June 13 Click on verses for Full Scripture

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Today's Pathway: I Corinthians 4:3-5 But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged of you, or of man's judgment: yea, I judge not mine own self. For I know nothing by myself; yet am I not hereby justified: but he that judgeth me is the Lord. Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts: and then shall every man have praise of God.

Yesterday Paul set out what God expected His pastors to be: galley slaves who take their orders only from the Lord, and stewards who faithfully study and teach the Word of God. Because of this, Paul says in verse three that it is unimportant to him what the Corinthian church thinks of him. In fact, it is unimportant to him what any man thinks of him. Paul was not a man-pleaser. He writes in Galatians 1:10,

"For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ."

"But as we were allowed of God to be put in trust with the gospel, even so we speak; not as pleasing men, but God."

"In essence Paul is saying to the Corinthians, 'I know you are thinking about me and I know what you think, but I want you to know I do not think it very significant.' He really did not care whether they thought him faithful or unfaithful. His ultimate responsibility was not to them. They had not called him, or sent him, or told him what doctrines to preach, nor was he their steward; he was the steward of God. A minister answers ultimately to Christ, not men."

He even goes so far at the end of verse 3 to state that he didn't judge himself. This does not mean that Paul never examined himself to see if he was obeying the Lord. He told the Corinthian church that it's members needed to "examine themselves" (I Corinthians 11:28) and "judge themselves" (I Corinthians 11:31) before partaking of the Lord's Table. It does mean that he realized that his own judgments could be faulty because he still had a sinful and selfish nature. He does state in verse 4,

"I know nothing by myself".

Thus, in verse 5, he warns the church at Corinth to not make judgment ahead of time. The time for assessment will be at the Judgment Seat of Christ (II Corinthians 5:10), and any conclusions drawn before that time would be premature. A certain minister might be highly successful in building a large congregation, but his motivation may be completely self-centered. He may be a great orator, but he may be using his speaking skills to cover up his lack of Biblical knowledge, study, and preparation. At the same time, perhaps another pastor is not an entertaining and eloquent preacher. However, he studies diligently and preaches to the people exactly what the Word of God says. He may not have a large church, but he is trying to lead the church he has to faithfully serve the Lord. Men might judge these two men far differently than God will, because God is the great Revealer of everything that both the pastors were doing, and what the attitude of their hearts really were. God knows what is really going on; men do not. And thus, He will be the One Who gives praise to His servants. Some will receive much and some will receive little. But it will be the Lord Who makes that decision, not men.