Yesterday, we looked at part of a letter in our Bibles that revealed the reality that Christians act unchristian by acting arrogantly towards leadership when we fail to respect their role in advancing the kingdom mission that the church has been given. But Paul also shows us another way Christians act unchristian by acting arrogantly toward leadership:
I do not write these things to shame you, but to admonish you as my beloved children. For if you were to have countless tutors in Christ, yet you would not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel. Therefore I exhort you, be imitators of me. For this reason I have sent to you Timothy, who is my beloved and faithful child in the Lord, and he will remind you of my ways which are in Christ, just as I teach everywhere in every church. Now some have become arrogant, as though I were not coming to you. But I will come to you soon, if the Lord wills, and I shall find out, not the words of those who are arrogant but their power. For the kingdom of God does not consist in words but in power. What do you desire? Shall I come to you with a rod, or with love and a spirit of gentleness? 1 Corinthians 4:14-21
In these verses, we see the Apostle Paul reveal for us three ways in which leaders are to correct those whom they serve and how Christians can act unchristian to such correction. First, church leaders are to correct like a loving father. Paul tells the members of the church at Corinth that the reason that he is being so pointed in his comments is not to guilt them into change; just like a loving father with their children, Paul’s desire for the church is for them to change their attitude in a way that reflects who they are really called to be as followers of Jesus.
Second, church leaders are to correct us toward Christ. In light of his unique role in the life of the church of Corinth, Paul continues by strongly urging the members of the church of Corinth to imitate his life and his teachings. And just like the Apostle Paul, leaders are to imitate Christ’s teaching and lifestyle. In addition, leaders are also to send us others who will help us to live a life that imitates Christ.
Third, leaders are to correct us away from spiritual pride. Paul addresses a rumor that has come to him by Chloe that some of the members of the church had become spiritually proud as a result of the belief that Paul was afraid to travel to Corinth to confront them personally. So Paul responds to this rumor by explaining that when God allows him to return to Corinth, he will come to know and understand the source of the spiritual pride of the members of the church at Corinth by looking at their walk, not their talk. Paul then explains that the reason that he will look at their walk and not their talk is due to the fact that the kingdom of God is revealed by ones walk not ones talk. And in the same way today, leaders in the church are to correct us by looking at our walk and our talk. As followers of Jesus, we are to walk the walk and talk the talk.
Christians who act unchristian, however, seem to do a lot of talking and very little walking when it comes to following Jesus. Paul is revealing for us the timeless reality that Christians also act unchristian by acting arrogantly toward leaders when we fail to respond to correction. Paul then concludes by asking the church a simple question: “What do you have in mind for my visit? What would you like to happen?” Paul’s point here is that leaders are to provide correction by using the right discipline for what the occasion requires. The goal of correction is for repentance, which is a turning of ones trajectory of life that was once moving away from God back towards God. So leaders are to use the level of correction necessary to change ones trajectory back toward God, no more and no less. Christians who act unchristian however want to be in authority but not under authority and will respond by rejecting any attempts at correction by authority.
So, are you a Christian who acts unchristian by arrogantly failing to respond to the correction that you have received from a leader in the church in the past?
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