This is how one should regard us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. (1 Corinthians 4:1)
The church in Corinth was experiencing some division as people aligned themselves behind either Paul or Apollos. But Paul and Apollos weren’t leading factions. They didn’t want to. They wanted the church to be united. And so Paul addresses the issue in this letter to the church and tells them in Chapter 3 that he and Apollos are merely servants of Christ.
Here, he reiterates that, saying that is how the church leaders should be thought of, as servants of Christ. Three things come to my mind when looking at this verse.
First, the leaders are servants. They are not lords. Elders in the local church shouldn’t lord it over the congregation. They should conduct themselves as servants, with humility and not with pride or domineering behavior.
The congregation, likewise, should not put the leaders on a pedestal. They are not great, only servants of the Great One. They don’t have all the answers, and that’s OK. They won’t always preach the greatest sermon in the history of the world, and that’s OK. They will make mistakes from time to time, and that’s OK too. They are just servants, after all, and not the Lord. And for that reason, we shouldn’t start thinking that our pastor is better than that other pastor. They’re both just servants.
And this brings me to the second point, they are not our servants. The elders in the local church do not work for the congregation. The congregation is not the lord they serve. They are servants of Christ. Jesus is the Lord, and the elders serve him, not us!
We all need to remember this. The elders need to remember that they serve Christ and not man. Christ is the Lord, the Master. The elders are to serve and obey him. They are to follow his will and commands, not the whims and wishes of people.
And the congregation needs to remember that the elders serve Christ the Lord! They are his representatives. Yes they are servants. Servants of the Most High God. They should be treated with some degree of respect because of who they serve and represent. To disrespect the servant who is doing his Lord’s will, is to disrespect the Lord.
And finally, Paul says that as servants, the elders are stewards. A steward is someone who manages another’s property or estate. Paul says the church leaders are “stewards of the mysteries of God”. This means they are managing something for Christ, as his servants. In chapter 9, Paul says his stewardship is the preaching of the gospel (1 Corinthians 9:16-17). That is what the elders manage, the preaching of the Word. They serve up the Word. And since it is through the Word that we are saved (1 Peter 1:23), sanctified (John 17:17), and have hope of the resurrection of the dead (1 Peter 1:3, 23), this should be considered a pretty important stewardship!
Pastors should take this responsibility very seriously. Paul goes on in verse two to say that,
Moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found trustworthy. (1 Corinthians 4:2)
The steward’s greatest desire and goal should be to please his master and be found faithful in his administration and management of the master’s property. As a preacher, this is my desire, to be trustworthy in how I manage the Word and serve it to the congregation.
And as a congregation, we should be very thankful to God for giving us pastors to serve the Word to us faithfully. Men who are ruled by Christ and trustworthy in giving us His Word. Like I said, they aren’t perfect, but if they are giving you the Word and pointing the way to Word become flesh, then they are faithfully managing their stewardship, and for that we can be thankful.
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