SERIES: Christ is the Answer When the Church is in Crisis
Grow up, already!
Note: Jeff Schultz, who preached this sermon, was Associate Pastor at First Free in St. Louis.
Introduction: Pride is at the root of the problems in the church at Corinth, as is it is here and in every church. Pride leads to conceit, arrogance, selfishness, divisions, fighting, complacency, and spiritual impotence. Paul’s response to the Corinthians’ pride and complacency is a call to follow the basic principles of spiritual maturity, which he himself teaches and lives out. The “cure” for the sad state of the Church in any age is growing up and taking serious responsibility for our Christian lives. Paul models the life of a healthy, mature follower of Jesus. He urges us to imitate him as he imitates Christ.
Hear the Word of the Lord as found in 1 Corinthians 4:14-21:
I am not writing this to shame you, but to warn you, as my dear children. Even though you have ten thousand guardians in Christ, you do not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel. Therefore I urge you to imitate me. For this reason I am sending to you Timothy, my son whom I love, who is faithful in the Lord. He will remind you of my way of life in Christ Jesus, which agrees with what I teach everywhere in every church.
Some of you have become arrogant, as if I were not coming to you. But I will come to you very soon, if the Lord is willing, and then I will find out not only how these arrogant people are talking, but what power they have. For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power. What do you prefer? Shall I come to you with a whip, or in love and with a gentle spirit?
“I can’t wait to grow up”! How many of you have ever said or thought that? When I was young, I thought being an adult meant being free–I get to choose, and nobody tells me what to do! I can stay up all night, I can eat ice cream for dinner, drive a car, go wherever I want, and I don’t have to ask permission to do anything! I couldn’t wait to throw off all those restraints of childhood and do whatever I pleased.
But then we actually do grow up, and reality sets in. Adulthood isn’t the non-stop party it seemed from the other side–there are work pressures, car payments, difficult relationships, diapers to change, and receding hairlines. Responsibility comes with freedom. Growing up means learning to be self-controlled, to place limits on our freedom for the sake of others. I could sinfully give my body to as many women as I thought could give me pleasure, but I have given myself exclusively to the most wonderful woman in the world. And I do have to change diapers, but they’re worn by a busy, crazy, sweet little boy who loves me.
My problem was that I thought I was in chains when I was young, and that growing up meant the prison doors would be thrown wide open. Our culture has taught us all to think this way–that the ultimate good is personal freedom, and anything that limits my freedom must be bad. We live in an age whose god is known by the motto: “Do what you like, as long as you don’t hurt anyone”–and even the last part is up for grabs.
The reason this is important is because we all have similar kinds of wrong ideas about what it means to grow up in Christ. The Corinthians were deceived and immature because they thought maturity meant total, unlimited freedom to pursue whatever seemed good. But the essence of immaturity is focusing on my rights and my desires. Children are driven by selfish motivations. They have to be taught what it means to think of others, to share, to care for others’ feelings. Physically, emotionally, and spiritually, growing up means finding the balance between personal freedom and responsibility to others.
As Paul deals with these immature Corinthians, we see maturity in him, exemplified in reproducing, modeling, correcting and releasing. He applies these principles to us and urges us to follow the example of his life.
Reproducing
At a physical level, the normal pattern in nature is that maturity implies reproduction. Living things are born, they reproduce, and ultimately die. This is how life continues. If birds stop laying eggs, there will be no more birds. And if we are not reproducing ourselves spiritually in others, our faith will die out as well. We’ve all heard the expressions that God has no grandchildren, that Christianity is always one generation away from extinction. And that is true. God is the one who produces the growth. But God uses us to plant and water (1Corinthians 3:5-7)! The gospel is reproduced in others through our ministry.
Some of you know that Olivette Gierse died recently. She wasn’t a member of this church, but she was a dear Christian lady, and the mother of our Steve and Dave Gierse and Joan Blossfield. I was blessed to attend her funeral and heard the touching stories of her life and love as a wife, mother, and friend. But what was most clear about Olivette was her passion to see her faith in Jesus reproduced in others. She came to know Jesus as an adult, and led her three children to know Jesus, as well.
However, Olivette wasn’t content to simply have an impact in her family – she wanted to tell everyone who would listen about the free gift of eternal life through faith in Jesus. Bette, one of her friends, told how Olivette ran into her in a store one day and wanted to tell her about Jesus. Bette wasn’t interested and left to run another errand. When she went into the next store, there was Olivette again! “Bette,” she said, “please just take this booklet and read it when you have the chance.” Bette took the booklet – The Four Spiritual Laws – just to get rid of her, and later told her bridge group how Olivette had turned into a religious fanatic. But Bette did read the booklet, and she eventually put her faith in Jesus. And Bette was at that funeral because of the good news Olivette shared with her. Right up to her deathbed, she was still telling people about Jesus. Her faith has been reproduced in dozens, if not hundreds of people.
In our text, Paul says he “became (their) father through the gospel” because he brought the gospel to them and won them for Christ. This is the consistent pattern of Paul’s life. He is committed to seeing his faith in Jesus reproduced in others because of two things – conviction and love. Paul is convinced that everyone is sinful and guilty before a holy God, and that faith in Jesus is the only way to be right with God.
Paul is also motivated by the love that God has placed in his heart, a passion for people to know Jesus and reflect his glory. Are those things – a conviction that Jesus is the only way, and a love to reach others – being worked out in our lives? Do we have the conviction that Paul and Olivette had, and does it make a difference in how we live?
The mature believer takes on responsibility to see others grow in Christ. He uses what has been entrusted to him for the good of others. We need to sharpen our evangelistic focus and recommit ourselves to grow others to maturity, to build up the body of Christ. That raises the question for each of us: Am I investing myself in other people? Am I reaching people for Christ? Am I helping others in their relationship with God?
As you invest yourself in helping others grow to maturity, they will naturally look for the results of God’s work in your life. Others take your life to be a model of what the gospel looks like.
Modeling
How did we learn what it means to be an adult? By watching our parents, teachers and elders, for good or for bad. We are born imitators. We watch what people do, then follow their example.
Amelia and I work with the children on picking up their toys when they are done playing. Our general rule is that Daddy has to have a clear path to walk across the family room. Sometimes it can be a little like walking through a minefield. I think if I hop over the truck, then I can make it to the phone. But as I lose my agility, we are trying to get the boys to do better at picking up. Once I think they even picked up the basement without being asked. Amelia and I can’t agree where they learned that.
Unfortunately, our children have learned other things from me as well – like the time I came to see how cleanup was going, only to find Benjamin stomping, muttering, and complaining, “I’m so frustrated with Daniel! He won’t do his part!” Now, on the one hand, I was a little proud, because “frustrated” is a good vocabulary word for a 4-year-old! But then I heard 2-year-old Daniel saying the same thing: “I fustated, Daddy.” I know where that word comes from, and the tone of voice and even the stomping sometimes. This is not exactly the model I want to give my boys. It makes it hard for me to talk about self-control and gentleness. They will ignore my words, because what’s coming through is the message: “Even though I am saying all this to you, I don’t think it’s really very important because I don’t bother to do it myself.”
Clearly, modeling can have either a positive or a negative impact. Our lives serve as examples to other people. As the saying goes, faith and morality are caught more than taught. What kind of impact are you having on others? What kind of example are you setting?
Paul presents his life as a model for us. Is Paul conceited when he says that? He isn’t sinless. Does he just cover up well? Jesus is, of course, our greatest model, but he is not with us physically. But Paul has committed himself to living a godly life before others and calls us to make the same commitment. Thus, he can say, “I urge you to imitate me ¼ Timothy will remind you of my way of life in Christ Jesus, which agrees with what I teach everywhere in every church. Just ask anyone! Ask Timothy.”
What Paul is getting at is that there must be a correspondence between word and deeds. Our lives are a testimony to the gospel, for good or bad, because we are identified with Christ and bear his name. When we put fish stickers on our cars, we are advertising for Jesus. We are telling people, “Look at my life. Watch how I drive and see how I react to frustrating circumstances.” Therefore, we must live lives of practical holiness.
There has to be a real power that others can see – not a power the world values, though. Look up a few verses to Paul’s description of the kind of life he lives. This is not domineering, self-seeking, worldly power – far from it. The power of God reproduced in our lives is the power of humility, love, meekness, self-control, patience, the fruit of God’s Spirit. “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil by good,” he writes in Romans 12:21. This is the power that we must model in our lives as mature believers.
We know that nobody is perfect. We all make bad decisions. We give in to temptation. But even in our failure, we can set a model of humility, grace, repentance and even joy that Jesus has paid for all our sins. Because we are sinners, however, things will go wrong. We may be unaware of our sin, or we may not believe we really are doing anything wrong even when we really are. So, there is a need for correcting as well.
Correcting
“Some of you have become arrogant,” Paul writes. This literally means “puffed up,” the same word as in chapter 8 when Paul writes, “Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up.” This word is almost totally unique to 1 Corinthians, because here Paul is dealing most directly with this issue of arrogant pride. So their “father” needs to correct them in their proud attitudes and behavior.
Notice that Paul says he is not writing to shame them. He assumes, in other words, that they will be ashamed at what he writes, and he has to reassure them that is not his intention. We almost miss this statement because shame clearly goes against the grain of our self-esteem, feel-good culture. We have become a shameless people. One of the signs of God’s work in our spirit is the ability to feel a good, godly shame at our sin. It should frighten us to realize how easy it is to dull our senses or become so used to dysfunction that we think it is normal. Have we become so comfortable with our sin that it no longer embarrasses us? It should.
“You are out of line,” Paul is saying. “I tell you these things not to shame you, but to warn, admonish, instruct you.” What are “these things”? In the previous verses, Paul has compared the example of his life with our pride, selfishness, and complacency, and he recognizes that it may cause us to feel ashamed. But he clearly does not want anyone to wallow in guilt or self-hatred. Paul corrects lovingly with the goal of restoration, not humiliation. Even though it may hurt us, Paul writes to instruct us and to correct us in love.
That’s a good principle for us to follow: Gently correcting as a loving parent, and warning those who are going astray. Paul reminds us that there is going to be a testing, a judgment, whether by God (ultimately), or by our spiritual guides and leaders (like Paul himself), or even daily by other Christians, our own consciences and the Holy Spirit. In effect he is saying, “You are acting as though there were no downside to your behavior, as though you might do absolutely anything you want without consequences. But there will be a judgment, whether by me or ultimately by God. Straighten yourselves out so that you have nothing to fear, and then I can come to you in love instead of with discipline.”
Growing to maturity, then, means not only humbling ourselves under the correction of others; it also means being willing to confront in love when something is wrong in someone else’s life. Correction and discipline are part of loving someone for whom you have responsibility. As brothers and sisters in Christ we are called to admonish one another, as Paul writes to the Colossians: “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom” (Colossians 3:16). Note that this is the same verb that Paul has used in verse 14 above. We are to gently restore those who are caught in sin and carry each other’s burdens (Galatians 6:1-2).
But please note that this is not a license to be a busybody. Some people take a malicious delight in other’s sins. They love to correct and point out fault. It makes them feel so superior and grown up. We’ll address that problem in more detail briefly. The other extreme, however, is total lack of involvement. Some of you will never get involved in other people’s messes, even when you see their lives falling apart in front of you. We should hate gossip, profanity, selfishness, and rage wherever they are found – in our lives, in our friends, our spouses, in anyone around us no matter what age or station in life. It is not loving to turn a blind eye to sin. We are neither co-dependent in Christ nor independent in Christ, but interdependent. We need each other. That’s the way God has designed the body of Christ to work. The spiritually mature Christian lovingly rebukes and corrects.
Ultimately, of course, we grow up and take responsibility for our own lives. And here again we see Paul giving us a wonderful example of releasing his spiritual children into full adulthood.
Releasing
We said a moment ago that correcting does not mean being a busybody. As we grow to maturity, we release others to take responsibility for their own lives. We stop trying to make other people’s decisions, to be their consciences, to run their lives for them. We love, we care, we stay involved, but we don’t need others to behave a certain way. Paul releases these frustrating people to make their own choices and bear the responsibility for their own lives.
Children indeed bring both joy and frustration. But it is natural for them to grow up and lead their own lives. Note first that Paul sends his beloved son Timothy to the Corinthians for their good. That is where God needed Timothy to be, and Paul willingly denies himself the joy of having Timothy with him, if it will help the Corinthians. It would have been easy for Paul to claim his own need of Timothy, to keep Timothy where he wanted him, but he releases Timothy do what God wants him to do. We have to be willing to let God send anyone of us anywhere we are needed to do any kind of service.
Secondly, Paul realizes that these Corinthians are adults, even though they are acting immaturely. He expects them to use their freedom wisely, and as we’ve seen, is not beyond rebuking them in love when they go wrong. But he puts the responsibility for their lives where it belongs – with them. None of us are robots or victims of fate, circumstances, or genetics. The choices you make with your life determine the outcome: You will reap only what you sow. You can sow sin and selfishness, and you will reap a harvest of destruction; or you can sow love, peace and humility, and you will reap a harvest of righteousness and eternal life (Galatians 6:7-10).
Maturity means responsibility: “You choose,” Paul says, “How do you want me to come to you? With correction, or in love and a gentle spirit?” You are responsible for the outcome of your lives. So where is the power, the fruit of God’s Spirit in our lives? Talking about holiness and wishing to be holy are not enough, we must will it and do it. Talk is cheap. I’m as good as any of you at talking about humility, love, sacrifice, and service. But God will judge us by what we have done, not by what we have said.
The power, you see, is in willing and doing, not in wanting and dreaming. Nobody who sets out to make money in business simply prays, “Lord make me a business success” without also researching the market, finding a product, developing a plan, securing financing and working hard. Yet how often we think that somehow God will make us holy and mature if we simply pray enough or wish to be so.
Don’t misunderstand me: Prayer is a vital part of growing to maturity. Fruit grows by God’s power, but not without digging, planting, weeding, pruning, and watering. We must take seriously the responsibility we bear for our growth, and we must work hard at being the people God calls us to be. Listen to Paul’s own testimony from chapter nine of 1Corinthians:
“Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.” (1Corinthians 9:24-27)
And he similarly writes to the Colossians:
We proclaim him [Christ], admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ [Him]. To this end I labor, struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully works in me. (Colossians 1:28-29)
There is a famous old saying about our faith: “Christianity has not been tried and found wanting; rather, it’s been found difficult and not tried.” Christianity is hard work. It requires discipline, self-denial, sacrifice, and commitment. It is God who gives us the power to live this life; it is God who works in us. But God asks and expects us to cooperate with his grace. He tells us to work out our salvation with fear and trembling (Philippians 2:12-13). “What do you want your life to look like?” Paul asks. “You decide.”
Conclusion: Not many years ago, Hannah Hurnard wrote Hind’s Feet on High Places, a beautiful allegory of a woman’s spiritual journey of faith from the Valley of Despairing to the high places to be with the Shepherd. In the sequel, Mountains of Spices, the woman returns to the Valley to reach her friends and family about the good news of the Shepherd’s love. She also regularly travels back up to the mountains where the Shepherd describes the spices on the mountains as the various graces of the Christian life. Here, the Shepherd explains Love:
“Love is a consuming fire. It is a burning, unquenchable passion for the … perfection of the beloved object. The greater the love, the less it can tolerate the presence of anything that can hurt the beloved, and the less it can tolerate in the beloved anything that is unworthy or less than the best, or injurious to the happiness of the loved one. Therefore, it is perfectly true that love, which is the most beautiful and the most gentle passion in the universe, can and must be at the same time the most terrible – terrible in what it is willing to endure in itself in order to secure the blessing ¼ and perfection of the beloved, and, also, apparently terrible in what it will allow the beloved to endure if suffering is the only means by which the perfection can be secured.”
“When he had said this, he began to sing another of the mountain songs:
“Can love be terrible, my Lord?
Can gentleness be stern?
Ah yes! _ intense is love’s desire
To purify his loved _ ‘tis fire,
A holy fire to burn.
For he must fully perfect thee
Till in thy likeness all may see
The beauty of thy Lord.
“Can holy love be jealous, Lord?
Yes, jealous as the grave;
Till every hurtful idol be
Uptorn and rooted out of thee
Love will be stern to save;
Will not spare thee a single pain
Till thou be freed and pure again
And perfect as thy Lord.
“Can love seem cruel, my Lord?
Yes, like a sword the cure;
He will not spare thee, sin-sick soul,
Till he hath made thy sickness whole,
Until thine heart is pure.
For oh! He loves thee far to well
To leave thee in thy self-made hell,
A Savior is thy Lord!”[i]
So often our love is the weak, sentimental, and ultimately selfish love of youth. We love others based on how we want them to look, or sound, or act, or for what they can give us. This love of the shepherd puts all our love to shame. It is determined, mature, self-sacrificing, and committed to the good of the beloved no matter what the cost.
This is also why love is actually more dangerous and powerful than hate. Hate can only destroy. Hatred is easy. It’s not difficult to take something good and ruin it. But love speaks to the deepest truth of what it means to be human – the reality that we were made for better than this. Love takes something ruined and perfects it. Do you have the Shepherd’s passion for your own perfection? Do you have this kind of mature, committed love for others?
The hunger of Paul’s heart is that these Corinthians – that we – would be effective for Christ. Their same pride often lives among us. Paul’s way of dealing with it here is the way the Spirit of God deals with it in our own lives. We want the rights of children of God, but not always the responsibilities. God has blessed us in order to grow us to maturity in Christ and to be a blessing to others. We must move from spiritual adolescence to adulthood. Let us put away childish things and in all things grow up into the likeness of Christ.
DATE: November 26, 2000
Tags:
Reproducing
Modeling
Correcting
[i] Hannah Hurnard, Mountains of Spices (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House, 1977), 142-143.