Who Do You Make Much Of?

The past couple of weeks, I have been blogging about how Christians can act unchristian in their interactions with those who are in authority as leadership in the local church. In a letter in our Bibles called 1 Corinthians, a man named Paul spend a great time dealing with this issue because of the impact that division, spiritual pride and arrogance can have on any church.

And as Paul continued his letter to a church in Corinth, we see him point out another way that Christians can act unchristian towards those who serve as pastors and ministry leaders in the church:

"Now these things, brethren, I have figuratively applied to myself and Apollos for your sakes, so that in us you may learn not to exceed what is written, so that no one of you will become arrogant in behalf of one against the other. For who regards you as superior? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it? You are already filled, you have already become rich, you have become kings without us; and indeed, I wish that you had become kings so that we also might reign with you." 1 Corinthians 4:6-8

In this section of his letter the Apostle Paul reveals for us that Christians act unchristian when we act arrogantly toward leadership. In these verses, we see that Christians act unchristian by acting arrogantly toward leadership when we fail to respect their role.

Paul begins this section his letter to the church at Corinth by explaining to the Corinthian church that he had used analogies to help them learn not to exceed what was written. Paul is revealing the reality that the members of the church at Corinth were not following Jesus teachings that had been communicated to them. The reason Paul gives for the uses of his previous analogies was so that no one would become arrogant in behalf of one over the other. Paul is revealing that the members of the church of Corinth were spiritually proud and were expressing that spiritual pride and arrogance in the form of causing division in the church over which leader they were going to follow; Paul or Apollos.

The members of the church at Corinth were acting arrogantly toward the churches leadership by failing to respect their role in the church. Paul then reveals that the members of the church at Corinth failed to respect the leadership’s role in their spiritual growth.

In verse 7, Paul uses three rhetorical questions to reveal this reality. If these question was to be asked today, it would sound something like this: "Who do you think you are to think you are so spiritual? Who was the one who shared the gospel and loved and served you in a way that brought you to Christ? If you consider yourself a follower of Jesus, then why are you so spiritually proud in light of what Jesus did for you? Why don’t you reflect Jesus character?"

Paul then follows up these rhetorical questions in verse 8 with four incredibly sarcastic statements designed to expose the spiritual pride of the members of the church in Corinth. If Paul was making these statements today, they would sound something like this: "O, you don’t need me, you already have all the spiritual food you need. You have already learned all that you need to know spiritually. You know everything you need to know. You already are as wise as God. You are way smarter than Apollos or I. And you already are way more powerful and prominent that we could ever be; and you didn’t even need us to achieve the spiritual status that you have achieved. Boy you have already arrived. You are all that and a bag of chips! You are so much better than we are. I actually wish you were what you thought you were, because that would mean that Jesus had actually come back to establish His kingdom and we would be in Heaven with you."

The timeless point that Paul was making through the use of these rhetorical questions and sarcasm is that today, just as it was 2,000 years ago, as Christians we act unchristian when we display an attitude of ungrateful spiritual pride that results in us becoming focused on making much of us instead of making much of God.

So, who do you make much of? What does what you make much of reveal about how proud or humble you are?