1 Corinthians 16:15-24: in context

Paul is closing his long, difficult letter to the Corinthians, and the way he ends it says a lot about whom he thinks a church should honor. In the middle of a stream of greetings, he pauses to single out some people by name, and they are not the impressive or the prominent. They are the servants.

He points first to the household of Stephanas, and his commendation is simple: they have devoted themselves to serving the saints. His instruction to the Corinthians is to be subject to such people, to fall in behind the ones who have quietly taken the work upon themselves. Then he names three men, Stephanas, Fortunatus, and Achaicus, who had come to him, and he says they refreshed my spirit and yours. Recognize such people, he tells them. These are not the gifted speakers the Corinthians had been arguing over, or the leaders with followings. They are the ones who served without being asked and who left others refreshed rather than drained, and Paul says the church should notice them, honor them, and follow their lead. He signs the letter in his own hand, sends the greeting of a holy kiss, and ends with a longing cry, Maranatha, our Lord, come.

It is a quiet correction of who gets recognized. The people worth deferring to are the ones who devoted themselves to serving and who refresh the people around them, not the ones who impress. Who has quietly served and refreshed me, taking the work onto themselves without being asked, whom I have never actually recognized or honored the way Paul says to?