11Conceit and  Humility (4:6-13)

Now these things, brethren, I have figuratively applied to myself and Apollos for your sakes, that in us you might learn not to exceed what is written, in order that no one of you might become arrogant in behalf of one against the other. For who regards you as superior? And what do you have that you did not receive? But if you did receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it? You are already filled, you have already become rich, you have become kings without us; and I would indeed that you had become kings so that we also might reign with you. For, I think, God has exhibited us apostles last of all, as men condemned to death; because we have become a spectacle to the world, both to angels and to men. We are fools for Christ’s sake, but you are prudent in Christ; we are weak, but you are strong; you are distinguished, but we are without honor. To this present hour we are both hungry and thirsty, and are poorly clothed, and are roughly treated, and are homeless; and we toil, working with our own hands; when we are reviled, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure; when we are slandered, we try to conciliate; we have become as the scum of the world, the dregs of all things, even until now. (4:6-13)

When Abraham was interceding to the Lord on behalf of Sodom he said, “Now behold, I have ventured to speak to the Lord, although I am but dust and ashes” (Gen. 18:27). When Jacob was afraid that Esau was about to attack him, he prayed, “I am unworthy of all the lovingkindness and of all the faithfulness which Thou hast shown to Thy servant” (Gen. 32:10). When God commanded Moses to go before Pharaoh and demand the release of the Israelites, Moses replied, “Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the sons of Israel out of Egypt?” (Ex. 3:11). In a similar way Gideon responded to God’s call to deliver His people from Midian: “O Lord, how shall I deliver Israel? Behold, my family is the least in Manasseh, and I am the youngest in my father’s house” (Judg. 6:15).

John the Baptist could not conceive of his baptizing Christ. “I have need to be baptized by You, and do You come to me?” (Matt. 3:14). The previous day John had told the crowds, “I baptize in water, but among you stands One whom you do not know It is He who comes after me, the thong of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie” (John 1:26-27). Even self-confident Peter, after witnessing the miracle of the great catch of fish, “fell down at Jesus’ feet, saying, ‘Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!’” (Luke 5:8). Paul served the Lord “with all humility” (Acts 20:19), acknowledging that “we are [not] adequate in ourselves to consider anything as coming from ourselves, but our adequacy is from God” (2 Cor. 3:5) and considering himself to be “the very least of all saints” (Eph. 3:8). God’s choice people have always been humble.

In His incarnation Jesus Christ Himself gave the greatest example of humility. Paul speaks of Him as the One who, “although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” (Phil. 2:6-8). Jesus even spoke of Himself as “gentle and humble in heart” (Matt. 11:29).

The Corinthian Christians, however, had not learned that virtue—not from the Old Testament saints or from Paul or even from the Lord Himself. Paul confronts the problem by contrasting the sin of their own conceit with the example of the apostles’ humility.

THE CORINTHIANS’ CONCEIT

Now these things, brethren, I have figuratively applied to myself and Apollos for your sakes, that in us you might learn not to exceed what is written, in order that no one of you might become arrogant in behalf of one against the other. For who regards you as superior? And what do you have that you did not receive? But if you did receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it? You are already filled, you have already become rich, you have become kings without us; and I would indeed that you had become kings so that we also might reign with you. (4:6-8)

The Corinthians were proud and boastful. The cause of their factionalism—with some claiming Paul, some Apollos, and some Cephas (1:12; 3:4, 22)—basically was pride. They were proud of their human wisdom and proud of their human leaders. It was that worldly, carnal pride that caused the serious divisions that plagued the church. Those leaders themselves were godly and humble servants of the Lord, and the Corinthians had much reason to be grateful for His having sent them such men. But instead of being grateful they were proud.

Throughout most of the letter thus far Paul had been teaching them not to exalt human wisdom and human leaders. Now these things, brethren, I have figuratively applied to myself and Apollos for your sakes. These things refers to the figures of farmers (3:6-9), builders (3:10-15), and servant-stewards (4:1-5), which refer to those who minister for the Lord. Paul tells his Corinthian brethren that he has applied these figures of speech and analogies to himself and Apollos. His reason is to begin to teach them not to exalt themselves, either: that in us you might learn not to exceed what is written, in order that no one of you might become arrogant. Paul (myself) and Apollos had been given as illustrations of what true ministers should be: humble servants and stewards (4:1). Servants are faithful and meek, not proud; stewards are trustworthy and submissive, not arrogant. Neither is any Christian to be.

God’s faithful servants are to receive proper honor and respect. We are to “appreciate those who diligently labor among [us], and have charge over [us] in the Lord and give [us] instruction” (1 Thess. 5:12), and faithful elders should “be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who work hard at preaching and teaching” (1 Tim. 5:17). But they are to be honored only within such bounds of Scripture. Godly respect turns into ungodly exaltation when we exceed what is written. When loving gratitude and legitimate loyalty are contaminated with pride and conceit, Christ’s church is fractured and weakened. What God intends as a means of unity Satan turns into a means of division.

The Corinthians had gone far beyond scriptural respect for ministers and had developed factions that were virtually sects. As is often the case, the leaders were exalted for the followers’ own sakes, not for the leaders’ sakes. The leaders were not a party to their glorification but were simply used as a focal point for the Corinthians’ own pride. In fact, the humble example of their leaders was rejected; thus Paul had to remind them of his own humility and that of Apollos. The factions gave the Corinthians a means to become arrogant in behalf of one against the other.

When the Israelites were being delivered from Egypt, Moses was clearly the leader. Moses had stood before Pharaoh and demanded the release of his people. Through Moses the Lord had performed the great miracles that finally convinced Pharaoh to let them go. Moses was the undisputed head of his people. After the Lord sent a special anointing of his Spirit on seventy of the elders, two of them, Eldad and Medad, continued to prophesy in the camp after the others had stopped. When Moses was told what they were doing, his young assistant, Joshua, was annoyed and said, “‘Moses, my lord, restrain them.’ But Moses said to him, ‘Are you jealous for my sake? Would that all the Lord’s people were prophets, that the Lord would put His Spirit upon them!’” (Num. 11:28-29). Joshua’s loyalty to Moses was misplaced. Misplaced loyalty, even to faithful men of God, inevitably brings hostility to others of God’s servants. It causes envy, competition, and division.

Moses did not exalt himself and would not let others exalt him. That was the attitude of Paul and Apollos. “If we, as God’s apostles and ministers, refuse to exalt ourselves or be exalted by you or anyone else,” Paul was telling the Corinthians, “what reason do you have to exalt yourselves?” (An interesting comparison to this text can be made from Acts 14:8-18.)

The reason was arrogance. Arrogant (phusioō) literally means to “puff up (KJV), inflate, blow up.” The term was used metaphorically to indicate pride, which is having an inflated view of oneself. Paul uses that word four times to describe the Corinthian believers (see also 4:18, 19; 5:2) and three other times to warn them against pride (8:1; 13:4; 2 Cor. 12:20). The meaning of pride basically is “I’m for me.” When everyone is pulling first of all for himself, fellowship and harmony are torn apart in the process.

A closely related sin is boasting. Pride must brag, but that is no more excusable than being arrogant. Why do you boast? Paul asked. Actually he asked the question in three parts. First, For who regards you as superior? “Why,” he says, “do you think you are above other believers in the church? Why do you think your group is better than any other? You are made of the same stuff they are and have been redeemed by the same Lord. You are no better. You have nothing to boast of.”

Second he asks, And what do you have that you did not receive? What does anyone have that, in one way or another, was not given to him? We did not give ourselves life, the food and care and protection we had as babies, an education, talents, the country we were born in, the opportunity to earn a living, the IQ we have, or anything else. No matter how hard we may have studied in school and worked at our business or profession, we would have nothing except for what the Lord and many others, by His providential hand, have given us.

Christians have been given even more. We have salvation, eternal life, God’s presence within us, His Word, His spiritual gifts, His love, and countless other blessings for which we have done nothing and can do nothing. All those are gifts of God’s grace. We have absolutely no good thing that we did not receive (cf. James 1:17; 1 Chron. 29:11-16). What does any person have to boast about?

If we have a good pastor, God gave him to us. If we have good parents, God gave them to us. If we live in a good country, God gave it to us. If we have a good mind or creative talent God gave it to us. We have no reason to boast either in people or possessions. Not only ministers, but all Christians, are but God’s stewards. Everything we have is on loan from the Lord, entrusted to us for a while to use in serving Him.

The third question follows logically. But if you did receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it? In other words, if they possessed only what someone else had given them, why were they boasting as if they had created the things themselves, or earned them? The whole foundation of their boasting was nothing more than a fabrication of their pride. Nothing is more self-deceitful than pride. We are inclined to believe almost anything about ourselves if it is favorable.

But Paul would not allow the Corinthians to remain self-deceived. He stripped away every excuse and broke down every defense. He loved them too much to allow Satan to so mislead and misuse them. The apostle was so concerned, and so determined that they would understand the seriousness of their sin, that he drove home his point with pointed sarcasm:

You are already filled, you have already become rich, you have become kings without us; and I would indeed that you had become kings so that we also might reign with you. (4:8)

To unmask their conceit he heaps on feigned praise. He tells the Corinthian believers they are great and wonderful. They are satiated with every good thing; they are wealthy; they are royal. They had it all. They had arrived. Except for the context, the Corinthians probably would have taken Paul’s words in verse 8 at face value. That is exactly what they thought of themselves. Like the Laodiceans, they considered themselves to be rich and in need of nothing. Also like the Laodiceans, however, they were really “wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked” (Rev. 3:17).

They were self-satisfied, and therefore were missing the blessing and satisfaction of those who “hunger and thirst for righteousness” (Matt. 5:6). They were not inclined to say with their former pastor, “Not that I have already obtained it, or have already become perfect” (Phil. 3:12), because, in their own minds, they had obtained it. They already considered themselves to be reigning, as if their own Millennium had begun. You have become kings without us. Continuing the sarcasm, Paul suggested that they had received their crowns from Christ without (chōris, “without the agency of”; cf. John 1:3) assistance from him and Apollos, or from any of the other apostles.

At that point the sarcasm is modified, and Paul changes from reprimand to reflection. I would indeed that you had become kings so that we also might reign with you. Paul wished that it were really coronation time for all of them. If the Millennium had truly begun, they would have had true glory, shared with them by the Lord, and would truly be reigning with Him—and with Paul and Apollos. But that was not the case. The Corinthian believers were not reigning, and they had no cause at all to glory.

THE APOSTLE’S HUMILITY

For, I think, God has exhibited us apostles last of all, as men condemned to death; because we have become a spectacle to the world, both to angels and to men. We are fools for Christ’s sake, but you are prudent in Christ; we are weak, but you are strong; you are distinguished, but we are without honor. To this present hour we are both hungry and thirsty, and are poorly clothed, and are roughly treated, and are homeless; and we toil, working with our own hands; when we are reviled, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure; when we are slandered, we try to conciliate; we have become as the scum of the world, the dregs of all things, even until now. (4:9-13)

The Father had allowed the Son to be sentenced to death and made a spectacle. Now God has exhibited us apostles last of all, as men condemned to death. To the world they were worthless teachers teaching worthless ideas, contributing nothing to mankind. The only thing they deserved was death. The imagery used here is of persons brought into the arena, condemned to die as criminals. The last ones brought out for slaughter were the grand finale. In this case, God brought the apostles out to be a spectacle in the sight of men in order to show His glory.

Verses 9-13 can be summarized by four words: spectacles, fools, sufferers, and scum. Those words describe Paul’s condition in contrast to what the Corinthians considered their condition to be. They thought they had everything in themselves; he knew he had nothing in himself.

SPECTACLES

When a Roman general won a major victory it was celebrated by what was called a triumph. The general would enter the city in great military splendor, leading his officers and troops. Behind those would come a group of prisoners in chains, with the conquered king and his officers prominently displayed for all to see and mock. The prisoners were under the sentence of death and would be taken to the arena to fight wild beasts. That is the spectacle to which Paul refers. In the spiritual warfare he was fighting he was considered to be that sort of captive, that sort of conquered prisoner, condemned to death. James Moffatt translates, “God means us apostles to come in at the very end like doomed gladiators in the arena.”

Shortly after His transfiguration Jesus told His disciples about His soon-coming arrest, death, and resurrection. They did not understand what He was talking about; but instead of asking Him to explain, they began to argue about which of them was greatest. When Jesus asked what they were discussing, they understandably were ashamed to reply.

The life of discipleship is the life of servanthood, and the life of servanthood is the life of humility—a life that so intimidates the world that it stands in danger of death (cf. John 10:2).

During the millennial kingdom the twelve apostles will reign with Christ on earth. They will “sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel” (Matt. 19:28). But when they ministered on earth they did anything but rule. They became a spectacle to the world, both to angels and to men. They were ridiculed, spit upon, imprisoned, beaten, mocked, an generally treated like criminals. Then they were last; but in Christ’s coming kingdom they will be first.

FOOLS

Renewing the sarcasm, Paul says, We are fools for Christ’s sake, but you are prudent in Christ; we are weak, but you are strong; you are distinguished, but we are without honor. “You still really think of the gospel as foolish and of its ministers as foolish. You are ashamed of being Christ’s servant. You want glory, honor, and worldly recognition.” The Corinthians still loved human wisdom, They were still tempted to look on preachers of the gospel as babblers, just as the Athenian philosophers had done (Acts 17:18). They could not bear to be fools for Christ’s sake, and thought of themselves as prudent, strong, and distinguished.

SUFFERERS

The apostles not only were spectacles and fools but sufferers for Christ’s sake. To this present hour we are both hungry and thirsty, and are poorly clothed, and are roughly treated, and are homeless. They lived in the lowest levels of society. While the Corinthian believers were living like kings, the apostles were living like slaves. The apostles had come to know firsthand the meaning of Jesus’ words, “The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head” (Matt. 8:20).

In his second letter to the Corinthians Paul cataloged his sufferings in the ministry:

Paul also engaged in toil (kopiaō, “to work to the point of exhaustion”) with his own hands, a kind of work considered by Greeks to be beneath their dignity. Manual work was for slaves. But Paul was not ashamed of any sort of treatment endured for His Lord or of any sort of work needed to be done for his Lord (cf. Acts 18:3; 20:34; 1 Thess. 2:9; 2 Thess. 3:8).

Nor was he resentful or bitter. When we are reviled (loidoreo, “to abuse with words”), we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure; when we are slandered, we try to conciliate. The apostles genuinely looked upon themselves as Christ’s galley slaves and stewards. Their concern was to be humble and faithful. They had no time for resentment or jealousy. They knew that they were immeasurably better off than their persecutors. Knowing they would be first in the coming world, they were perfectly willing to be last in this world. This gave God the opportunity to demonstrate His power in their weakness.

SCUM

We have become as the scum of the world, the dregs of all things, even until now. It is clear from the following verse (14) that Paul was still contrasting himself and the other apostles with the Corinthians. They proudly saw themselves as being on top; the apostles humbly saw themselves as on the bottom.

Scum and dregs are synonyms and refer to scrapings or offscourings cleaned from a dirty dish or pot and then thrown away. The words were commonly used figuratively of the lowest, most degraded criminals, who often were sacrificed in pagan ceremonies. That is the way the world looked at the apostles. They were religious scum and dregs, and no better than the criminals like whom they were often treated.

It is not hard for believers to get along in the world as long as they keep the gospel to themselves. But if they preach, teach, and live God’s full Word, the world takes great offense (cf. 2 Tim. 3:12). It resents being under the light of truth. Satan is the god of this world and the ruler of darkness. His kingdom cannot stand the light of the gospel and will persecute and destroy if possible those who stand for it and live in it. The world will attempt to scour off and throw away anyone who boldly proclaims the Word.

We are not scum and dregs in God’s sight, but we are nevertheless servants and stewards. Therefore neither in the world’s eyes nor in God’s eyes do we have reason to boast in ourselves. That which the Lord loves in His servants, and that which eventually will bring them reward and glory, is a humble and obedient spirit. “Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time” (1 Pet. 5:6).

Thus Paul brings to a climax the denunciation of the Corinthians’ proud, divisive, and factious spirit.