1Cr 4:14 I do not write these things to shame you, but to admonish you as my beloved children.
1Cr 4:15 For if you were to have countless tutors in Christ, yet {you would} not {have}
many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel.
1Cr 4:16 Therefore I exhort you, be imitators of me.
1Cr 4:17 For this reason I have sent to you Timothy, who is my beloved and faithful child
in the Lord, and he will remind you of my ways which are in Christ, just as I teach everywhere
in every church.
1Cr 4:18 Now some have become arrogant, as though I were not coming to you.
1Cr 4:19 But I will come to you soon, if the Lord wills, and I shall find out, not the words
of those who are arrogant but their power.
1Cr 4:20 For the kingdom of God does not consist in words but in power.
1Cr 4:21 What do you desire? Shall I come to you with a rod, or with love and a spirit of gentleness?
v.14 - 16
paul declares his purpose : to admonish (not to shame)
to back up his affection, he establishes intimacy :
he declares them beloved children
he declares himself their father
by associating their relationship with 'family', he implies a commitment to them
(family is always family) and a deep concern for them.
timothy is coming...
timothy is one who travelled with paul; paul seems to have had a very close
relationship with him.
timothy is young..
1Cr 4:18 Now some have become arrogant, as though I were not coming to you.
1Cr 4:19 But I will come to you soon, if the Lord wills, and I shall find out, not the words
of those who are arrogant but their power.
1Cr 4:20 For the kingdom of God does not consist in words but in power.
1Cr 4:21 What do you desire? Shall I come to you with a rod, or with love and a spirit of gentleness?
v.18 - 21
paul asserts his authority
paul rebukes his challengers, and even levies a threat...
apostolic authority was very real
(and church authority is still real, though to what extent and in
what areas are seperate issues)
consider acts 5:1-12 (ananias and sapphira)
1 cor 5:5
the purpose of criticism
"not...to shame you, but to admonish you as my beloved children"
human tendency is to attempt to shame...
also notice the compassion that he evidences by tying in the father/children
analogy...
is there an element of the 'children reflect on the father' here?
"imitate me" (intimidate me)
this is a theme...it's repeated in 1 cor 11:1
to those who are 'mature'
1. recognize that this is a necessary statement
this is factual, not prideful
not the same as gaston saying '3 strapping boys, like me'
2. maintain the standard
again...the comparison with phil. 2 is helpful...
3. keep christ as the model
imitate me as i also imitate christ
christ is god
christ is humble as he considered us more important than himself
to those who are 'young'
1. identify those worth imitating
this is hard!!!
the portion of humility concerning 'not thinking more highly of
ourselves than we ought' is very difficult.
are we not all comparative/competitive with each other?
?? consider aaron and miriam... num 12...
keep ego in check, avoid pride
2. imitate godly traits
3. check all against the example of christ
in reality...we should most likely always be able to imitate some people in some areas
modelling is a valuable principle :
we should be humble enough to be examples to some
we should be humble enough to be to use some as examples