1 Corinthians 4:1, 2
The setting in Corinth-
Paul was the founding father of the church.
He had led many of them to Christ.
The church had become very carnal, and had begun to divide.
Church members were aligning themselves with their favorite teachers.
Some of them had become critical of Paul, and were diminishing his ministry.
Paul writes to instruct them about how they/we should view one another.
1Let a man so consider us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God.
Servants- Speaks of the galley slave.
The galley slave was assigned to be an under-rower in the belly of the boat.
His job was to listen to the voice of his master, who would give the slaves verbal directions, i.e., forward, stop, reverse, slow, fast, etc.
The galley slave was vitally important to the progress and purpose of the boat.
Though vitally important, he was unseen, unnoticed, and un-thanked.
The galley slave’s only job was to listen to the voice of his master, and then respond.
He would work in unison with many others like himself.
None of them had the opportunity to contribute suggestions, oversee others, or re-arrange anything.
Their only purpose was to hear the voice of their master, and to respond.
Stewards-Speaks of a manager of a household.
There was always an owner of a home, and under him, various stewards.
EXAMPLE- Joseph was a steward in the house of Potiphar.
Joseph was a slave to Potiphar, but a manager over other slaves.
Joseph was, at the same time, and slave to one man, and a leader to others.
He had two roles to fulfill.
A steward was given resources to use to his master’s benefit.
A steward was considered wise enough, and mature enough to not need direct oversight.
A good steward knew the values of his master, and knew how his master wanted things done.
The good steward knew his responsibilities, was a self starter, and knew how to use all the resources on hand.
The good steward knew how to work with other people, and to inspire them to accomplish a task.
Much greater maturity was/is required of a steward than of a galley slave.
2Moreover it is required in stewards that one be found faithful.
There was a great deal of difference between the faithfulness of a slave and the faithfulness of a steward.
Slave- Faithfulness or unfaithfulness was seen immediately.
Either he was rowing correctly, or he wasn’t.
Faithfulness was easy to discern, because not much was required.
Steward- Faithfulness for a steward was more difficult to discern.
It would take weeks, months, years, to determine the faithfulness and value of a steward.
A dishonest steward was not constantly watched, and so he could pilfer, lie, and cheat ever so slightly, and his dishonesty would not appear for a long time.
A good steward might take a log time to prove his usefulness.
After months of good decisions, wise choices, discipline and commitment, his value would be seen and appreciated.
THOUGHTS-Every steward is a slave, but not every slave is a steward.
Being a slave takes no thought or consideration.
Being a steward requires thought, consideration, prayer, good judgment.
Slaves require direct oversight and detailed instructions.
Stewards understand the big picture, and can be trusted to make good decisions because they understand their master’s thoughts.
Successful slaves need to only show up and do what they are told.
Successful stewards think ahead, pray ahead, plan ahead.
Successful slaves don’t need to know the mind and heart of their master.
Successful stewards need to and want to know the mind and heart of their master.
APPLICATION FOR US-
Each of us in ministry must be a slave to Jesus Christ.
It is His voice that we are primarily interested in.
We need to be sure what He is asking each of us to do.
We will minister harmoniously if we are each responding to the voice of the Lord.
The call to stewardship is a higher call.
It is more than just showing up and doing what is asked of us.
It means we are investing time and energy into our spiritual lives and into our ministries.
We are not only managing our lives, but we are managing our ministries.
Stewards will understand not only the heart of Christ, but the heart of he pastor.
Stewards will find themselves subservient to the pastor, but a leader over others.
The slave wears only one hat; it is give to him, and it never changes.
The steward wears many hats, and has the sp. maturity to manage his life and ministry.
The steward sees the need to relate well with people both up and down the ministry ladder