God’s Requirement: Faithfulness
1 Cor 4:1-2
During his 2nd missionary journey Act 16:9 …a vision appeared to Paul in the night. A man of Macedonia stood and pleaded with him, saying, "Come over to Macedonia and help us." The change in plans and the direction of this mission trip led Paul and his companions to Philippi, Thessalonica, Athens, and ultimately to Corinth where he ministered for 18 months. He then left Corinth with Aquila and Priscilla, then left them in Ephesus where they met and instructed an “eloquent man” named Apollos. Apollos then went to Corinth and had a powerful ministry there.
Now, this letter that the apostle Paul wrote to the Corinthians, which has always been labeled I Corinthians in our Bibles, is believed to be his second letter to that church. In chapter 5, verse 9, Paul refers to a letter he had sent them previously which encouraged them to stay away from sexual immorality. So, with that understanding and the fact that this letter addresses that same issue again, along with several other problems he had heard about, we know that the church in Corinth struggled against the lure of the flesh.
At the very beginning of this letter Paul mentions news he had received from Chloe’s household about divisions that had arisen in the church. He wrote 1Co 1:11-12 …it has been declared to me concerning you, my brethren, by those of Chloe's household, that there are contentions among you. (12) Now I say this, that each of you says, "I am of Paul," or "I am of Apollos," or "I am of Cephas," or "I am of Christ."
So, Paul spent much of the first 4 chapters of this letter, dealing with this split in the body of Christ that focused on personal allegiances to certain teachers. Cliques had formed around certain apostles like Paul and Peter, or eloquent teachers like Apollos, so Paul emphasized that all of them were working toward the same goal. Each minister of Christ had a role to play, but that didn’t make one better than another. The minister of Christ is a servant, not a master, and as we see in the first couple of verses of the 4th chapter, they are also “stewards of the mysteries of God.”
1Co 4:1-2 Let a man so consider us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. (2) Moreover, it is required in stewards that one be found faithful.
Now, let me try to translate this a little better. He’s saying, “This is how men should think of us. We are ministers of Christ. We are stewards of the mysteries of God.” The reason why he begins this chapter like this is because they were saying things like, “I like Apollos—I’m an Apollosite,” or another would say, “I like Paul—I am a Pauline,” or “I like Cephas—I’m a Cephonian.” They had formed factions around their favorite teachers, and this was creating division in the church.
The very nature of this kind of division, one that circled around a human teacher, is pride. Each group would tend to think of itself as better than another group and that their “truth” is better than someone else’s. This very thing is the reason why we have denominations today. Our own human individuality and the differences in the way we look at things, or interpret things causes us to congregate with others who have similar outlooks and to separate ourselves from everyone else.
But Paul is saying that this isn’t right. Instead of thinking that one teacher is better than another, we should rather view all true ministers of Christ as ministers or “hupe¯rete¯s” of Christ. That Greek word, huperetes, means under-rowers. And to understand what an under rower is, I want you to think about a movie you might have seen in years past that had ancient wooden ships with a couple rows of oars sticking out the side of the ship which propelled that ship wherever it needed to go. On the top deck, the ship would have several rows of men sitting on benches, working at the oars. Sometimes these men would be part of the crew, sailors who had signed onto the ship and were paid in some way for their service.
But if the ship was large enough, below deck would be other rows of men sitting on benches and doing the same thing. These were the under rowers, and they had the lowest of the low jobs on a ship. They were the lowest of the slaves who worked under the worse conditions imaginable. Paul is saying that true ministers of Christ were merely under rowers. They’re not lords. They’re not masters. They are not anything in themselves. They are merely rowers, slaves who are obedient only to the Lord Jesus Christ.
Paul also says that ministers are “stewards” of the mysteries of God. Now, a steward back in those days was a man to whom the householder would give all of his goods and household business dealings to, so that he could take care of it and leave the householder free to do other things. In the book of Genesis, Abraham had a steward named Eleazer, and do you remember Joseph? He was Potiphar’s steward until Potiphar’s wife lied and got him thrown into prison. Also, think of the Lord’s parable of the pounds or the talents. The nobleman who went into a far country to receive a kingdom, he gave his goods into the hands of his servants and told them to, Luk 19:13 …Do business till I come. They were stewards of the goods, the possessions of the master.
Now, Paul says that we are under rowers of the Lord Jesus Christ, and we are stewards—not owners, not proprietors. We are stewards of the mysteries of God. This mystery isn’t a mystery in the sense that it is incomprehensible—it’s a mystery because it’s something that man’s natural intelligence could never discover. He could never figure it out, but it comes to us by revelation of God. We are stewards of the great revelations of God.
Then he adds that there is a requirement for being a steward. That it is 1Co 4:2 …required in stewards that one be found faithful. That is the only requirement—faithfulness! Stewardship implies responsibility, and responsibility implies—it demands faithfulness. He’s to be honest. He’s to be true. He is to be doing his best to give a good account of what God has placed in his hands.
In the parable of the talents in Matthew 25, the Lord said that Mat 25:15 …to one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, to each according to his own ability; and immediately he went on a journey. But when he returned, the 5-talent man had gained 5 other talents. The 2-talent man had gained 2 more, but the 1-talent man was foolish and had not used what he had been given. He was rebuked by his Master and his talent was taken from him. Those who had been faithful and properly used what they had been given, were rewarded and heard their Master say Mat 25:21 …'Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.'
God commended both of them because the great and one principle upon which God judges us isn’t according to our gifts, but according to our faithfulness, our faithfulness in what He has entrusted us with. What’s important is not what you have, but how you use what you have. Friends, a worthy steward is highly prized even among men today.
In this world, in this city, among the people we do business with, on a daily basis, being faithful, being a good steward is what people look for. When you go to the bank and deposit your paycheck, you want your banker to be honest don’t you? You want him to be a good steward with your money that you deposit into his bank. Whatever the size of your deposit, it doesn’t matter, you want faithfulness and honesty in your banker—you want a good steward.
The same thing goes for your insurance company. You pay your premium month after month, year after year against the day that you retire so you’ll have a little more to live on. Or if you die, you want to help your family to pay the bills and maybe have some leftover to make their lives a little easier because you are gone. The one thing that you truly seek when looking at insurance companies, the one thing that you desire most is that they are faithful—that they are good stewards with not only the money you’ve paid into them, but also everyone else’s money they’ve been given. You want them to be solvent and strong when the time comes that you need them.
The most prized characteristic in the business world, the most prized characteristic in the world of finance, the most prized characteristic in probably every issue in life is faithfulness. And you know, that is also the prized characteristic that makes possible the exaltation of the church of Jesus Christ and the kingdom of God in this world—faithfulness, that we are good stewards of what has been given us. Because frankly folks, not many of us are gifted. I know I’m not. Not many of us can sing, or well, let’s say sing well. Not many of us can preach. Not many of us are gifted in all the ways we see some people who are wonderfully talented and blessed of the Lord. But that’s not what makes a great church and a great people.
Folks, I have heard some excellent preachers in my day. They’re eloquent. They preach without notes and their sermons are riveting, captivating. I’ve also been in churches that had wonderful music departments. They had great pipe organs, or maybe they had a band that really raised the roof. But folks, good preaching and nice music doesn’t make a church. What makes a great church—what makes a wonderful body of believers is great dedication—a marvelous commitment—a profound faithfulness in the things that God has committed to us. 1Co 4:2 …it is required in stewards that one be found faithful.
So, how do we remain faithful? What are some characteristics of faithfulness in a church? What are the signs of being a good steward? Well, off the top of my head, the first thing I can think of is being here. To put it plainly, a faithful steward goes to church faithfully. In Hebrews we’re told Heb 10:25 not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.
Folks, when the Lord’s Day comes, we ought to be here in the Lord’s house. Every community that Jesus entered, He made a point of going to the local synagogue or to the temple if He was in Jerusalem. Every city that Paul travelled to, he established a local church and then spent time there building it up and making them strong. Our faithfulness is demonstrated by our willingness to gather together with other believers for worship, study, prayer, and fellowship.
For several years now there has been a growing belief that says, “You don’t have to go to church to be a Christian.” And while that statement is true in itself, it’s not complete because faithful Christians don’t look for excuses to not go to church. Faithful Christians enjoy gathering with other faithful Christians every chance they get. We build each other up. We help one another. We encourage one another. We love being around other believers in our local church because we love one another.
No, you don’t have to go to church to be a Christian. That only takes faith in Jesus Christ. But people who have been transformed into new creatures…people who are being sanctified each and every day as they grow in Christ…people who are being changed into the image of the Son of God, from glory unto glory, those people will seek out others like themselves. They will not look for excuses to follow their flesh or give in to the temptations of the world. They will faithfully go to church.
Another sign of faithfulness is our children. As we raise our families, do we faithfully teach our children the fear of the Lord and the love of the church? Whenever we have children among us, we ought to do our utmost to minister to them and to any other youth that may come. Whatever it may cost. Whatever it may take, we should sit down with them and with purpose and singleness of mind instruct them in the fear and admonition of the Lord because they could easily be the preachers, the teachers, the missionaries of tomorrow. The future of the church lies in the little hands and precious souls of our kids and grandkids. If they are not raised to love the Lord and the church that He died for, they will turn away and not come back. If you don’t teach them to love the Lord, you can be assured that the world will teach them to hate Him.
Friends, it only takes one generation to kill a church. We may be faithful, but that doesn’t mean our children will be, and if our children aren’t as faithful as we were, then their children will be even less. Every generation has the same decision to make: Will I serve the God of the Bible or a false god? The “god of this world” may shift his seductions slightly from generation to generation, but the basic challenge is always the same.
So, Christians must be ever vigilant. Every newborn must be taught the truth from scratch or else that soul could be completely lost. While statistics indicate that churches and Christian homes are failing to reach kids, God has given us all the resources we need to turn the tide! How long does it take to lose a culture from a Christian perspective? It takes only one generation, and we are at that point right now in America. The devil knows this, and of course God warns us about it. Over and over again in the Scripture, God instructs His people to make sure they train up the next generation.
I think one of the saddest pages in the Bible is where we read about what happened to Israel after Joshua’s generation died off. Jdg 2:10-12 When all that generation had been gathered to their fathers, another generation arose after them who did not know the LORD nor the work which He had done for Israel. (11) Then the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD, and served the Baals; (12) and they forsook the LORD God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt; and they followed other gods from among the gods of the people who were all around them, and they bowed down to them; and they provoked the LORD to anger.
Friends, this is a description of where we are at with the church in the Western world today. The older generation is dying off, and the next generation has more important things to do, which means that the generation after them will be without God and without hope in this world or the world after if we don’t turn the tide now. Pro 22:6 Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.
We are also to be faithful under God in our responsibility to the lost of our city and of our world. If a church is not actively seeking ways to reach the lost, can they truthfully be called the church? If we are not speaking to others about Jesus whenever we can, are we truly being faithful? If we believe the Bible and know that there is a hell of fire and brimstone that awaits all who don’t know and love Christ, can we truthfully say that we love our neighbor if we don’t try to snatch them out of the fire?
Insofar as we can or have the opportunity, do we visit with our neighbors and speak to them about spiritual things? Do we invite them to come to church? When a visitor comes to us, do we go out of our way to make them feel welcomed and loved? Do we give them a visitor’s card to fill out so I or someone else can call them, send them a card, or go visit them?
And one last thing, are we faithful in the great missionary call we were given to go out to the world with the gospel? To some extent, all the lost of the world are our responsibility, and we are to make every effort we can to reach them. Now, I know that not all of us can go to another country, or even another state to do mission work, but we should never forget those who go out to the world as missionaries.
As the sun goes down on us, it rises upon them, and they are in strange places, among strange people, who are speaking strange languages, wearing strange clothes, and have strange customs. But they are faithfully preaching the gospel to them that they might know the Lord Jesus Christ Joh 10:10 …that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.
Beloved, in one way or another, each and every one of us is a minister of Jesus Christ, we are under rowers of Jesus Christ, and we are stewards of the mysteries of God. What God requires of us is that we 1Co 4:2 …be found faithful. That’s it. He wants us to be faithful.
Have you been faithful. Have you maybe begun to slip a little. Maybe you feel as if you haven’t done all that you could do, or maybe you haven’t been doing what you know in your heart you should be doing.
Well, you can turn around and go in a different direction right now. You can come down and rededicate your life to the Lord. Or if you wish, you can spend time at the altar in prayer seeking His will for your life.
Or maybe you still haven’t given your life, your all to Jesus. What’s holding you back. What is keeping you from doing that today?
I’ll be closing this with a word of prayer and then we’ll sing a closing song of invitation. You are more than welcome to come down and use this altar area as you seek the Lord.
Won’t you come?
