1 CORINTHIANS CHAPTER 4
The Work of the Ministers of Christ. 1 Cor. 4, 1—21.
Faithfulness required: V. 1. Let a man so account of us, as of the ministers of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. V. 2. Moreover, it is required in stewards that a man be found faithful. V. 3. 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.
The apostle had shown the relation of himself and the other teachers to the Church of Christ, to the temple of God, namely, that they are servants. But from that it does not follow that the Christians are the masters of their teachers. God is the Householder, the Master, and therefore all those that formed factions in the congregation at Corinth, and thus presumed to judge and censure other teachers than their own adopted chief, were usurping a function which properly belongs to Christ alone.
So, in this way, he says, let a man think, account of us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. That is the right, the proper way in which every person, but especially the members of the Christian congregations, should regard the apostles and all ministers of Christ. Thus they should think of them, this reasonable estimate they should have of them at all times. Servants of Christ they are, the word originally denoting rowers in a galley, but later used for domestic servants that enjoyed the trust of their master, that were, in a manner of speaking, assistants: thus the men that work in the doctrine are the trusted servants of Christ. And they are stewards of the mysteries of God.
"The steward was the master's deputy in regulating the concerns of the family, providing food for the household, seeing it served out at the proper times and seasons, and in proper quantities. He received all the cash, expended what was necessary for the support of the family, and kept exact accounts, which he was obliged at certain times to lay before the master" (Clarke, Commentary, 6, 207; compare Luther, 12, 59).
Thus the ministers are the stewards of the mysteries of God; they are in charge of, and are responsible to God for the administration of the means of grace, through which God reveals to men and imparts to them the riches of His grace in Christ Jesus.
"What, then, are these mysteries of God? Nothing but Christ Himself, that is, faith and the Gospel of Christ; for everything that is preached in the Gospel is placed at a distance from the senses and reason and hidden before all the world; nor may they be obtained except only through faith, as He Himself says, Matt. 11, 25: I thank Thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because Thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes" (Luther, 12, 60).
This description of the apostle fitly includes all the work of the true minister's office in every respect, beyond which no congregation should go in making demands on the pastor's ability and time.
"We have, then, the apostle's statement in these words that a servant of Christ is a steward of the mysteries of God, that is, he should regard himself, and have himself regarded, as preaching and giving nothing else to the members of God's household than only Christ and concerning those that are in Christ; that is, he should preach the pure Gospel, the pure faith, that Christ alone is our Life, Way, Wisdom, Power, Praise, and Salvation, etc., and that our things are nothing but death, error, foolishness, powerlessness, shame, and damnation. Him that preaches otherwise, no man should regard as a servant of Christ and as a steward of divine treasures, but shun him as a messenger of the devil" (Luther, 12, 62).
From the statement of v. 1 Paul now makes a plain inference: Since this is the case, it remains that the quality sought for in the stewards is that faithful every one be found. That, to be sure, is a demand, but it is the only demand that can and should be made, that the minister of Christ be faithful in his stewardship.
The Lord does not require, as Luther says, that he be so holy as to raise up the dead by his very shadow, or that he be as wise as all the prophets and apostles were. Neither does he ask that he be a spirited orator, a witty conversationalist, a good mixer, nor any of the many other points which nowadays are mentioned as essential qualities of a pastor. Of all these things the Lord says nothing.
He wants only that His stewards administer the Word of God, preach the Gospel, bring forth the necessary spiritual food out of the rich treasury of God's mysteries, making use of the proper pastoral wisdom: that is the faithfulness which the Lord seeks in His servants. This includes that a faithful pastor should rebuke the prevalent sins in his congregation and in the world round about it, that he should call the sinners to repentance, that he should deny the hardened sinners the sweet comfort of the Gospel, that he should reject all schemes which will lead to cheap popularity, that he, above all, should not grow weary in following the lost lambs and sheep of the flock of Christ, that he should bear all the members of his congregation in his heart and make remembrance before God for them in his prayers.
And if a pastor is thus faithful, making use of the talents which the Lord has given him in his pastoral work, then he may say with the apostle: But to me it is a small matter that I am judged by you or by any human day of judgment; on the other hand, neither do I try myself, v. 3. Paul was, in a manner of speaking, on trial in Corinth; the members were passing judgment upon his talents, upon his motives, upon his administration. But it does not cause him serious concern that this is the case, that his person and work were being investigated ; he thinks lightly of any human judgment, does not even ask his own, does not even try himself.