WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.180 Well, the subject of our time in God's words 00:00:02.180 --> 00:00:08.279 this morning is authority. Authority and our 00:00:08.279 --> 00:00:14.480 response to authority, which is a trickier subject 00:00:14.480 --> 00:00:16.660 than you might imagine. And maybe you've thought 00:00:16.660 --> 00:00:18.579 about this, maybe you haven't. When the average 00:00:18.579 --> 00:00:20.760 person out there in the world thinks of the term 00:00:20.760 --> 00:00:24.800 authority, he or she likely thinks of someone 00:00:24.800 --> 00:00:29.670 who has what? Power. Someone who has power. Someone 00:00:29.670 --> 00:00:32.530 who makes decisions, someone who calls the shots, 00:00:32.649 --> 00:00:36.369 somebody who's able to direct or command a group 00:00:36.369 --> 00:00:38.609 of people below them to do whatever they say 00:00:38.609 --> 00:00:41.750 to do. And so we naturally associate authority 00:00:41.750 --> 00:00:44.570 with certain roles and positions in society, 00:00:44.789 --> 00:00:47.210 in government, in the military, in the business 00:00:47.210 --> 00:00:50.670 world, and to some extent in the church. There's 00:00:50.670 --> 00:00:52.750 also another side of authority, a darker side. 00:00:53.609 --> 00:00:56.030 And this comes as no surprise to those of us 00:00:56.030 --> 00:00:57.950 who recognize that we live in a fallen world. 00:00:58.429 --> 00:01:03.149 Authority is often abused. Isn't that true? There 00:01:03.149 --> 00:01:05.530 are folks out there that somehow grab hold of 00:01:05.530 --> 00:01:08.510 power and then they wield it for their own benefit. 00:01:08.650 --> 00:01:11.950 They manipulate, they control others in the process 00:01:11.950 --> 00:01:15.269 with no integrity, no accountability, really 00:01:15.269 --> 00:01:18.560 just pure narcissism. And that's become so common 00:01:18.560 --> 00:01:21.060 in our country over the past 20 years or so that 00:01:21.060 --> 00:01:23.879 trust in our institutions has literally dropped 00:01:23.879 --> 00:01:26.799 like a rock. And one of the sad consequences 00:01:26.799 --> 00:01:31.079 of that is we're seeing that as a culture, we 00:01:31.079 --> 00:01:33.099 no longer honor our leaders. We no longer respect 00:01:33.099 --> 00:01:34.920 them. In fact, when we hear the term authority 00:01:34.920 --> 00:01:37.719 or we think about somebody in power, we roll 00:01:37.719 --> 00:01:41.340 our eyes and we get sarcastic and sometimes we 00:01:41.340 --> 00:01:44.650 get angry and hostile. about those who are in 00:01:44.650 --> 00:01:46.890 authority. But that's the fallen world we live 00:01:46.890 --> 00:01:48.769 in, right? So we sort of understand that. What 00:01:48.769 --> 00:01:53.010 about God's kingdom? Is it different? God, as 00:01:53.010 --> 00:01:54.909 we know, has a different view of both authority 00:01:54.909 --> 00:01:58.469 and how we should respond to it. In his kingdom, 00:01:58.510 --> 00:02:00.849 we start with the foundational truth that he 00:02:00.849 --> 00:02:02.950 is the ultimate source of all authority, right? 00:02:03.510 --> 00:02:06.730 And he is the ultimate standard for authority 00:02:06.730 --> 00:02:08.909 as well. Pontius Pilate found this out, right, 00:02:08.949 --> 00:02:12.270 while interrogating Christ. He found out that 00:02:12.270 --> 00:02:15.129 no human being has any power or any authority 00:02:15.129 --> 00:02:18.030 apart from God permitting him or her to have 00:02:18.030 --> 00:02:22.370 it for his purposes. And because God has laid 00:02:22.370 --> 00:02:24.689 out the standard for authority in his word, we 00:02:24.689 --> 00:02:27.909 would do well as believers to see it as a sacred 00:02:27.909 --> 00:02:32.490 trust. If we have authority, it is a sacred trust 00:02:32.490 --> 00:02:35.250 that should be exercised in a way that reflects 00:02:35.250 --> 00:02:39.169 God's rule and God's justice and God's goodness. 00:02:40.169 --> 00:02:42.810 In a practical sense, that means authority is 00:02:42.810 --> 00:02:45.330 to be exercised not for ourselves, but for other 00:02:45.330 --> 00:02:48.669 people. The proper response to authority is honor 00:02:48.669 --> 00:02:51.650 and respect, and we have to get this right. And 00:02:51.650 --> 00:02:54.969 we have this supreme example of this in the person 00:02:54.969 --> 00:02:57.469 of Christ. Think about it for a second. Here's 00:02:57.469 --> 00:03:00.990 Jesus, a perfect man, and not only that, he's 00:03:00.990 --> 00:03:04.169 God incarnate, which means during his time, even 00:03:04.169 --> 00:03:07.189 on the earth, in the flesh, he walks around with 00:03:07.189 --> 00:03:11.650 all authority. All authority, he's God. And yet 00:03:11.650 --> 00:03:13.689 with all that authority, what does he say to 00:03:13.689 --> 00:03:16.889 his disciples? I have not come to be served, 00:03:17.009 --> 00:03:20.990 but to serve and to give my life as a ransom 00:03:20.990 --> 00:03:23.330 for many. Now, to the natural man's ear, that 00:03:23.330 --> 00:03:26.349 just sounds crazy. The natural man says, hold 00:03:26.349 --> 00:03:28.150 on a second. If you're an authority, people serve 00:03:28.150 --> 00:03:31.229 you, not the other way around. But Jesus says 00:03:31.229 --> 00:03:34.590 no. To his disciples, he made this clear. He 00:03:34.590 --> 00:03:37.289 said, The rulers of the Gentiles out there in 00:03:37.289 --> 00:03:40.189 the world, what do they do? They lord their power 00:03:40.189 --> 00:03:44.090 over others. But among my followers, it's not 00:03:44.090 --> 00:03:46.810 to be that way. It's not to be that way among 00:03:46.810 --> 00:03:49.270 you. In fact, whoever wishes to become great 00:03:49.270 --> 00:03:53.449 among you shall be your slave. And whoever wishes 00:03:53.449 --> 00:03:57.289 to be first among you must serve you. And then 00:03:57.289 --> 00:03:59.849 later, the Lord gives this great tangible picture 00:03:59.849 --> 00:04:03.620 of what he meant. takes a water basin and he 00:04:03.620 --> 00:04:07.139 takes a towel and he does the lowest form of 00:04:07.139 --> 00:04:10.379 a slave. He washes the feet of those who he has 00:04:10.379 --> 00:04:13.900 authority over. He has the authority, right? 00:04:14.020 --> 00:04:16.579 And then he says to them, do you understand what 00:04:16.579 --> 00:04:20.579 I've just done? And he explains. He says, you 00:04:20.579 --> 00:04:23.600 call me teacher. You call me Lord and you're 00:04:23.600 --> 00:04:26.759 right for so I am. In other words, yes, I'm your 00:04:26.759 --> 00:04:30.240 authority. So if I, your Lord, washed your feet, 00:04:30.829 --> 00:04:33.870 You ought to do what? Wash other people's feet. 00:04:34.689 --> 00:04:36.949 So he affirms both ends of that principle. Yes, 00:04:36.990 --> 00:04:39.449 I'm the authority, but still I've washed your 00:04:39.449 --> 00:04:42.810 feet as those under my authority. How important 00:04:42.810 --> 00:04:45.889 would that have been for the apostles? How important 00:04:45.889 --> 00:04:47.709 would that have been, right? These are specially 00:04:47.709 --> 00:04:51.810 chosen men, right? They're chosen to build the 00:04:51.810 --> 00:04:54.110 foundation of the church. Some of them to actually 00:04:54.110 --> 00:04:57.009 write the inspired words of scripture. How easy 00:04:57.009 --> 00:04:59.569 would it have been for them to get puffed up 00:04:59.569 --> 00:05:03.279 with pride? How easy. How easy would it have 00:05:03.279 --> 00:05:05.040 been for them to use the authority that Jesus 00:05:05.040 --> 00:05:07.899 had given them as apostles for their own benefit. 00:05:09.100 --> 00:05:11.459 But as eyewitnesses to the life and the teaching 00:05:11.459 --> 00:05:14.860 of Christ, they certainly knew better. Now, fast 00:05:14.860 --> 00:05:16.980 forward into the church age, these same principles 00:05:16.980 --> 00:05:20.040 of authority and response are still in effect 00:05:20.040 --> 00:05:24.560 in the kingdom today. God has established offices 00:05:24.560 --> 00:05:26.699 of authority in this church. There's two of them, 00:05:26.699 --> 00:05:29.680 right? We have presbyteros or episkopos, and 00:05:29.680 --> 00:05:33.220 we translate those as elders or overseers. And 00:05:33.220 --> 00:05:35.740 then secondly, we have diakonos. We have deacons. 00:05:35.959 --> 00:05:38.199 And that's it. There's just two offices in the 00:05:38.199 --> 00:05:42.459 church. No matter how many times we create ecclesiastical 00:05:42.459 --> 00:05:45.600 structures in our own wisdom, God has only given 00:05:45.600 --> 00:05:49.300 us those two offices. That's it. But do they 00:05:49.300 --> 00:05:51.980 have real authority in the church, elders and 00:05:51.980 --> 00:05:56.189 deacons? They do. God calls certain individuals 00:05:56.189 --> 00:06:00.269 into these offices to lead his church. He confirms 00:06:00.269 --> 00:06:03.930 authority to them, but it's always under his 00:06:03.930 --> 00:06:07.670 greater authority, right? No elder or pastor 00:06:07.670 --> 00:06:10.670 is the head of the church. Only Christ has that 00:06:10.670 --> 00:06:13.750 title and role. So those of us who serve as elders 00:06:13.750 --> 00:06:16.670 here at Oak Hill, we are what we call under shepherds. 00:06:16.670 --> 00:06:19.750 We serve at the beck and call of the good shepherd, 00:06:19.870 --> 00:06:23.339 under shepherds. And what is the calling of a 00:06:23.339 --> 00:06:26.160 church elder? Is it to command and direct and 00:06:26.160 --> 00:06:30.540 control people? No, it's to serve those who are 00:06:30.540 --> 00:06:33.220 in our care. We're the ones now we're supposed 00:06:33.220 --> 00:06:36.920 to grab a water basin and a towel. And so what 00:06:36.920 --> 00:06:40.339 do we do? We teach and we shepherd and we feed. 00:06:41.000 --> 00:06:43.839 And we guide, and we care for, and we protect, 00:06:44.139 --> 00:06:47.160 and we oversee, and we exhort, and encourage, 00:06:47.620 --> 00:06:50.839 and comfort, and admonish, and if necessary, 00:06:50.980 --> 00:06:55.500 lay down our lives for the sheep. Friends, that 00:06:55.500 --> 00:06:58.319 is not how the world views authority. Right? 00:06:59.319 --> 00:07:02.399 Jesus has turned everything upside down with 00:07:02.399 --> 00:07:05.240 his example. But as elders in this church, we 00:07:05.240 --> 00:07:07.220 understand that. We see it. This is God's way. 00:07:07.639 --> 00:07:10.120 This is what we're called to do. as servants. 00:07:10.259 --> 00:07:11.860 And elders are not the only ones, by the way, 00:07:11.860 --> 00:07:13.959 who have a calling from God. You, the congregation, 00:07:14.220 --> 00:07:18.319 also have a calling to respond to the under shepherds 00:07:18.319 --> 00:07:22.600 in a biblical way. And that means both ends of 00:07:22.600 --> 00:07:24.720 the spectrum, not to put us on a pedestal that 00:07:24.720 --> 00:07:28.920 we don't deserve to be on, but also not to disrespect 00:07:28.920 --> 00:07:32.279 your leaders. You're to show honor. You're to 00:07:32.279 --> 00:07:34.819 give respect. You're to listen to our teaching 00:07:34.819 --> 00:07:38.410 and counsel. Follow our voices as we lead. all 00:07:38.410 --> 00:07:40.470 without grumbling and without a critical spirit. 00:07:41.449 --> 00:07:43.470 And that's not always an easy thing to do. You 00:07:43.470 --> 00:07:45.769 know why? Because church leaders aren't perfect. 00:07:46.689 --> 00:07:49.050 Sometimes we miss the mark. We come up short. 00:07:49.269 --> 00:07:51.589 And by the way, congregations are not perfect. 00:07:51.970 --> 00:07:55.209 They often don't respond as they should. So it's 00:07:55.209 --> 00:07:57.370 a delicate dance that we do in the church, isn't 00:07:57.370 --> 00:08:00.149 it? It's a delicate dance that we live out together. 00:08:00.430 --> 00:08:02.430 And it's a dance floor that has all kinds of 00:08:02.430 --> 00:08:04.720 potholes in it. that we could stumble and hurt 00:08:04.720 --> 00:08:07.199 ourselves if we don't pay close attention to 00:08:07.199 --> 00:08:09.680 what God has said on this subject and get it 00:08:09.680 --> 00:08:12.759 right. So let's see what Paul has to say about 00:08:12.759 --> 00:08:15.439 this. Grab your Bibles and let's go to 1 Corinthians 00:08:15.439 --> 00:08:18.660 chapter 4 and see what Paul has to say to the 00:08:18.660 --> 00:08:21.420 Corinthians about this very subject of authority 00:08:21.420 --> 00:08:25.379 and the congregation's response. 1 Corinthians 00:08:25.379 --> 00:08:27.379 4, we're just going to cover five verses this 00:08:27.379 --> 00:08:30.519 morning, verses 1 through 5. And it's important 00:08:30.519 --> 00:08:32.820 before we just start reading that you understand 00:08:32.820 --> 00:08:35.740 that what you're about to hear from Paul is very 00:08:35.740 --> 00:08:40.720 case specific. It's very case specific to the 00:08:40.720 --> 00:08:43.860 situation that he was facing in Corinth in the 00:08:43.860 --> 00:08:46.860 first century. Remember this? What has he been 00:08:46.860 --> 00:08:49.120 talking about for all three of the previous chapters? 00:08:49.320 --> 00:08:51.799 This idea that the believers in this church were 00:08:51.799 --> 00:08:54.960 lining up behind certain church leaders. And 00:08:54.960 --> 00:08:56.919 they were putting some of them up on a pedestal, 00:08:56.940 --> 00:09:00.259 heightening them as these are the best guys and 00:09:00.259 --> 00:09:03.480 growing prideful. Yeah, I'm on that team. I'm 00:09:03.480 --> 00:09:06.960 on team Jeff Steele. I'm on team Adam Sanchez, 00:09:07.039 --> 00:09:09.120 whatever. They're putting them on a pedestal 00:09:09.120 --> 00:09:12.059 and saying, look at the team I'm on. And then 00:09:12.059 --> 00:09:15.299 by doing that in the process, downgrading other 00:09:15.299 --> 00:09:17.799 church leaders and looking down upon other church 00:09:17.799 --> 00:09:20.779 members because they've lined up under, I won't 00:09:20.779 --> 00:09:25.850 give a name there. Right? And obviously this 00:09:25.850 --> 00:09:28.450 was causing division in the church. And you see 00:09:28.450 --> 00:09:30.269 in Paul's language in the first three chapters, 00:09:30.409 --> 00:09:33.289 he's furious about this. So in these five verses 00:09:33.289 --> 00:09:35.870 we're about to read, it's Paul's goal to set 00:09:35.870 --> 00:09:39.049 the believers straight on how they should regard 00:09:39.049 --> 00:09:42.110 their leaders. And this is what I want you, the 00:09:42.110 --> 00:09:43.929 congregation, to hear this morning. How should 00:09:43.929 --> 00:09:46.850 you regard your leaders? Fair warning, there's 00:09:46.850 --> 00:09:48.509 some things in here that Paul says that may surprise 00:09:48.509 --> 00:09:50.710 you, but we'll get to the bottom of it before 00:09:50.710 --> 00:09:52.289 we're done this morning. Let's look at the text. 00:09:52.389 --> 00:09:55.129 Verse one. Paul says, let a man regard us in 00:09:55.129 --> 00:09:59.870 this manner. You ready? Regard us leaders in 00:09:59.870 --> 00:10:03.870 this manner as servants of Christ and stewards 00:10:03.870 --> 00:10:08.269 of the mysteries of God. In this case, moreover, 00:10:08.309 --> 00:10:11.549 it's required of stewards that one be found trustworthy. 00:10:12.450 --> 00:10:15.870 But to me, it's a very small thing that I may 00:10:15.870 --> 00:10:18.950 be examined by you or by any human court. In 00:10:18.950 --> 00:10:22.679 fact, I do not even examine myself. For I am 00:10:22.679 --> 00:10:25.679 conscious of nothing against myself, yet I am 00:10:25.679 --> 00:10:28.919 not by this acquitted, but the one who examines 00:10:28.919 --> 00:10:32.659 me is the Lord. Therefore, do not go on passing 00:10:32.659 --> 00:10:36.000 judgment before the time, but wait until the 00:10:36.000 --> 00:10:38.659 Lord comes who will bring both light to the things 00:10:38.659 --> 00:10:41.879 hidden in the darkness and disclose the motives 00:10:41.879 --> 00:10:46.059 of men's hearts, and then each man's praise will 00:10:46.059 --> 00:10:50.899 come to him from God. Okay, we're going to work 00:10:50.899 --> 00:10:52.480 our way through this because it's not a simple 00:10:52.480 --> 00:10:55.580 passage. Think about this for a second. Examining 00:10:55.580 --> 00:11:01.220 church leaders. Examining church leaders, passing 00:11:01.220 --> 00:11:05.279 judgment on them. Have you ever done that before? 00:11:07.320 --> 00:11:11.039 Every one of us has done this. Let's just have 00:11:11.039 --> 00:11:13.679 a group counseling session here. We've all done 00:11:13.679 --> 00:11:17.159 this, and we need to be careful. It seems that 00:11:17.159 --> 00:11:18.500 we do this for a number of reasons. I'm going 00:11:18.500 --> 00:11:20.960 to give you a bunch of reasons why we do this. 00:11:21.019 --> 00:11:23.539 First of all, there's something about humanity. 00:11:23.559 --> 00:11:26.980 We like to rank things. Have you noticed this? 00:11:27.379 --> 00:11:31.179 This is better than that. That is better or more 00:11:31.179 --> 00:11:34.259 interesting than this. We like top 10 lists. 00:11:34.379 --> 00:11:39.480 We like bottom 10 lists. Best burger in Santa 00:11:39.480 --> 00:11:44.299 Clarita. Worst intersection for traffic. Whatever 00:11:44.299 --> 00:11:46.100 it is, right? We like to rank things. That's 00:11:46.100 --> 00:11:48.399 number one. Second thing is, is we really like 00:11:48.399 --> 00:11:52.139 spicy opinions. This is our culture today. We 00:11:52.139 --> 00:11:54.679 like to share our spicy opinions and we like 00:11:54.679 --> 00:11:58.720 to hear other spicy opinions. And it's easy to 00:11:58.720 --> 00:12:01.759 do that. We can stand far off and we can critique 00:12:01.759 --> 00:12:04.299 leaders, right? We can do it positively or we 00:12:04.299 --> 00:12:07.080 can do it negatively. We just like spicy opinions. 00:12:07.679 --> 00:12:10.480 Third, we always seem to think that we could 00:12:10.480 --> 00:12:12.519 do a better job than the people in authority. 00:12:14.210 --> 00:12:16.889 This is true of our jobs. It's true of the church. 00:12:17.190 --> 00:12:19.809 We just think, look, I would do it this way or 00:12:19.809 --> 00:12:22.210 I wouldn't do it that way. And we have strong 00:12:22.210 --> 00:12:24.730 opinions about this. Even if we've never led 00:12:24.730 --> 00:12:26.990 a thing in our lives, we are absolutely sure 00:12:26.990 --> 00:12:30.730 we could do better than that guy, the person 00:12:30.730 --> 00:12:34.750 in charge. It's our nature. And finally, fourth, 00:12:35.049 --> 00:12:37.789 we like to do exactly what the Corinthians were 00:12:37.789 --> 00:12:40.450 doing in Paul's day, choosing this guy over that 00:12:40.450 --> 00:12:43.450 guy. Lining up behind certain people. That's 00:12:43.450 --> 00:12:47.429 my guy. That preacher, that guy, he's the best 00:12:47.429 --> 00:12:51.490 by far. Everybody else pales in comparison. And 00:12:51.490 --> 00:12:54.330 we put them up on this pedestal, right? And we 00:12:54.330 --> 00:12:57.649 turn servants of God into celebrities and idols. 00:12:57.889 --> 00:13:00.250 And sometimes in the process by doing that, we 00:13:00.250 --> 00:13:03.029 downgrade and we harshly critique other leaders 00:13:03.029 --> 00:13:05.169 who don't live up to the standard of my guy. 00:13:06.149 --> 00:13:08.129 Because every guy should be this because he's 00:13:08.129 --> 00:13:12.149 the best. And we tend to do this. And what Paul 00:13:12.149 --> 00:13:14.590 is saying in this passage is we all need to stop. 00:13:15.450 --> 00:13:19.450 Just stop doing this. On one end of the spectrum, 00:13:19.529 --> 00:13:22.590 stop elevating leaders beyond their calling. 00:13:23.669 --> 00:13:27.269 Stop seeing them as infallible. Stop seeing them 00:13:27.269 --> 00:13:30.169 as beyond question. Stop hanging on their every 00:13:30.169 --> 00:13:34.350 word. Stop seeing them as the pastor of their 00:13:34.350 --> 00:13:39.100 church. It's Jesus's church. It's not their church. 00:13:39.340 --> 00:13:42.600 And that guy who you think is so great is no 00:13:42.600 --> 00:13:45.799 greater than his fellow elders. So stop doing 00:13:45.799 --> 00:13:47.519 that. On the other end of the spectrum, stop 00:13:47.519 --> 00:13:51.179 dishonoring other leaders. Refuse to play the 00:13:51.179 --> 00:13:54.440 gossip game or the ranking game. Don't make their 00:13:54.440 --> 00:13:57.279 work in the church a burden and don't undermine 00:13:57.279 --> 00:14:01.059 their authority in the body by your opinions. 00:14:02.730 --> 00:14:05.090 Recall what Paul said of himself and his fellow 00:14:05.090 --> 00:14:07.409 leaders back in chapter three. Remember, he said, 00:14:07.470 --> 00:14:11.970 what is Apollos? And what is Paul? Servants. 00:14:12.330 --> 00:14:14.830 Servants, that's it. Servants through whom you 00:14:14.830 --> 00:14:18.110 believed, even as the Lord gave opportunity to 00:14:18.110 --> 00:14:21.950 each one. In other words, don't elevate us. Everything 00:14:21.950 --> 00:14:24.809 that we have accomplished is because God has 00:14:24.809 --> 00:14:28.110 done a work in Corinth. He gave us the opportunity. 00:14:28.830 --> 00:14:31.490 to come and share the gospel. You believe, but 00:14:31.490 --> 00:14:35.289 not because of us, right? It was Christ who brought 00:14:35.289 --> 00:14:38.330 you to saving faith through our feeble words, 00:14:38.370 --> 00:14:41.409 so give him glory. We're nothing more than his 00:14:41.409 --> 00:14:46.350 servants. Now, look at verse one. Paul comes 00:14:46.350 --> 00:14:48.350 right back to this very same message. Look at 00:14:48.350 --> 00:14:51.389 verse one. Let a man regard us or think of us 00:14:51.389 --> 00:14:54.250 in this manner. First of all, as servants of 00:14:54.250 --> 00:14:56.669 Christ. Now, this is another one of those places 00:14:56.669 --> 00:14:58.570 in the New Testament where the original Greek 00:14:58.570 --> 00:15:02.269 gives us a very important interpretation. Koine 00:15:02.269 --> 00:15:06.610 Greek has a whole number of words that it uses 00:15:06.610 --> 00:15:10.690 to describe various levels of servitude. Back 00:15:10.690 --> 00:15:13.549 in chapter 3, when Paul talked about himself 00:15:13.549 --> 00:15:17.350 and Apollos as servants, he uses the word diakonos. 00:15:17.370 --> 00:15:19.450 That's the same word that we use in English for 00:15:19.450 --> 00:15:23.200 deacon. In literal terms, it means somebody who 00:15:23.200 --> 00:15:27.259 executes the commands of a superior, executes 00:15:27.259 --> 00:15:29.960 the commands of his master. That's the first 00:15:29.960 --> 00:15:33.860 word. There's oikites, second word, which refers 00:15:33.860 --> 00:15:37.159 to a domestic servant, somebody who is blessed 00:15:37.159 --> 00:15:39.600 to not be sweating out in the fields, but is 00:15:39.600 --> 00:15:43.080 able to work in the master's household. Then 00:15:43.080 --> 00:15:45.580 there's doulos, and some of you are familiar 00:15:45.580 --> 00:15:48.559 with this word. This is somebody who is literally 00:15:48.559 --> 00:15:51.519 owned by another person. This is a true slave 00:15:51.519 --> 00:15:54.500 in every way. And then there's a fourth word. 00:15:54.559 --> 00:15:57.320 And this is the word that Paul uses in this passage. 00:15:57.580 --> 00:16:00.820 It's a unique word. It's a shocking word. It 00:16:00.820 --> 00:16:03.460 refers to the lowest possible form of slavery, 00:16:03.659 --> 00:16:07.740 even more so than a doulos. It's the word, there 00:16:07.740 --> 00:16:11.600 we go, huperetes. And get this, it refers to 00:16:11.600 --> 00:16:17.399 an under rower. An under rower. A man who labored 00:16:17.399 --> 00:16:22.159 as a slave rower on the bottom level of what 00:16:22.159 --> 00:16:27.500 we call a trireme. Okay, historical nerds. Historical 00:16:27.500 --> 00:16:31.379 nerds. Ancient Greek and Roman triremes. These 00:16:31.379 --> 00:16:34.740 were the naval warships of Paul's day. And they 00:16:34.740 --> 00:16:38.639 had two or three levels of rowers, of oars, depending 00:16:38.639 --> 00:16:41.480 on the size of the boat. Each level was filled 00:16:41.480 --> 00:16:46.519 with slaves. Slaves who rowed in unison, propelling 00:16:46.519 --> 00:16:49.500 the boat forward in the water. Obviously, this 00:16:49.500 --> 00:16:52.980 was not a glamorous job. In fact, it was a brutal 00:16:52.980 --> 00:16:55.899 life that was lived at the end of a whip. And 00:16:55.899 --> 00:16:58.539 the conditions were awful. And it was dangerous, 00:16:58.700 --> 00:17:01.440 too. If the enemy rammed your boat, and this 00:17:01.440 --> 00:17:04.000 was the main way they sunk each other in naval 00:17:04.000 --> 00:17:06.339 warfare in that day, they would ram each other. 00:17:06.619 --> 00:17:09.279 If you got rammed, you're either on the side 00:17:09.279 --> 00:17:11.039 of the boat that got hit, and you're probably 00:17:11.039 --> 00:17:13.380 killed there, or on the other side of the boat, 00:17:13.440 --> 00:17:17.490 you were just the first to drown. This is not 00:17:17.490 --> 00:17:19.329 a great thing. So with that background information, 00:17:19.569 --> 00:17:22.509 now imagine Paul is writing to a Greek audience 00:17:22.509 --> 00:17:25.369 who fully understand the word that he's just 00:17:25.369 --> 00:17:28.390 used. Imagine how shocking this would have been. 00:17:28.650 --> 00:17:31.069 That Paul, an apostle, would speak of himself 00:17:31.069 --> 00:17:34.250 in such low terms. But the point he's making 00:17:34.250 --> 00:17:37.789 is this. Stop lining up behind any of us. Me, 00:17:37.890 --> 00:17:41.230 Apollos, Peter, any of us. Think of us like this. 00:17:41.289 --> 00:17:45.109 Think of us as slave rowers. That would have 00:17:45.109 --> 00:17:47.029 been shocking. The other important thing to see 00:17:47.029 --> 00:17:49.950 in this first statement is how Paul refers to 00:17:49.950 --> 00:17:52.789 himself as a specific type of slave. What does 00:17:52.789 --> 00:17:56.670 he write? I am a slave of Christ. Now, you may 00:17:56.670 --> 00:17:59.369 not think that's important, but it is. Not a 00:17:59.369 --> 00:18:03.349 slave to the believers in Corinth, but a slave 00:18:03.349 --> 00:18:05.369 of Christ. And you might think, well, hold on 00:18:05.369 --> 00:18:07.470 a second. I thought church leaders served the 00:18:07.470 --> 00:18:10.990 congregation. Yes, we do. But the focus of our 00:18:10.990 --> 00:18:13.710 service is always to Christ alone. And if we're 00:18:13.710 --> 00:18:16.069 serving him well, guess what? We'll serve you 00:18:16.069 --> 00:18:19.009 well. And that's a really important distinction. 00:18:19.309 --> 00:18:21.589 How many times do church leaders think, I've 00:18:21.589 --> 00:18:24.130 got to constantly serve the congregation, meet 00:18:24.130 --> 00:18:26.289 all of their needs, and they end up compromising 00:18:26.289 --> 00:18:29.569 because of the needs of the people. We put Christ 00:18:29.569 --> 00:18:32.390 first. And if we serve him well, we serve you 00:18:32.390 --> 00:18:34.750 well. Does that make sense? That's an important 00:18:34.750 --> 00:18:38.640 distinction. Now, before we go forward. A clarification, 00:18:38.759 --> 00:18:41.339 when Paul says to the congregation, you should 00:18:41.339 --> 00:18:44.700 regard me as a lowly slave, know this now, that 00:18:44.700 --> 00:18:47.400 does not invalidate his authority as an apostle. 00:18:48.519 --> 00:18:51.279 This is part of that delicate dance, right? That 00:18:51.279 --> 00:18:54.500 is still his calling, it is still his role, and 00:18:54.500 --> 00:18:57.480 the congregation still must honor him as an apostle, 00:18:57.579 --> 00:19:00.779 even as they try to view him as this lowly slave 00:19:00.779 --> 00:19:03.930 ruler. That's the delicate dance. The church 00:19:03.930 --> 00:19:07.150 leader does have authority from God, but his 00:19:07.150 --> 00:19:10.630 life is to be marked by humility. He walks in 00:19:10.630 --> 00:19:13.950 the footsteps of Christ, right? He walks in the 00:19:13.950 --> 00:19:16.750 footstep of the one who's God incarnate, who 00:19:16.750 --> 00:19:20.710 humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point 00:19:20.710 --> 00:19:23.269 of death on a cross. That's the model for every 00:19:23.269 --> 00:19:25.880 single church leader. That's the mark of humility. 00:19:26.220 --> 00:19:29.140 And this is how Paul postured himself in all 00:19:29.140 --> 00:19:31.200 of his letters. How many times does he say things 00:19:31.200 --> 00:19:33.980 like, I'm the chief of sinners. I'm the least 00:19:33.980 --> 00:19:37.559 of the apostles. I'm a slave rower, a galley 00:19:37.559 --> 00:19:42.359 slave. This is what marks the greatest servants 00:19:42.359 --> 00:19:45.099 in the kingdom of God. What did John the Baptist 00:19:45.099 --> 00:19:49.559 say? Jesus must increase while I decrease. How 00:19:49.559 --> 00:19:52.789 often do we see that today? How rare is it these 00:19:52.789 --> 00:19:54.910 days to find that kind of humility among church 00:19:54.910 --> 00:19:58.250 leaders? That's why Paul's laying this out. So 00:19:58.250 --> 00:20:01.029 elders, deacons, as you hear this, ministry leaders, 00:20:01.230 --> 00:20:04.410 hear this message. It's not just written to the 00:20:04.410 --> 00:20:06.190 congregation. It's written to us as leaders. 00:20:06.509 --> 00:20:09.769 That's how we're to posture ourselves. It's rare 00:20:09.769 --> 00:20:12.150 to find these days. It's more common today to 00:20:12.150 --> 00:20:14.650 see pastors and preachers and elders and worship 00:20:14.650 --> 00:20:17.450 leaders doing what? Drawing attention to themselves, 00:20:17.910 --> 00:20:22.460 to themselves, to their People actually say this, 00:20:22.539 --> 00:20:26.799 my ministry. My ministry. Not God's ministry 00:20:26.799 --> 00:20:30.920 that I've been stewarding, but my ministry. Right? 00:20:30.960 --> 00:20:33.880 To their ministries. To the size of their churches. 00:20:34.680 --> 00:20:39.019 To the popularity of their social media. And 00:20:39.019 --> 00:20:41.519 sadly, we have congregations that don't discern 00:20:41.519 --> 00:20:43.400 that that's not right. And what do they do? They 00:20:43.400 --> 00:20:47.759 encourage it. They encourage that drawing attention 00:20:47.759 --> 00:20:51.859 to their church leaders. They promote those guys. 00:20:53.779 --> 00:20:58.039 Not Paul. He says, no. When it's all said and 00:20:58.039 --> 00:21:00.700 done, let it be said that we were nothing more 00:21:00.700 --> 00:21:02.880 than servants of Christ. When you look at my 00:21:02.880 --> 00:21:05.299 life, what I want you to say is this. He pulled 00:21:05.299 --> 00:21:11.299 his oar well. And that's it. And let this just 00:21:11.299 --> 00:21:13.680 wash over you as you look at the nature of the 00:21:13.680 --> 00:21:17.579 American church today. Church leaders, this is 00:21:17.579 --> 00:21:20.829 the humility we need to have. We're slave rowers. 00:21:21.109 --> 00:21:23.230 All right, let's look at the second characteristic 00:21:23.230 --> 00:21:26.470 that Paul points to here. Let a man regard us 00:21:26.470 --> 00:21:29.549 in this way, first as servants of Christ, and 00:21:29.549 --> 00:21:33.450 second as stewards of the mysteries of God. Now, 00:21:33.470 --> 00:21:36.289 what's a steward? A steward in the ancient world 00:21:36.289 --> 00:21:40.430 was still a servant to a master, but a much higher 00:21:40.430 --> 00:21:44.230 rank than that slave rower. Stewards in the Roman 00:21:44.230 --> 00:21:47.799 world were responsible as managers. of a household 00:21:47.799 --> 00:21:51.200 under the authority of their master. Managers 00:21:51.200 --> 00:21:53.680 of a household under the authority of their master. 00:21:53.920 --> 00:21:57.920 So to be a steward was a position of trust. A 00:21:57.920 --> 00:22:00.799 Roman property owner would have, say, a farm 00:22:00.799 --> 00:22:02.980 or a vineyard, and he would employ all kinds 00:22:02.980 --> 00:22:05.319 of servants to work the land and run the business. 00:22:06.160 --> 00:22:08.559 But his steward was the one who would handle 00:22:08.559 --> 00:22:11.339 the oversight of the whole operation, including 00:22:11.339 --> 00:22:14.259 managing the finances and assigning duties to 00:22:14.259 --> 00:22:17.140 all the other servants. It's an important role. 00:22:17.720 --> 00:22:20.559 So he was a slave in relation to his master, 00:22:20.660 --> 00:22:24.140 but an overseer in relation to his fellow workers. 00:22:24.619 --> 00:22:27.180 Now think about that in terms of being an elder 00:22:27.180 --> 00:22:30.660 in a church. A slave in relation to his master, 00:22:30.819 --> 00:22:34.579 but an overseer in relation to his fellow workers. 00:22:35.180 --> 00:22:38.859 That is exactly what we're to be as elders. And 00:22:38.859 --> 00:22:41.670 as stewards, apostles like... Paul and Apollos 00:22:41.670 --> 00:22:44.029 had a certain authority. They could act on behalf 00:22:44.029 --> 00:22:46.410 of their master, Jesus, but they're still slaves 00:22:46.410 --> 00:22:49.430 to him, still his servants. And their focus was 00:22:49.430 --> 00:22:52.589 not on pleasing all the people. It was on pleasing 00:22:52.589 --> 00:22:55.549 the master because only to the master will we 00:22:55.549 --> 00:22:58.410 give accountability someday, will we give an 00:22:58.410 --> 00:23:01.910 answer to, only to the master. And what specifically 00:23:01.910 --> 00:23:04.130 does Paul say we're supposed to be stewards of? 00:23:04.410 --> 00:23:06.970 Paul says the mysteries of God. Now, what does 00:23:06.970 --> 00:23:10.490 that mean? Well, it generally refers to Truths 00:23:10.490 --> 00:23:13.009 that were sort of hidden in the shadows in the 00:23:13.009 --> 00:23:16.269 Old Testament that have now become revealed to 00:23:16.269 --> 00:23:18.769 us in the new. And of course, basically what 00:23:18.769 --> 00:23:21.009 he's saying is that's the revelation of God's 00:23:21.009 --> 00:23:22.809 one and only son, right? The redeemer and the 00:23:22.809 --> 00:23:25.970 savior. You're charged with revealing the mysteries 00:23:25.970 --> 00:23:30.410 about Christ, his person and his work. So as 00:23:30.410 --> 00:23:32.470 good stewards, the job of the local church elder 00:23:32.470 --> 00:23:35.930 team is to take those mysteries and just deliver 00:23:35.930 --> 00:23:39.369 them to the other workers in the house. That's 00:23:39.369 --> 00:23:42.269 our job. That means putting in the hard work 00:23:42.269 --> 00:23:44.609 that we have to do to study and to pray and to 00:23:44.609 --> 00:23:46.910 learn and to grow, but then just coming here 00:23:46.910 --> 00:23:49.789 and delivering that word to the congregation. 00:23:50.890 --> 00:23:52.710 I was thinking about this last night. I was like, 00:23:52.750 --> 00:23:56.250 what practical thing could I compare this to? 00:23:56.390 --> 00:23:59.609 And I thought of, I'm like an Uber Eats delivery 00:23:59.609 --> 00:24:05.789 guy. That's my job. I didn't make the food. It 00:24:05.789 --> 00:24:08.730 came from one greater than myself. My job is 00:24:08.730 --> 00:24:13.650 to just bring it to you hot and to bring it to 00:24:13.650 --> 00:24:19.109 you intact, right? I can't drop it or mess it 00:24:19.109 --> 00:24:21.849 up, right? But it's not my food. I didn't make 00:24:21.849 --> 00:24:24.650 it. I'm a delivery guy. Here you go. It's delicious. 00:24:24.789 --> 00:24:28.529 Eat up. That's the job of a steward. Make sense? 00:24:30.490 --> 00:24:33.390 I should have worn a shirt. It would have been 00:24:33.390 --> 00:24:36.369 good. Okay, then look at verse 2. Here's what's 00:24:36.369 --> 00:24:39.289 required of church leaders. In this case, moreover, 00:24:39.329 --> 00:24:42.329 it's required of stewards that one be found trustworthy. 00:24:42.869 --> 00:24:46.269 Look, guys, there is the standard for a steward. 00:24:47.170 --> 00:24:50.029 Trustworthy. Listen, it's not, he didn't write, 00:24:50.150 --> 00:24:52.589 you know, you gotta be really brilliant or really 00:24:52.589 --> 00:24:56.569 creative. You gotta be charming, right? He didn't 00:24:56.569 --> 00:24:58.930 say any of that. It's not about how big your 00:24:58.930 --> 00:25:01.289 church is or how many books you've written, how 00:25:01.289 --> 00:25:03.509 many followers you have on social media. The 00:25:03.509 --> 00:25:05.849 standard is simple. The standard is faithfulness. 00:25:08.450 --> 00:25:10.529 Trustworthiness. And this is hard to find these 00:25:10.529 --> 00:25:13.450 days. A church leader that just does what the 00:25:13.450 --> 00:25:17.990 master says to do. Trustworthy. Fulfill your 00:25:17.990 --> 00:25:20.750 calling and the role I've given to you, Jesus 00:25:20.750 --> 00:25:24.730 says. That's all I'm asking. Fulfill your role. 00:25:24.849 --> 00:25:28.369 Do what I've told you. Don't cut corners. Be 00:25:28.369 --> 00:25:31.630 consistent. Make sure the flock knows that they 00:25:31.630 --> 00:25:35.170 can count on you. That's important. Make sure 00:25:35.170 --> 00:25:38.019 the flock knows. they can count on you. Dispense 00:25:38.019 --> 00:25:40.319 the mysteries of scripture, teach, shepherd, 00:25:40.359 --> 00:25:44.119 oversee, and love the body. Ministry's not that 00:25:44.119 --> 00:25:47.359 complex when you break it down like this. We've 00:25:47.359 --> 00:25:49.920 made it bigger than we probably should have in 00:25:49.920 --> 00:25:53.380 the American church. Now, let me point out something 00:25:53.380 --> 00:25:56.400 else here. Yes, elders have a specifically called 00:25:56.400 --> 00:25:58.819 role to play in the local church, but you should 00:25:58.819 --> 00:26:03.200 know this, all Christians are stewards. Every 00:26:03.200 --> 00:26:05.750 one of you in this audience, is a steward in 00:26:05.750 --> 00:26:09.630 some capacity. Did you hear the call to worship 00:26:09.630 --> 00:26:12.150 passage that Grant read earlier from 1 Peter 00:26:12.150 --> 00:26:16.250 4? It says this, as each one has received a special 00:26:16.250 --> 00:26:21.609 gift, each one is, everybody here, employed in 00:26:21.609 --> 00:26:24.769 serving one another as good stewards of what? 00:26:24.809 --> 00:26:28.549 Of the manifold grace of God. Whoever speaks 00:26:28.549 --> 00:26:31.369 is to do it as one speaking the utterances of 00:26:31.369 --> 00:26:35.430 God. Whoever serves is to do so as one who is 00:26:35.430 --> 00:26:38.589 serving by the strength which God supplies, so 00:26:38.589 --> 00:26:42.029 that in all things God may be glorified through 00:26:42.029 --> 00:26:45.109 Jesus Christ. And guys, especially here in the 00:26:45.109 --> 00:26:50.109 church, we're all stewards of God's grace. What 00:26:50.109 --> 00:26:52.609 kind of grace? The grace he poured out on you 00:26:52.609 --> 00:26:56.410 when he gave you spiritual gifts. And we all 00:26:56.410 --> 00:26:58.390 have them. The question is, are we stewarding 00:26:58.390 --> 00:27:01.359 them well? Each of you is called to exercise 00:27:01.359 --> 00:27:03.839 your talents and your gifts to serve the people 00:27:03.839 --> 00:27:06.900 around you so that when that Bema seat judgment 00:27:06.900 --> 00:27:10.660 comes that we talked about a few weeks ago, praise 00:27:10.660 --> 00:27:12.180 will come from the Lord and they'll say, well 00:27:12.180 --> 00:27:16.559 done. Well done, good and faithful steward. And 00:27:16.559 --> 00:27:18.039 I have to tell you here at Oak Hill, we have 00:27:18.039 --> 00:27:21.079 some really faithful servants, right? I know 00:27:21.079 --> 00:27:22.920 I said last week, I'll say it again. I know I'm 00:27:22.920 --> 00:27:24.819 preaching to the choir because you guys get it. 00:27:25.400 --> 00:27:28.079 But some of us need to slow down enough to stop 00:27:28.079 --> 00:27:31.670 and wonder, How do all these things happen in 00:27:31.670 --> 00:27:37.130 our church? And who does them? Can I encourage 00:27:37.130 --> 00:27:39.609 you to do this every once in a while? Stop and 00:27:39.609 --> 00:27:41.990 slow down and say, you know, a lot of things 00:27:41.990 --> 00:27:45.890 just magically happen around here. Like little 00:27:45.890 --> 00:27:51.789 gremlins are setting things up. No, they're faithful 00:27:51.789 --> 00:27:56.109 servants. On Sundays, who gets here at the crack 00:27:56.109 --> 00:28:01.119 of dawn? Starts the setup process. And who is 00:28:01.119 --> 00:28:04.980 closing things up long after you've either arrived 00:28:04.980 --> 00:28:08.720 for lunch or gone home for your nap? Somebody's 00:28:08.720 --> 00:28:10.839 closing things up. Who loads up all the stuff 00:28:10.839 --> 00:28:14.200 that you see here and gets it packed in our shed? 00:28:14.480 --> 00:28:16.700 Who creates all those slides that you see on 00:28:16.700 --> 00:28:21.500 the screen? They're not gremlins. Who's in charge 00:28:21.500 --> 00:28:25.599 of making sure the sound is correct? We walk 00:28:25.599 --> 00:28:27.519 in and take it for granted, don't we? It sounds 00:28:27.519 --> 00:28:31.740 great. AV's really working. Who arranges the 00:28:31.740 --> 00:28:34.279 songs and coordinates all the musicians? Do you 00:28:34.279 --> 00:28:36.660 think that's easy, what our band does every Sunday? 00:28:37.319 --> 00:28:40.799 Who does that? Who schedules all the volunteers 00:28:40.799 --> 00:28:44.559 each week that make this church run? Who plans 00:28:44.559 --> 00:28:48.579 out the acorn lessons? Who made the coffee this 00:28:48.579 --> 00:28:53.019 morning? And who brought the donuts? No, I just 00:28:53.019 --> 00:28:58.420 showed up and there they were again. During the 00:28:58.420 --> 00:29:00.839 week, who edits and uploads all the sermons and 00:29:00.839 --> 00:29:04.819 puts them up on YouTube? Who manages church center? 00:29:06.079 --> 00:29:09.920 Who posts the social media stuff? Who's overseeing 00:29:09.920 --> 00:29:11.880 the accounting for the church and paying the 00:29:11.880 --> 00:29:14.299 bills and tracking our finances? Who's managing 00:29:14.299 --> 00:29:17.079 all the contracts we have as a church? And listen, 00:29:17.140 --> 00:29:18.859 I could go on and on and on, but you get the 00:29:18.859 --> 00:29:21.680 point, right? It's not magic. It's not gremlins. 00:29:22.200 --> 00:29:24.680 These are faithful servants. They're not doing 00:29:24.680 --> 00:29:27.740 the glamorous work of the kingdom. They're just 00:29:27.740 --> 00:29:29.519 being faithful to what God has called them to. 00:29:30.299 --> 00:29:32.700 And they're just as important as this guy who 00:29:32.700 --> 00:29:34.559 stands up here and flaps his gums every Sunday. 00:29:36.059 --> 00:29:38.039 Because without them, church doesn't happen. 00:29:38.200 --> 00:29:41.420 The body doesn't function as it should. Everybody 00:29:41.420 --> 00:29:44.099 matters here. It's essential work. Not glamorous, 00:29:44.200 --> 00:29:47.319 but essential. They're volunteering their time 00:29:47.319 --> 00:29:50.099 and their energy as good stewards of the manifold. 00:29:50.750 --> 00:29:52.869 grace of God. So as a congregation, don't rank 00:29:52.869 --> 00:29:57.069 them. Don't pass judgment on them. Just honor 00:29:57.069 --> 00:29:59.349 their service to Christ and to his church. Amen? 00:29:59.990 --> 00:30:02.609 So as a summary here, catch what Paul said thus 00:30:02.609 --> 00:30:05.690 far. Church leaders, pastors and elders, we row 00:30:05.690 --> 00:30:08.630 at the bottom of the boat and we propel the church 00:30:08.630 --> 00:30:11.789 forward. That's our job. And then we oversee 00:30:11.789 --> 00:30:14.769 God's household by leading the other servants 00:30:14.769 --> 00:30:17.309 into faithful work for the benefit of our master. 00:30:17.910 --> 00:30:22.779 It's a beautiful metaphor, is it not? It is. 00:30:22.859 --> 00:30:24.539 Okay, good. I'm just checking. Are you tracking 00:30:24.539 --> 00:30:28.319 with me? Okay. Now, when we come to verse 3, 00:30:28.400 --> 00:30:32.579 this is where it gets controversial. He says, 00:30:32.660 --> 00:30:36.299 but to me, it's a very small thing. It's of little 00:30:36.299 --> 00:30:41.000 importance that I'm judged by you. Raise your 00:30:41.000 --> 00:30:45.819 hand if that surprises you just a bit. Or by 00:30:45.819 --> 00:30:47.960 any human court, he says. It's of very little 00:30:47.960 --> 00:30:50.359 importance. And again, let me say this. This 00:30:50.359 --> 00:30:53.279 is very case specific to the Corinthians in this 00:30:53.279 --> 00:30:56.240 day. So make sure you know that. It's funny, 00:30:56.319 --> 00:30:58.660 when you read through 1 Corinthians, and especially 00:30:58.660 --> 00:31:01.440 you read into 2 Corinthians, you find that there 00:31:01.440 --> 00:31:04.019 are believers in Corinth and in the surrounding 00:31:04.019 --> 00:31:07.339 area who are questioning Paul's apostolic authority. 00:31:07.640 --> 00:31:10.980 They're literally criticizing his work. How would 00:31:10.980 --> 00:31:14.799 you like that on your tombstone? I question Paul. 00:31:16.669 --> 00:31:19.630 But it happens, right? The language is very severe. 00:31:20.069 --> 00:31:22.609 So it's as if Paul is saying here, look, I know 00:31:22.609 --> 00:31:26.190 what you say about me. I know what you think 00:31:26.190 --> 00:31:29.690 of my work, but your opinions, they're of little 00:31:29.690 --> 00:31:33.349 importance to me. I'm not here to please you. 00:31:33.430 --> 00:31:36.349 I'm not here to win your approval. Let any court 00:31:36.349 --> 00:31:39.109 of human beings judge me. It is insignificant 00:31:39.109 --> 00:31:44.150 compared to God's judgment of me. Think about 00:31:44.150 --> 00:31:47.329 that. And this is the reality of life in the 00:31:47.329 --> 00:31:49.450 ministry, which many of us here can personally 00:31:49.450 --> 00:31:53.289 testify to. Criticism and second guessing, it 00:31:53.289 --> 00:31:55.049 is just something that you learn to live with 00:31:55.049 --> 00:31:58.410 in ministry life. I wish it weren't so, but that 00:31:58.410 --> 00:32:01.529 is the reality. Anybody who's done ministry can 00:32:01.529 --> 00:32:03.329 tell you, some folks are going to honor you and 00:32:03.329 --> 00:32:05.549 appreciate you. Other folks are going to pass 00:32:05.549 --> 00:32:08.650 judgment and downgrade you. And it's the product 00:32:08.650 --> 00:32:10.529 of some people that are still immature in the 00:32:10.529 --> 00:32:13.730 faith or spiritually unhealthy. refusing to really 00:32:13.730 --> 00:32:16.450 follow what Scripture says. And Paul obviously 00:32:16.450 --> 00:32:18.609 knew this, and he was compassionate. He understood 00:32:18.609 --> 00:32:20.950 there's a lot of critics out there that need 00:32:20.950 --> 00:32:22.930 to grow up. They need to mature in the faith. 00:32:23.069 --> 00:32:26.509 They need to read the Scriptures. But he's pretty 00:32:26.509 --> 00:32:29.369 honest about how difficult this is. In fact, 00:32:29.490 --> 00:32:32.390 I'm going to read you a section from 2 Corinthians 00:32:32.390 --> 00:32:36.390 6. Listen to the severity that Paul is wrestling 00:32:36.390 --> 00:32:43.430 with. He says, So that the ministry will not 00:32:43.430 --> 00:32:46.430 be discredited, but in everything, commanding 00:32:46.430 --> 00:32:49.309 ourselves as servants, that's diakonos, servants 00:32:49.309 --> 00:32:53.990 of God, in much endurance, in afflictions, in 00:32:53.990 --> 00:32:58.890 hardships, in distresses, in beatings, in imprisonments, 00:32:58.890 --> 00:33:02.529 in riots, in labors, in sleeplessness, in hunger. 00:33:02.809 --> 00:33:04.670 Now raise your hand if you want to go into ministry. 00:33:05.869 --> 00:33:11.480 I know some of you do. Be careful. Be wise, it's 00:33:11.480 --> 00:33:17.059 not glamorous. Listen to Paul. Then he does say, 00:33:17.099 --> 00:33:19.279 look, here's a list of the really beautiful things 00:33:19.279 --> 00:33:21.980 about ministry. He says, in purity, in knowledge, 00:33:22.099 --> 00:33:24.779 in patience, in kindness, in the Holy Spirit, 00:33:24.920 --> 00:33:27.519 in genuine love, in the word of truth, in the 00:33:27.519 --> 00:33:30.079 power of God, by the weapons of righteousness 00:33:30.079 --> 00:33:33.019 for the right hand and the left. And that is 00:33:33.019 --> 00:33:35.500 also a part of the story of anybody in ministry. 00:33:35.819 --> 00:33:39.000 There's some incredible joys to it. And then 00:33:39.000 --> 00:33:40.839 in this third section, he goes on to describe 00:33:40.839 --> 00:33:43.220 both ends of the spectrum. Look, he says this, 00:33:43.319 --> 00:33:48.099 by glory and dishonor, by evil report and good 00:33:48.099 --> 00:33:52.599 report, regarded as deceivers and yet true, as 00:33:52.599 --> 00:33:56.500 unknown yet well known, as dying yet behold we 00:33:56.500 --> 00:34:00.519 live, as punished yet not put to death, as sorrowful 00:34:00.519 --> 00:34:04.140 yet also rejoicing, as poor yet making many rich, 00:34:04.420 --> 00:34:10.139 as having nothing yet possessing all. How beautiful 00:34:10.139 --> 00:34:13.679 is that? How beautiful. That is the life of a 00:34:13.679 --> 00:34:17.179 slave rower. And that is the life of a steward 00:34:17.179 --> 00:34:20.239 in God's house. It can be very painful at times, 00:34:20.360 --> 00:34:24.079 and it can be so joyful at other times. And week 00:34:24.079 --> 00:34:26.239 after week, you battle and you grind and you 00:34:26.239 --> 00:34:29.360 endure by the strength that God provides. And 00:34:29.360 --> 00:34:31.579 if along the way people misjudge your character 00:34:31.579 --> 00:34:34.440 or question your motives, all you can do is hand 00:34:34.440 --> 00:34:37.199 that over to the Lord and say, It's not public 00:34:37.199 --> 00:34:40.679 opinion that matters. It's what God thinks that 00:34:40.679 --> 00:34:44.039 ultimately matters. And Paul's whole point in 00:34:44.039 --> 00:34:46.880 these last three verses is simply this. The judgments 00:34:46.880 --> 00:34:51.539 of all human beings are inherently flawed. Let 00:34:51.539 --> 00:34:53.659 me say it again. The judgment of all of us as 00:34:53.659 --> 00:34:56.380 human beings are inherently flawed. In fact, 00:34:56.380 --> 00:34:57.780 look what he writes at the end of verse three. 00:34:57.880 --> 00:35:03.789 He says, I don't even judge myself. Don't overanalyze 00:35:03.789 --> 00:35:05.690 that apart from the context because in other 00:35:05.690 --> 00:35:08.650 places in scripture, we're explicitly told, examine 00:35:08.650 --> 00:35:11.650 yourself, right? What Paul's saying here, he's 00:35:11.650 --> 00:35:13.570 making the bigger point. He says, like all human 00:35:13.570 --> 00:35:17.130 beings, even I'm limited in my ability to judge 00:35:17.130 --> 00:35:21.210 myself. This is true of everybody. I'm a sinner 00:35:21.210 --> 00:35:25.690 with biases. I have blind spots. So I might not 00:35:25.690 --> 00:35:30.309 see things as clearly as I should about me. And 00:35:30.309 --> 00:35:32.269 so he writes in verse 4, look, I'm conscious 00:35:32.269 --> 00:35:35.489 of nothing. I'm not aware of anything against 00:35:35.489 --> 00:35:38.389 myself. So Paul's done enough self -examination 00:35:38.389 --> 00:35:41.050 to say, look, I don't know anything glaring about 00:35:41.050 --> 00:35:44.630 my life that's disqualifying. But then he writes, 00:35:44.730 --> 00:35:50.110 look, yet I'm not acquitted by this either. Meaning, 00:35:50.170 --> 00:35:52.170 even though I'm not personally aware of anything 00:35:52.170 --> 00:35:54.690 glaring in my life, that doesn't mean that I'm 00:35:54.690 --> 00:35:59.940 completely blameless before God. But this much 00:35:59.940 --> 00:36:02.400 he knows for sure, end of verse four, the one 00:36:02.400 --> 00:36:06.619 who examines me is the Lord. So he says, your 00:36:06.619 --> 00:36:09.719 judgment of me, Corinthians, it's of little importance. 00:36:10.480 --> 00:36:13.619 And my judgment of myself carries no weight either 00:36:13.619 --> 00:36:16.039 when compared to the almighty judge, because 00:36:16.039 --> 00:36:18.139 only the Lord knows the full story about me. 00:36:18.440 --> 00:36:21.000 Do you realize God knows you better than you 00:36:21.000 --> 00:36:25.099 know yourself? Only the Lord knows the full story 00:36:25.099 --> 00:36:28.920 about who I am, what motivates me. How faithful 00:36:28.920 --> 00:36:32.719 I am to his church. And in the end, his judgment 00:36:32.719 --> 00:36:35.199 about me is all that's going to be decisive. 00:36:36.880 --> 00:36:39.820 Therefore, now here's the big reason that he 00:36:39.820 --> 00:36:43.659 says all this. Verse five, therefore, stop making 00:36:43.659 --> 00:36:48.420 judgments. Look at verse five. Do not go on passing 00:36:48.420 --> 00:36:52.880 judgment before the time, but wait until the 00:36:52.880 --> 00:36:56.530 Lord comes. He will both bring to light the things 00:36:56.530 --> 00:36:59.510 hidden in the darkness and disclose the motives 00:36:59.510 --> 00:37:04.030 of men's hearts. And then, then each man's praise 00:37:04.030 --> 00:37:06.769 will come to him from God. So this is the call 00:37:06.769 --> 00:37:09.289 back to the Bama seat judgment, right? The judgment 00:37:09.289 --> 00:37:11.590 of rewards. On that day, the Lord will judge 00:37:11.590 --> 00:37:14.710 all of his servants, you, me, every believer 00:37:14.710 --> 00:37:17.489 across the ages. And he will judge us in terms 00:37:17.489 --> 00:37:20.110 of our faithfulness to the calling that he gave 00:37:20.110 --> 00:37:24.230 us as stewards of his grace. Did we exercise 00:37:24.230 --> 00:37:27.489 our gifts? Did we build the church? Did we serve 00:37:27.489 --> 00:37:30.690 other people? But even more than that, what motivated 00:37:30.690 --> 00:37:35.510 us to do that? What was the motive behind our 00:37:35.510 --> 00:37:38.889 service? And for church leaders, those who presume 00:37:38.889 --> 00:37:41.769 to teach and lead, we get an even stricter judgment 00:37:41.769 --> 00:37:45.650 because of the temptation that we face as public 00:37:45.650 --> 00:37:49.929 faces of the church. So Paul said to the Corinthians, 00:37:50.070 --> 00:37:54.500 don't pass judgment. prematurely. Wait till the 00:37:54.500 --> 00:37:57.440 Lord comes. Stop doing what you're doing right 00:37:57.440 --> 00:38:00.960 now. Stop judging. You're standing in judgment 00:38:00.960 --> 00:38:03.320 of those who are trying to lead you, but you're 00:38:03.320 --> 00:38:07.440 not qualified to do so. So stop it. You can't 00:38:07.440 --> 00:38:10.039 see the things that are hidden. You can't know 00:38:10.039 --> 00:38:13.739 the motives of the men who are leading you. So 00:38:13.739 --> 00:38:16.860 stop judging us. Don't put some on a pedestal 00:38:16.860 --> 00:38:21.380 and don't downgrade others. As we said weeks 00:38:21.380 --> 00:38:23.800 ago, the bamacy judgment, remember, it's not 00:38:23.800 --> 00:38:27.099 about heaven or hell. It's about rewards, right? 00:38:27.179 --> 00:38:29.840 There's going to be a testing. And then praise 00:38:29.840 --> 00:38:32.179 will come our way. But it's funny, when I first 00:38:32.179 --> 00:38:33.980 started reading this passage, I thought to myself, 00:38:34.199 --> 00:38:36.559 you might expect Paul to say at the end of this, 00:38:36.719 --> 00:38:39.519 at such a time, each man will get his rebuke 00:38:39.519 --> 00:38:42.980 from God, right? For the things he messed up. 00:38:43.760 --> 00:38:46.519 But how beautiful is this? He says, no, each 00:38:46.519 --> 00:38:49.619 man's praise will come to him from God. Because 00:38:49.619 --> 00:38:52.099 it's a judgment of rewards for believers. This 00:38:52.099 --> 00:38:54.599 is not the time to throw our sin in our faces. 00:38:54.619 --> 00:38:58.539 God says, no, this is a time of reward. What 00:38:58.539 --> 00:39:00.960 a comfort that is, right? Praise from God is 00:39:00.960 --> 00:39:04.280 waiting for us. And this was a rebuke to the 00:39:04.280 --> 00:39:07.079 divisive Corinthians. Again, because in order 00:39:07.079 --> 00:39:09.760 to exalt their favorite leader, they were downgrading 00:39:09.760 --> 00:39:12.260 others. But Paul says, everybody here is gonna 00:39:12.260 --> 00:39:14.500 get praise from God. All of your leaders who 00:39:14.500 --> 00:39:16.900 belong to all of you, so stop picking one over 00:39:16.900 --> 00:39:19.059 the other, they will all receive praise from 00:39:19.059 --> 00:39:23.480 God on the day of the Bema Seed Judgment. Make 00:39:23.480 --> 00:39:27.639 sense? It's a hard passage. But get the big idea 00:39:27.639 --> 00:39:30.500 of what Paul's saying here. Okay, gotta wrap 00:39:30.500 --> 00:39:35.500 up. For the sake of our kiddos. There we go. 00:39:36.199 --> 00:39:40.280 I remember, Early in the life of Oak Hill, there 00:39:40.280 --> 00:39:43.079 was a man in our body who was very critical of 00:39:43.079 --> 00:39:46.079 our church, critical of me personally, critical 00:39:46.079 --> 00:39:48.320 of our ministry philosophy that we'd established 00:39:48.320 --> 00:39:51.500 at that time. And he had very strong preferences 00:39:51.500 --> 00:39:55.079 on a whole bunch of issues. And he strongly suggested, 00:39:55.320 --> 00:39:58.099 actually he demanded, that we change course on 00:39:58.099 --> 00:40:00.960 a couple of things. And when we didn't heed his 00:40:00.960 --> 00:40:05.550 advice, he began to get divisive. And so in order 00:40:05.550 --> 00:40:07.230 to protect the church, there was a confrontation 00:40:07.230 --> 00:40:10.449 between him and myself. And it became clear that 00:40:10.449 --> 00:40:13.250 he was passing judgment on all kinds of things 00:40:13.250 --> 00:40:16.150 without any real knowledge of what was happening 00:40:16.150 --> 00:40:19.849 behind the scenes. He just didn't know. He didn't 00:40:19.849 --> 00:40:21.550 understand because he hadn't asked the question, 00:40:21.769 --> 00:40:25.250 why are we going in this direction? He just judged 00:40:25.250 --> 00:40:28.699 from afar without true knowledge. It became clear 00:40:28.699 --> 00:40:30.440 that he was not going to honor or follow our 00:40:30.440 --> 00:40:32.480 leadership no matter what. No matter how much 00:40:32.480 --> 00:40:34.980 I explained what we were trying to do, he wasn't 00:40:34.980 --> 00:40:36.880 going to follow and he was never going to be 00:40:36.880 --> 00:40:41.260 content at Oak Hill. So my advice was this. I 00:40:41.260 --> 00:40:43.719 said to him, there's some things that are seared 00:40:43.719 --> 00:40:45.820 in your brain in ministry. This is one of those 00:40:45.820 --> 00:40:47.480 moments I said, you know what you should do? 00:40:47.519 --> 00:40:49.760 You should find a local church who will send 00:40:49.760 --> 00:40:53.530 you out as a church planter. Send you out and 00:40:53.530 --> 00:40:55.710 take your ideas and your ministry philosophy 00:40:55.710 --> 00:40:58.809 and put them to the test. See if anyone follows 00:40:58.809 --> 00:41:02.170 you. See if anyone follows you. And may God bless 00:41:02.170 --> 00:41:04.809 your efforts. If people follow you, I will praise 00:41:04.809 --> 00:41:07.230 the Lord because the gospel will go out. But 00:41:07.230 --> 00:41:10.070 if no one follows you, then at a minimum, God 00:41:10.070 --> 00:41:12.650 will teach you something about unity and how 00:41:12.650 --> 00:41:17.489 hard it is to lead people like yourself. That 00:41:17.489 --> 00:41:20.989 was a formative moment in the history of our 00:41:20.989 --> 00:41:24.840 church. But it had to be said. The PS on the 00:41:24.840 --> 00:41:26.400 story doesn't matter. I'm not even going to share 00:41:26.400 --> 00:41:29.539 it. But these are the things that can happen. 00:41:29.599 --> 00:41:34.639 I remember I saw this quote once from Jerry Bridges, 00:41:34.699 --> 00:41:37.599 this author. He says this, the sin of judgmentalism 00:41:37.599 --> 00:41:40.400 is one of the most subtle of our respectable 00:41:40.400 --> 00:41:43.920 sins because it's often practiced under the guise 00:41:43.920 --> 00:41:49.099 of being zealous for what is right. Read that 00:41:49.099 --> 00:41:53.400 carefully. Everybody has an opinion. And we assume 00:41:53.400 --> 00:41:56.980 that we have all the information we need to formulate 00:41:56.980 --> 00:41:59.139 that opinion. And of course we think our opinion 00:41:59.139 --> 00:42:02.920 is what? It's right. Otherwise we wouldn't hold 00:42:02.920 --> 00:42:06.739 it. And that's where our trouble begins. We start 00:42:06.739 --> 00:42:10.599 equating our opinions with truth. Our preferences 00:42:10.599 --> 00:42:12.579 with truth. And most of the time our opinions 00:42:12.579 --> 00:42:16.760 are only half -baked. Me included. It's half 00:42:16.760 --> 00:42:21.230 -baked. In the church, Putting leaders on a pedestal 00:42:21.230 --> 00:42:23.849 or having a critical spirit towards them are 00:42:23.849 --> 00:42:27.889 like cancer in a human body. If it's not put 00:42:27.889 --> 00:42:30.070 down, it's going to be fatal to the body. So 00:42:30.070 --> 00:42:32.769 it's incumbent upon us all to fight against those 00:42:32.769 --> 00:42:35.829 tendencies I mentioned at the outset. Playing 00:42:35.829 --> 00:42:40.110 the ranking game. Don't do it. Gossiping about 00:42:40.110 --> 00:42:43.829 our opinions about this guy or that guy. Don't 00:42:43.829 --> 00:42:47.059 do it. Thinking we know better. than those in 00:42:47.059 --> 00:42:49.300 authority when we really don't know what's going 00:42:49.300 --> 00:42:52.739 on. Stop doing that. Setting one leader against 00:42:52.739 --> 00:42:56.619 another. Because as you elevate one, you're downgrading 00:42:56.619 --> 00:42:59.519 the other. Stop doing it. By the way, does this 00:42:59.519 --> 00:43:02.539 mean that we have to honor and respect leaders 00:43:02.539 --> 00:43:04.760 to the point where they're beyond question? Absolutely 00:43:04.760 --> 00:43:08.539 not. Absolutely not. If it's handled correctly, 00:43:08.760 --> 00:43:11.340 a church member who is seeking true understanding, 00:43:11.619 --> 00:43:14.780 who comes with a measure of grace and submission, 00:43:15.420 --> 00:43:17.840 Every church leader will welcome that kind of 00:43:17.840 --> 00:43:20.780 question. I know we do here at Oak Hill, so I 00:43:20.780 --> 00:43:23.119 don't want to send that impression. By the way, 00:43:23.139 --> 00:43:25.159 just as a critical spirit can be a cancer in 00:43:25.159 --> 00:43:28.000 the body, so can a church leader who abuses the 00:43:28.000 --> 00:43:31.420 trust that God has given him. A leader who exhibits 00:43:31.420 --> 00:43:34.679 abusive or manipulative behavior, who seeks out 00:43:34.679 --> 00:43:37.619 ministry opportunities for his own benefit, who 00:43:37.619 --> 00:43:40.159 lords his authority over others, that man has 00:43:40.159 --> 00:43:43.260 to be removed. He has to be removed from leadership 00:43:43.260 --> 00:43:46.579 before he damages the body of Christ. So as I 00:43:46.579 --> 00:43:48.840 said, there's all kinds of potholes on this issue, 00:43:48.940 --> 00:43:51.420 and we need to be on guard against them. Friends, 00:43:51.480 --> 00:43:53.719 we have got to get authority right. We've got 00:43:53.719 --> 00:43:56.699 to get response to authority right on both sides 00:43:56.699 --> 00:43:59.500 of the ledger. And listen, we're doing really 00:43:59.500 --> 00:44:03.760 well at this at Oak Hill. Again, thank you. Thank 00:44:03.760 --> 00:44:05.780 you for that. You understand it. You get it. 00:44:05.840 --> 00:44:08.340 You're here with us. We're doing really well, 00:44:08.480 --> 00:44:12.280 but we always have to stay alert. and stand guard 00:44:12.280 --> 00:44:14.900 against these things that creep into the body. 00:44:15.199 --> 00:44:17.900 Elders who humbly serve the body as stewards, 00:44:18.179 --> 00:44:21.440 stewards of God's household. A congregation that 00:44:21.440 --> 00:44:25.219 resists the temptation to pass judgment and honors 00:44:25.219 --> 00:44:28.579 and respects its leaders in a balanced, healthy 00:44:28.579 --> 00:44:30.960 way. When those two things are happening at the 00:44:30.960 --> 00:44:33.440 same time, it is a beautiful thing to behold, 00:44:33.539 --> 00:44:36.280 is it not? And you know why? Because that's how 00:44:36.280 --> 00:44:39.360 God has designed his church. If we do it together, 00:44:39.460 --> 00:44:45.170 simultaneously, We glorify God. Amen? Let's bow 00:44:45.170 --> 00:44:50.889 our heads. Heavenly Father, I am grateful for 00:44:50.889 --> 00:44:53.090 the sounds of our kids in the back of the room 00:44:53.090 --> 00:44:57.010 and their parents and those helping out this 00:44:57.010 --> 00:44:59.590 morning, all the ways that you've blessed this 00:44:59.590 --> 00:45:03.449 church family with all of these beautiful families 00:45:03.449 --> 00:45:06.829 in this body. Thank you for that, God. We praise 00:45:06.829 --> 00:45:08.949 you for your word this morning. Thank you, God, 00:45:08.989 --> 00:45:13.820 for calling. Some of us here in this church as 00:45:13.820 --> 00:45:18.280 servants of yours, stewards of your house, God, 00:45:18.360 --> 00:45:20.079 strengthen us for the tasks that you've called 00:45:20.079 --> 00:45:22.139 us to. Give us a healthy, balanced perspective. 00:45:22.539 --> 00:45:24.179 Thank you for the members of the congregation, 00:45:24.500 --> 00:45:26.599 Lord, who are volunteering their time and energy, 00:45:26.699 --> 00:45:29.340 who are exercising their gifts, Lord. Continue 00:45:29.340 --> 00:45:31.659 to strengthen them for what you have in their 00:45:31.659 --> 00:45:35.380 calling. And Lord, keep us from error in this 00:45:35.380 --> 00:45:38.539 area of authority and response. Lord, protect 00:45:38.539 --> 00:45:41.860 this body. For your glory and for our good we 00:45:41.860 --> 00:45:42.780 pray. Amen.