Leaders & Followers
worthy of the gospel
1 Cor. 16:5-24
1.
The flow of
thought in the passage
Here we are at the end of 1 Corinthians. One could read chapter 16 and make the
mistake of thinking that everything said here is just small talk and of little
value. Never underestimate the worth of
God’s word. There is much to mine in
this section. What may seem like small
talk to us is actually the punctuation to a 15 chapter long demonstration of
how the gospel and its implications apply to every aspect of life. Paul is finishing this letter with direct
references to various individuals.
First, there is himself. He
spends part of this chapter, after speaking of the collection for the saints in
Why all this attention to leaders at the end of the letter? How is that important in relationship to building a gospel centered church? Well, I would submit that the maturity and vibrancy of a church depends on and is shown by the devotion of its leaders and its followers first to the Lord himself and than to one another. Let me say that again, the maturity and vibrancy of any church is bound to the devotion of its leaders and its followers first to the Lord and than to one another.
So lets take some time to examine what 1 Corinthians 16:5-24 teaches us about Christ centered leaders and their followers.
2.
Gospel centered
leaders & Their followers
Paul
In verse five Paul lets the Corinthians know that he
wants to visit them and spend some substantial time with them after passing
through
“7 But we were gentle among you,
like a nursing mother taking care of her own children. 8 So, being
affectionately desirous of you, we were ready to share with you not only the
gospel of God but also our own selves, because you had become very dear to us. 9
For you remember, brothers, our labor and toil: we worked night and day,
that we might not be a burden to any of you, while we proclaimed to you the
gospel of God. 10 You are witnesses, and God also, how holy and
righteous and blameless was our conduct toward you believers. 11 For
you know how, like a father with his children, 12 we exhorted each
one of you and encouraged you and charged you to walk in a manner worthy of
God, who calls you into his own kingdom and glory.” 1 Thessalonians 2:17-12 (ESV)
Paul was a man affectionately devoted to the Corinthians. He loved them and his heart was broken when they spurned him, not because he was personally offended but because he understood it was to their own harm that they reject his loving Christ-centered leadership. It is like when one of your children throws a temper tantrum and says “I hate you, you’re mean.” Anyone ever had their child do this? Anyone ever do this to their parents? Sadly, I have myself and I have had my children, only rarely, do this. The problem with the statement is not that it offends us, though it may. The problem with that statement is that the child is cutting himself off from the care and leadership of the parent. The tragedy of a rebellious teen is not how it hurts the parent, though it may, the tragedy is the great harm the teen will bring on his or herself. So it is with Paul. And so we see him in 1 Corinthians and in 2 Corinthians make an appeal that they receive his Apostolic leadership over them for their own good in Christ. So also, here at the end of the letter he appeals that the church submit to Godly leaders wholeheartedly, for their own good.
There are too many churches where the pastor is a distant
professional distrusted by the church members and controlled by the church
political structures. There are too many
churches that better resemble the world and its politics than the kingdom of
heaven. There are too many churches
where the relationship between leadership and their followers is closer to what
management-labor relations during a wildcat strike at a steel mill. I once accidentally found myself in such a
situation. I was looking for summer work and visited a mill in western
Paul was devoted to the Lord, a man of great love for God
as well as a man of great love and affection for the church, a man worthy of
following. We see in verses 8 and 9 as
well as throughout 1 & 2 Corinthians that here is a man who has given his
life for the sake of the gospel. He is
truly a called man, a laborer for the Lord.
His plans to be with his dear friends in
Gospel centered leaders are devoted to the service of the Lord and his people and therefore worthy of following. Paul understood this so he finished his letter by speaking of his plans to be with them soon. He knew they needed such leaders. It doesn’t appear they grasped their need quite yet. They would fail to experience vital mature church life as long as they failed to truly follow such men. But Paul doesn’t give up.
Timothy
Since he can’t be there right away, he is sending the next best thing, Timothy. He is another man devoted to the Lord and His people and worthy of following. Paul says in Philippians 2:20-22: "For I have no one like him, who will be genuinely concerned for your welfare. They all seek their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ. But you know Timothy’s proven worth, how as a son with a father he has served with me in the gospel." (Philippians 2:20-22, ESV)
Timothy also is one who has given his life to serve the Lord and his people. Paul says that Timothy is “doing the work of the Lord, as I am.” In verse 10. He then goes on in verse 11 to say, “so let no one despise him.” That is, no one is to consider his leadership irrelevant. You see, a significant reason we are called to follow leaders is that they are actually working for God. Is that not the reason behind following any sort of leader? They are the ones chosen by God and therefore supporting and submitting to their leadership is obedience to God. Conversely, considering their leadership irrelevant is disobedience. Isn’t it interesting that Paul tells them not to despise Timothy, that is, not to treat him with active contempt nor passive disregard. We may be aware that active contempt is wrong but do we seek to eliminate passive disregard? Let me illustrate. I have been blessed with some wonderful pastors and leaders through the years. I can’t think of one man whose life and conduct didn’t reflect his call to be devoted to God and called to lead me. But I can think of many situations where I have practiced passive disregard for their leadership. In other words, I just didn’t consider them part of the equation when making major spiritual decisions that affected my life and the life of other church members. One such case was when I was serving as a lay elder in our first church. I encountered a season of spiritual struggle. I can’t remember the details. I can’t remember the particular faith struggles or the particular sin issues I was confronting. I only remember that instead of valuing the leadership God had put over me and seeking counsel and help from my friend and pastor, I isolated myself and dropped out of the picture. I remember because my pastor eventually confronted me on it. Through a series of circumstances and a long process God started to work out of me that tendency to isolate instead of pursue help and the value of pastoral counsel and leadership. Don’t hear what I’m not saying. We are not called to run everything by our spiritual leaders. But neither are we called to run nothing by our spiritual leaders. Certainly we all encounter major decisions where God calls us to seek the guidance and grace He provides through His chosen leaders. Let no one disregard spiritual leaders. We do so to our own harm.
I am reminded of some wonderful positive examples in our
midst of folks who refuse passive disregard and pursue the means of grace of
spiritual leadership. Dave Noble is one
shining example of a brother who regularly and aggressively sought the input of
his pastor and other leaders around him.
When he and Lisa were deciding if God would move them to
Paul strongly encourages the Corinthians to receive Timothy, to put him at ease among them, to help him on his way in peace. He knows that they need men like Timothy, they need to learn to receive these key means of grace so that they can thrive in Christ and his gospel of grace. If they listen to all the words of the epistle but fail on this account they will fail to receive the full benefit of all the words of this epistle.
Apollos
Next Paul talks about Apollos. It seems that they had inquired about
Apollos, one of their favorites. Paul
uses the term “now concerning”. He did
that in previous chapters whenever he was answering a question they had. Apparently they were asking whether Apollos
would be returning. We know from chapter 1 that there were some Apollos
groupies at
Take for instance, Jonathan Edwards. I love Jonathan Edwards. I feel like he’s my friend. I haven’t got to the point of having
imaginary conversations with him yet.
But I’ve read three biographies, I’ve spent 6 years working my way
through his life works. I’m even a beta
member of the Jonathan Edwards Center Online Archives at
I think Apollos knew this. I think, and I’m in agreement here with some
of the commentators[1],
that Apollos refused Paul’s exhortation to go to
While we were at our sending church we experienced some wonderful seasons of encountering God in a prayer group and Caregroup I led. While this was going on folks made remarks about how much they loved these groups while also making remarks about how dry other church meetings were. Because of some of the lessons God had worked in my life about biblical leadership and church life I refused to be party to any of that attitude or approach. I told people that they shouldn’t bother coming to Caregroup if they were not making Sunday worship a priority and regularly praying for and supporting the pastors. We spent time in our prayer group regularly thanking God for our leaders and praying for their success. I am so glad for the grace of God active in those groups to keep me from being an Absalom and leading me in the way of Apollos. How about you? Will you refuse to entertain any accusation against an elder and do all you can to direct folks to pray for and support their God-given leadership? I know personally that this is the practice of many of you. I am so glad for gifted people in our midst who are willing to lay down their lives like John the Baptist that Jesus might become more and they might become less.
We want to do all we can to build leaders like this. That is why in King of Grace and Sovereign Grace Ministries we are very careful to not only raise up gifted leaders but also to raise up leaders committed to thorough humility. If you can’t wait to be a leader than you will wait to be a leader. If you can’t humbly support another even less gifted leader than you will not serve as a more gifted leader. If you haven’t demonstrated the ability to work faithfully at menial tasks without recognition than you will not work at significant tasks with recognition. We don’t do this to be hard-nosed or to keep power in the hands of the few. Not at all. We do it to keep power in the hands of the humble, to keep it in the hands of men like Apollos and not men like Absalom, for the sake of Christ and His church.
Stephanas
Finally, let’s look at Stephanas. Before Paul gets into the leader Stephanas he takes what seems to be a major detour in verses 13 and 14. Here Paul firmly calls the Corinthians to response. In many ways this is a call to walk in all the truth and commands that have been laid out in the whole book of 1 Corinthians. Look at all the commands here: 1) be watchful, 2) stand firm in the faith 3) act like men, 4) be strong 5) do everything in love. In other words, Corinthians – you must take all this stuff to heart. There is no room here for sloppy grace, no room for lackadaisical Christianity. These truths are bigger than life, they are truths as big as God himself and you must feel the weight of them and respond. All great stuff, and we will get more into our response to the book of Corinthians next week when we conclude this series and get ready for our series in Genesis. But we must ask, why does Paul do this here in the middle of this section commending leaders?
Well, again, he understands the Corinthians need for these truths and he understands the vital role that leaders will play in establishing and leading the church in these truths. So it is very fitting to both exhort them to obedience and commend them to their leaders.
And the final leader we want to talk about is a home
grown one who is permanently part of the church there unlike Paul, Timothy and
Apollos. Stephanas and his household
were the first converts in Achaia – that is the area of
You see, when we really grasp the gospel it does something to us. When we understand the magnitude of the goodness and glory of God, revealed to us in all of creation and life, and ultimately shown in the perfect life of his son and his abject suffering and humiliation for mockers and arrogant ignoramuses like me and you, something in us changes. When we understand that such a God actually loves us and gave himself for us and has secured eternal bliss and joy in satisfying relationship with himself, when we view his goodness, forgiveness and salvation and realize that he humbled himself and gave himself for us, something happens to us. We can’t help but turn around and love Him and love his people. An arrogant lazy Christian is a horrific contradiction. The gospel produces loving devoted servants of God and His church. Stephanas and his whole household had been thus affected, how about you? Is your heart full of affection and devotion to God’s people? Do you love, truly love those around you? Are you eager to give yourself for the good of your spouse, your children, your church family, your neighbor? If you are honest you must recognize that too often your heart is cold and unworthy of the gospel. What are you to do? Is Stephanas’ devotion just some fairy tale? No. Stephanas needed the gospel just like you and I do. The gospel is the fuel for the fire that the Holy Spirit ignites to warm a cold heart. If you recognize the call to be like Stephanas yet fall short, receive the forgiveness Stephanas’ gospel offers, let the love there revealed warm you heart and walk in its glorious truth that you too may be sincerely and thoroughly devoted to the service of the saints. This is the call for all God’s people, and especially his leaders.
Paul commands the Corinthians to be subject to such as these – fellow laborers, commissioned by God and demonstrating love and devotion to God and his church. We must be subject to them. That’s a loaded word, isn’t it? We touched on it last week – that is the topic of submission. Strong’s concordance defines it as “a voluntary attitude of giving in, cooperating, assuming responsibility, and carrying a burden”.[3] It means to follow our leaders. The biggest challenge to true submission is our little faith. You see, behind the call to submit is a Sovereign God who orchestrates all things and rules all things for his purposes and ordains fallible weak men to oversee His precious church. So when we falter at submitting to God’s chosen leaders we fail to believe God. When you chafe under leadership you are chafing under God. Now, let’s not cause this truth to die the death of a thousand qualifications – qualifications about valid leadership, about cases where the leader sins, about the need for followers who provide positive feedback etc. Let’s assume those appropriate qualifications. But let us feel the full weight of the call to be subject to our leaders –wholeheartedly as expressions of faith in God and love for his church. We are to be fully subject to worthy leaders such as Stephanas.
I was recently talking to a pastor friend of mine. We were talking about church polity –that is
how churches are led in their governmental structure. He was talking about accountability and means
of appeal in the case of an errant pastoral team. Now we fully endorse such procedures but
something he said struck me between the eyes.
He said that we have this structure because we, that is reformational
protestants, don’t trust ecclesiastical authority. Given the abuses of the medeivel catholic
church we no longer trust leaders. Now,
it is right to be aware of every man’s sinful tendencies and to provide
accountability structures and leadership teams but, if we can not trust
ourselves to our leaders than something is terribly wrong and we will never be
able to reach maturity. We don’t trust
any old person in leadership, but those who have proven themselves in
character, conduct and content of their teaching we are to fully trust and
submit to and support as we trust in our sovereign God. Paul says here “Be subject to such as these.” And
in Hebrews the writer says "Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over
your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with
joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you."
(Hebrews 13:17, ESV)
I submit that some of the reason for the weakness of
churches in
Paul knew this lesson. He knew that healthy churches depend on the relationship between their leaders and their followers. He knew that leaders called of God and devoted to the good of the church and the progress of the gospel are essential. He also knew that followers who fully trust them and support and submit to them do so for their own good and God’s glory. He knew the Corinthians must have leaders and followers worthy of the gospel.
Let us be a local church given to the same. Let us raise up leaders like Paul, like
Timothy, like Apollos, like Stephanas.
Let us recognize the call of God evidenced by their character and
conduct and gifting. And let us follow
them with wholehearted love, submission and faith in God. For our good and the glory of God in King of
Grace and the
[1] Fee, Witherington, Thistleton Godet, Robertson and Plummer
[2] 2 Samuel 15
[3]Strong,
J. 1996. The exhaustive concordance of the Bible : Showing every word of the
test of the common English version of the canonical books, and every occurence
of each word in regular order. (electronic ed.) . Woodside Bible
Fellowship.: