and hard about
whether we are like the Corinthians
- in many areas, and especially in the Christian life, it's
tremendously important that we make the right evaluation
- now, we've been studying through four chapters of this
book, and I think many of us would say:
- "its about time to give up on the Corinthians!
- "Paul needs to go start a new church somewhere - after
all-its easier to give birth than to raise the dead!"
- but of course that’s not what the Lord does
- Instead, he lovingly intervenes
III. The Lord's Loving Intervention - vv. 14-21
A. sent someone to admonish them
- Paul says - I'm not trying to shame you - I'm
trying to admonish you like a father
- look how gracious the Lord was - even with
individuals who were so far out
- to send someone along to give them another
opportunity to evaluate themselves properly,
and repent
- because we have the book of II Cor, we know
that many in this church did repent
- II Cor. 7:9 - "Now I rejoice, not that you were
made sorry but that you sorrowed to
repentance, for you were made sorry after a
godly manner, that you might receive damage by
us in nothing."
- one clear evidence of individuals who are
living in line with this passage is that they
repent, and repent well
- a right evaluation often leads to thorough
repentance
- God was also gracious to these folks in that:
B. Sent someone to model
- Paul says in verse 16 - be ye followers of me
- he says in verse 17, "I'm sending Timothy, and I
want you to follow his example
- individuals who evaluate themselves properly, and
have the right goals--are getting behind the right
kind of models to help them