1 This is how one should regard us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. 2 Moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found faithful. 3 But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by any human court. In fact, I do not even judge myself. 4 For I am not aware of anything against myself, but I am not thereby acquitted. It is the Lord who judges me. 5 Therefore do not pronounce judgment before the time, before the Lord comes, who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart. Then each one will receive his commendation from God. 6 I have applied all these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, brothers, that you may learn by us not to go beyond what is written, that none of you may be puffed up in favor of one against another. 
7 For who sees anything different in you? What do you have that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it? 8 Already you have all you want! Already you have become rich! Without us you have become kings! And would that you did reign, so that we might share the rule with you! 9 For I think that God has exhibited us apostles as last of all, like men sentenced to death, because we have become a spectacle to the world, to angels, and to men. 10 We are fools for Christ’s sake, but you are wise in Christ. We are weak, but you are strong. You are held in honor, but we in disrepute. 11 To the present hour we hunger and thirst, we are poorly dressed and buffeted and homeless, 12 and we labor, working with our own hands. When reviled, we bless; when persecuted, we endure; 13 when slandered, we entreat. We have become, and are still, like the scum of the world, the refuse of all things.
14 I do not write these things to make you ashamed, but to admonish you as my beloved children. 15 For though you have countless guides in Christ, you do not have many fathers. For I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel. 16 I urge you, then, be imitators of me. 17 That is why I sent you Timothy, my beloved and faithful child in the Lord, to remind you of my ways in Christ, as I teach them everywhere in every church. 18 Some are arrogant, as though I were not coming to you. 19 But I will come to you soon, if the Lord wills, and I will find out not the talk of these arrogant people but their power. 20 For the kingdom of God does not consist in talk but in power. 21 What do you wish? Shall I come to you with a rod, or with love in a spirit of gentleness? 
— 1 Corinthians 4:1-21, ESV

Something was obviously wrong with the church at Corinth.  According to Paul, they were “puffed up” (vs. 6) with pride, prejudice, and partisanship.  This was causing division in the church.  He jolted them with the question, “Who sees anything differing in you” (vs. 7)?  Churches should be composed of changed people, different in worldview and lifestyle than those who are still lost in the world.  But, they were not.  He threatened to “come to you with a rod” (vs. 20), meaning they needed serious disciple to bring them back in line with being serious and joyful disciples of Christ.  

What in the world was wrong with the church?  The question supplies the answer.  The world was wrong with the church.  Instead of being “in the world but not of the world” (ref. John 17:14; Romans 12:2; 1 John 2:15-17), they had brought worldly pride, ambition, indifference, and sin into the church.  

We have the same problems today in the American church.  Tasked with taking the gospel to a fallen world, we all too often let the world fall into the church.  We begin to resemble a secular business instead of a spiritual body.  When we do, worship becomes entertainment, discipleship becomes optional, and our organization becomes dysfunctional.  

Would Paul take “the rod” to us?  I pray not.  Still, we need to heed the warning of the Apostle’s epistle and keep our church chained to the Word of God.  Otherwise, we may be asking what in the world is wrong with our church?

The world prizes popularity, the church should treasure faithfulness (vs. 1-6).

A summary of the first four chapters of First Corinthians reveals a church divided over partisan politics.  I can only surmise a vacancy in leadership was before them.  Perhaps they needed a lead Pastor-Teacher, or another Elder, or an addition to the Deacon body.  

Each side wanted a man like “us,” in the words of Paul (vs. 1).  “Us” included their founding Pastor, but also comprised men who had ministered there before, Apollos and Simon Peter.  A fourth side said they’d only follow Jesus Himself, but since Christ was ascended to the right hand of the Father, what they actually meant is they wouldn’t follow anyone.  A popular election was on the horizon. 

Some churches do the same thing, especially in Deacon-run churches in our denomination.  Power is parceled out annually in the Deacon election, and families and other partisan groups put their man forward hoping he will win.  They may not be honest, they may not be capable, they may not know 1 Samuel from 2 Corinthians, but they are our man!  

This lets the world into the church every time.  It turns the church into a worldly organization rather than a spiritual organism.  Sadly, I have witnessed it cause division and stagnate the work in churches I’ve served that were much like this “First Baptist Church of Corinth.”  

But there is a better way.  Leaders must be chosen and followed who are proven to be “servants of Christ” (the Lord), “stewards of the mysteries of God” (the Scriptures), and “found faithful” (to God, the word of God, and the people of God).  

The word “servants” in the text is a particular noun used to describe the bottom deck boat rowers of Paul’s day (think of Charlton Heston in “Ben-Hur”).  They took orders from on high and promptly obeyed their commanding officer.  The word “stewards” is also a name for a slave, one given some authority by the master and responsibility to carry out orders.  The word “faithful” speaks for itself.  

You want leaders in the church to take their orders from God and God’s word.  You want leaders who spend an abundance of time in Bible study and apply God’s truth to their own lives, then seek to lead others to do the same.  You want leaders who are faithful, to God, to their own family and friends, and to the church at large.  You want to be this kind of Christian yourself.  Then you won’t have to ask the question, “What in the world is wrong with the church,” because the world won’t get in to your church.

The world promotes proud achievers, the church is for humble receivers (vs. 7-13).

Paul will later write to the Corinthians, “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come” (ref. 2 Corinthians 5:17).  The old life of lost and sinful pride loves and lives for “me, myself, and I.”  The new life of genuine Christianity humbly puts Jesus first, others second, and self last.  It is obvious to see the difference.

But the difference was not being seen in the Corinthian church.  As Paul sarcastically stated to them (and sarcasm was one of Paul’s chief spiritual gifts), their lives revealed the worldly pursuits of worldly riches and worldly power (vs. 8).  The world had fallen into the church.

To get it out would require a double dose of humility, a willingness to be “the scum of the world” (vs. 13) if necessary for the cause of Christ.  Paul referenced first century military parades after a conquest.  The powerful generals and soldiers were in front.  Enemies captured and forced into slavery came next.  Prisoners condemned to death were last in line.  

Christian humility longs to be last in line.  Honoring God comes first.  Helping others comes next.  Self fulfillment, not necessarily an unworthy goal, needs to still come in last.  

Some Christians refuse, like many in Corinth.  They acted as if they had earned their salvation and status in the church.  Paul turned their heads around to think about the things they had  “received.”  We, like them, have a salvation we did not earn, full and free, precious and priceless.  We have been given spiritual gifts, not of our own making, to speak and serve the Lord.  We share with the church at Corinth the freedom to worship and witness without persecution.  And we are promised a meaningful life now and an eternal life to come.  

Did we earn any of this?  No way!  “’Tis grace hath brought me safe thus far, and grace will lead me home” (John Newton)!

The sin of pride brings the world into the church.  It makes the church look just like the world, so why would anyone in the world want to come in?  The grace of humility, however, keeps the church clean and gives the world a winsome witness.  

The world aspires to be famous, the church just follows the Lord (vs. 14-21).

There is one more thing that was the matter with the church at Corinth.  It could be said of them, in the words of Don Henley,

“We are like sheep without a shepherd,
We don’t know how to be alone;
So we wander around this desert
And wind up following the wrong gods home.”

Politically motivated leaders and the worldly lifestyle of the members should have made the church “ashamed” (vs. 14).  Paul motivated them to do better, be better, and become a better church.  Perhaps they were not following the wrong gods, but they were following the right God the wrong way.

Too many Christians, Christian leaders, and Christian churches today crave fame and acceptance from a fallen world.  Many of our worship services “imitate” the world of political rallies or pop music concerts, in order to draw a crowd and find favor with the world.  Many of our sermons “imitate” Norman Vincent Peal’s philosophy of the power of positive thinking, in order to draw a crowd and find favor with the world.  Many of our members have monetary and sexual values suitable to the twenty-first century world, when it is the first century world of the Lord Jesus Christ and the Apostle Paul we should seek.

That is why he admonished them to “imitate me.”  His meaning, of course, as he will expressly say later in this letter, is “Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ” (ref. 1 Corinthians 11:1).  Truly this is the bottom line for a better church, a church that won’t have to ask itself, “What in the world is wrong with the church.”  

Forget popularity, be faithful.  Crucify your pride, be humble.  Do not seek fame, follow the Lord Jesus Christ.  You will keep the world out of the church while taking the gospel life to the world.