1 Corinthians 4:14-17 Live As Dear Children!

1 Corinthians 4:14-17  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.

Paul's commitment to the churches he founded as an apostle for Christ was similar to a good father of a family.  He was dedicated to their survival; he would do anything to make sure that his children in the spirit would live healthy lives untainted by the corruption of the world.  He knew what he had birthed by the Spirit of God were new creatures, forever in the family of God.  Therefore, Paul not only reveals a great love for these children in the household of God; he also reveals a great concern about their lifestyles and thinking processes.  He wants them to know that their lives need to measure up to what Christ would want from them.  To reveal to them what a life in Christ should look like, he points to himself: Therefore I urge you to imitate me.  Of course, Paul's life was totally committed to Christ.  He knew eternal life was his promise, not just a better life here on Earth.  And he knew Christ had given all for him.  Therefore, he pressed into Christ, to know him, to love him, to serve him.  But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ.  What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ — the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith.  I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,  and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.  (Philippians 3:7-11)  These Corinthians were so precious to him that he was not willing to trust their spiritual well-being to just anyone.  He wanted them to know what it means to live for Christ; therefore, he sent Timothy, who is faithful in the Lord.  Timothy would sustain Paul's effort of teaching the Corinthians what it means to live a life for Christ, what it means to be a new creature in a land of sin and destructiveness.  Timothy would remind them to live as Paul lives, live as new creatures, breathing a new life source, not just air, but the breath of the Spirit of God.

The Corinthians, as with all the Gentile Christians, experienced difficulty casting off their old lifestyles and ways of thinking.  Their heritage of living self-willed, sinful lives was in their culture, part of their inheritance.  The Jews had the law that taught them what sin was, that God hated this self-centered life of darkness, but the Gentiles lacked this background.  Paul, as father of these churches, was constantly battling this carnal nature, turning them away from their old habits of living towards a life in Christ.  So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking.  They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts.  Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, with a continual lust for more.  (Ephesians 4:17-19)  He wanted these nascent churches, new communities of believers, to become mature in Christ.  To know what maturity means, they needed to look at Paul's life, his concerns, his passions, his understanding, his love, his dedication to them and to the gospel of Christ.  He did not want them to live in a place of ignorance, following Christ in a fleshly and worldly manner.  He wanted them to reject such thinking, to commit themselves fully to Christ and to the work of the Father.  For to live as a fleshly Christian is dangerous to their souls and to the growth of the body of Christ.  But to be found fully in Christ, dedicated wholly to him, creates a place of security where the Holy Spirit teaches and leads God's people into all truth.  Paul desired this for his flock as he told the church in Ephesus: Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming.  Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ.  From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.  Ephesians 4:14)

Paul loved his brothers and sisters in the Lord; He also knew he was their spiritual father.  He wanted them to stand firm in the Lord regardless of anything adversely affecting their faith.  He knew they lived in a dangerous neighborhood, the Gentile world.  For them to witness of Christ's redeeming work was dangerous for them.  Even though he knows their situation, he asks them to follow Christ as he follows Christ, unafraid of persecution, even the sentence of death.  Now, dear friends at this breakfast table, are we following Christ as Paul followed him?  In our personal lives and in our interactions with others are we following Christ?  We have the Word as our light; we know what darkness is.  Are we dabbling with elements from our old lifestyle: desiring things that are part of the Gentile world, the old man or woman's world?  Are we talking and thinking as Gentiles do, seeking to hurt others, criticizing, not loving our enemies.  Do we care more for the acquisition of material things than for the things of God?  Can we say our lifestyle is different from the world?  Do we seek the same things on television or on our electronic devices that the Gentiles love?  Paul feared for the Corinthians.  He feared the lifestyle of the Gentiles still permeated the minds of the Corinthians.  He knew they were allowing sin a clear presence within their community of believers.  Of course, if they blended in with the majority culture, they would receive less persecution, hatred, and rejection.  But Paul knew blending in with the world would eventually destroy their passion and will to follow Christ.  He wanted their minds, activities, and lifestyles to be totally committed to Christ.  For Paul, to live was Christ alone.  He wanted everyone to have that same life.  As a good spiritual father, he called them to a life centered on Christ and his purposes.  For this to happen, they had to set their minds on the things of God: Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable — if anything is excellent or praiseworthy — think about such things.  Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me — put it into practice.  And the God of peace will be with you.  (Philippians 4:8-9)  Find that peace in Christ today and follow him.