Verse 16 reads, "Wherefore I beseech you be ye followers of me." Why would Paul ask them to be followers of him when the basic problem at Corinth is that individ uals were following Paul or Apollos or Cephas or some other leader? This would almost seem at first glance that he is encouraging fur ther division. Not so. Paul says, "Be ye followers of me." By that he does not mean, "I am your leader and you should all become 'little Pauls'." Rather, he wants them to follow his pattern of being like Christ. Paul's desire was to be like Christ. In Philippians we have that spelled out very clearly for us and what Paul is saying here is, "I wish that you could do the same thing that I do — attempt to be like Christ, be an imitator of me in this process of imitating Christ." And to that end we see in verse 17 that he sent Timothy. Why? "Who shall bring you into remembrance of my ways which be in Christ." Paul taught in Philippians 2:3ff that we ought to be humble, we ought to follow the example of Christ and humble ourselves before others. Already in I Corinthians 4, Paul has indicated that these peo ple are puffed up, that is, they are full of hot air, talking about them selves. And now in verse 18 of I Corinthians 4, he comes back to that same idea and he says, "Now some are puffed up, as though I would not come to you." Perhaps Paul, feeling that since he indicated that Timothy was go ing to come and help teach them, they might think Paul was afraid to show his face. But he says, "No, that is not it at all." In fact, as he Page 19
printed message needs to be tested to see whether or not the intended message is getting across. As pow erful as the ministry of the Holy Spirit is, as powerful as prayer is, we are still obligated to use the new minds we have in Christ to produce effective material. The more we use the intelligence that Cod has given us in producing lit erature, the more that literature is going to be able to be used of God Himself. Paul is saying in I Corinthians 4:14, "I have not written these things to shame you, but I have written these things to bring about understanding." Remember that in Isaiah 1:8 we have an excellent pattern that we ought to be follow ing in our life as we attempt to reach others. There Isaiah writes, "Come now let us reason together, saith the Lord. Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be white as snow, though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool." In verse 15, Paul gives the reason for his approach. He writes, "For though ye have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet have ye not many fathers: for in Christ Je sus I have begotten you through the gospel." There is genuine con cern here. As an apostle, he knew of their response to the message of salvation and he was eager that they would grow and mature in the Christian life. I believe it grieved Paul that some at Corinth would encourage division and even allow immorality to exist without con cern for the life of the Church. He is motivated by a fatherly love and he longs to impart understanding. In addition to love, he was moti vated by a strong desire for change, not an argument.
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