1 Corinthians 4:8-13 The Passion of the Apostles!

1 Corinthians 4:8-13  Already you have all you want!  Already you have become rich!  You have become kings — and that without us!  How I wish that you really had become kings so that we might be kings with you!  For it seems to me that God has put us apostles on display at the end of the procession, like men condemned to die in the arena.  We have been made a spectacle to the whole universe, to angels as well as to men.  We are fools for Christ, but you are so wise in Christ!  We are weak, but you are strong!  You are honored, we are dishonored!  To this very hour we go hungry and thirsty, we are in rags, we are brutally treated, we are homeless.  We work hard with our own hands.  When we are cursed, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it; when we are slandered, we answer kindly.  Up to this moment we have become the scum of the earth, the refuse of the world.
In the above verses, Paul expresses frustration with the Corinthians.  This church was in conflict about who they should follow as their leader.  Paul is upset, for they disputed extraneous ideas rather than propagating the Good News.  The Corinthians seemed to be more concerned in discussing their opinions about leadership and theology than they were in furthering the gospel of Christ in their community.  Paul evidences disappointment, for they are spending their time expressing different viewpoints, rather than working in unity, carrying forth the message of God to Corinth.  Different factions were fighting each other, each group believing they had all the answers.  Paul castigates them by saying, Already you have all you want!  Already you have become rich!  You have become kings — and that without us!  Paul sees the Christians in Corinth as self-satisfied, behaving as kings, living in their own homes, doing what they want, concentrating on themselves, rather than on others.  Paul sarcastically says, We are fools for Christ, but you are so wise in Christ!  I wish your lifestyle, your point of view, your great knowledge would be mine also, so that I could participate in a life of ease, disputing ideas, discussing leadership, not having to face persecution or struggles because of following Christ.  All the apostles would love to participate in such a lifestyle, where disputation with our brethren is our only concern, where there is no dying, no pain of rejection from the outside world.  How I wish that you really had become kings so that we might be kings with you where persecution ceases, where beatings and stonings do not exist.  Of course we know Paul is attempting to shame his brethren with these words.  He would not trade places with them because he is doing God's work as the Spirit leads him.  His point is clear: this church has gone astray.  We know how Paul felt about his commitment to Christ from what he wrote to the Philippians: 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 3:8-11)  

In comparison, Paul and the apostles' lives differed significantly from the lives of the factions in Corinth.  In propagating the Good News to the world, the apostles did indeed become the scum of the earth, the refuse of the world.  As Paul depicts them, they were prisoners of war, dragged along at the end of a triumphal procession through the streets of the victorious conquerors' cities.  As prisoners, they are manacled, ropes around their necks, spit upon by bystanders, reviled and ridiculed by the crowd as they proceeded through the streets.  They were prisoners without hope of rescue, for they came to make converts in towns with few or no believers.  They were destined for a horrible ending.  Paul uses this image in sharp contrast with the Corinthians who dispute about their leaders and their beliefs in the comfort of their safe environment.  Paul is not exaggerating in this depiction, for he has experienced what it means to be in chains, beaten, left for dead outside the city gates, to be a prisoner at the mercy of someone else.  Paul understands the pain of hearing about the persecution or the death of a fellow soldier of the cross.  He knows what it means to have people sworn to hunt you down and to kill you.  He knows James was beheaded, Jesus was crucified, and Peter was thrown in jail to face death.  He knows his own death will undoubtedly come at the hands of his enemies.  For it seems to me that God has put us apostles on display at the end of the procession, like men condemned to die in the arena.  Paul expresses what many Christians do not want to hear: God's plan for our lives goes far beyond our comfort, our peace, even our salvation.  King Herod who killed James and imprisoned Peter did not die because of his mistreatment of God's anointed.  No, he died because he allowed men to glorify him as god.  Herod should have died because he killed James who walked with Jesus.  That would have been justice, but James' life and his death was for a greater purpose.  The apostles lived their lives for God, regardless of the consequences.  The Good News they spread of life eternal in Christ Jesus was more important that whether they lived or died or whether they were in the front of the procession as conquers or at the end as defeated prisoners.  As Paul said,  For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.  (Philippians 1:22)  

Today, Christians can hardly imagine being dragged through a city as prisoners.  No, as with the Corinthians, we would rather be kings, kings in our lifestyle, our personal pursuits, and our religious ideas.  We would rather see our lives from the perspective of the King's kids, children of God.  Of course, by the Spirit, we are sons and daughters of God, but as such we are called to serve.  We will face some hardships, pain, and sorrow following our Lord.  The apostles faced all of this because their purpose was to spread the gospel.  Our purpose is to spread the same gospel wherever we are found.  This does not always make life easy.  When we are cursed, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it; when we are slandered, we answer kindly.  Yes, the Lord our God is the Creator of all things: every animal of the forest is mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills.  I know every bird in the mountains, and the creatures of the field are mine.  (Psalm 50:10-11)  But this reality does not cause our lives to unfold exactly as we desire.  Yet as instruments of God, filled with the Holy Spirit, we live as testimonies for the eternal Creator.  By faith we overcome until the end, regardless of the circumstances.  We proclaim the joy of Lord as our strength when we are seemingly in a prison of hopelessness.  The crowd joined in the attack against Paul and Silas, and the magistrates ordered them to be stripped and beaten.  After they had been severely flogged, they were thrown into prison, and the jailer was commanded to guard them carefully.  Upon receiving such orders, he put them in the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks.  About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them.  (Acts 16:22-25)  Notice, the other prisoners were listening to them.  At this time, Paul and Silas had no knowledge of a victorious deliverance from their situation.  They were in a hopeless place, but they prayed and sang.  We are not kings as Paul asserts for the Corinthians.  We do not have all the answers, but we do know with the apostles that God is in charge.  As children of the Most High, we can declare: I can do everything through him who gives me strength.  (Philippians 4:13)  Therefore, live for the Lord with passion, the passion the apostles displayed for Christ when life was so dear for them.