Scripture Daily

Context No. 1297 of 4322 · 1 Corinthians

Context · Reflection

1 Corinthians 4:1-5: in context

1So let a man think of us as Christ’s servants and stewards of God’s mysteries. 2Here, moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found faithful. 3But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you, or by a human court. Yes, I don’t even judge my own self. 4For I know nothing against myself. Yet I am not justified by this, but he who judges me is the Lord. 5Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord comes, who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness and reveal the counsels of the hearts. Then each man will get his praise from God.

Paul asks the Corinthians to regard him and his fellow workers rightly: as servants of Christ and stewards of God's mysteries, of whom the one thing required is faithfulness. Then he says something freeing about being judged: it is a very small thing to me that I should be judged by you or by any human court; in fact, I do not even judge myself. I am not aware of anything against myself, he says, but that does not acquit me; the one who judges me is the Lord. So do not pronounce judgment before the time, before the Lord comes, who will bring to light the hidden things and disclose the purposes of hearts; then each will receive his commendation from God.

Paul has reached a rare freedom from the judgments of others, and even from his own. It is a very small thing to me to be judged by you, he says; the opinions of the Corinthians, or of any human court, do not finally weigh on him. And he goes further: I do not even judge myself. He knows he cannot see his own heart clearly enough to render a verdict; even his clear conscience does not acquit him, because the true judge is the Lord, who sees what Paul cannot. There is enormous freedom in that posture, freedom from the tyranny of others' opinions and from the endless, distorted self-judgment that either flatters or condemns us. Paul hands the verdict over to God, the only one who sees the hidden things and the purposes of the heart, and waits for that day. It means he does not have to secure his own standing by winning approval or by anxious self-examination; the judgment is God's, and God's alone, and it will be right. This frees a person to simply be a faithful steward and leave the assessment to the only one qualified to give it. Do not judge before the time; the Lord will bring it all to light, and each will get his praise from God.

Am I ruled by the judgments of others or by my own anxious self-assessment, or can I hand the verdict over to the Lord, the only one who sees the heart, and rest as a steward simply called to be faithful?

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