Wednesday, September 9, 2009

1 Corinthians 4:1-7

"So then, men ought to regard us as servants of Christ and as those entrusted with the secret things of God. Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful. I care very little if I am judged by you or by any human court; indeed, I do not even judge myself. My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me. Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait till the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men's hearts. At that time each will receive his praise from God.

Now, brother, I have applied these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, so that you may learn from us the meaning of the saying, 'Do not go beyond what is written.' Then you will not take pride in one man over another. For who makes you different from anyone else? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?"

Leave the judgement to God

It is tempting to judge fellow Christians, evaluating whether or not they are good followers of Christ. But ONLY God knows a person's heart and he is the only one who has the right to judge. This is also a warning to us. Because when you judge another you invariably consider yourself better.

The 2nd point in this passage is to consider how leadership in the church can cloud who the true leader in the church should be. Christ should ALWAYS be the top priority. Of course we have favorite leaders in our churches, but any true spiritual leader is a representative of Christ and has nothing to offer that God hasn't given him or her.

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