Broken
Have you ever found yourself beaten and homeless?
Think of us in this way, as servants of Christ and stewards of God’s mysteries. Moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found trustworthy. But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by any human court. I do not even judge myself. I am not aware of anything against myself, but I am not thereby acquitted. It is the Lord who judges me. Therefore do not pronounce judgment before the time, before the Lord comes, who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart. Then each one will receive commendation from God. I have applied all this to Apollos and myself for your benefit, brothers and sisters, so that you may learn through us the meaning of the saying, “Nothing beyond what is written,” so that none of you will be puffed up in favor of one against another. For who sees anything different in you? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you received it, why do you boast as if it were not a gift? Already you have all you want! Already you have become rich! Quite apart from us you have become kings! Indeed, I wish that you had become kings, so that we might be kings with you! For I think that God has exhibited us apostles as last of all, as though sentenced to death, because we have become a spectacle to the world, to angels and to mortals. We are fools for the sake of Christ, but you are wise in Christ. We are weak, but you are strong. You are held in honor, but we in disrepute. To the present hour we are hungry and thirsty, we are poorly clothed and beaten and homeless, and we grow weary from the work of our own hands. When reviled, we bless; when persecuted, we endure; when slandered, we speak kindly. We have become like the rubbish of the world, the dregs of all things, to this very day. I am not writing this to make you ashamed, but to admonish you as my beloved children. For though you might have ten thousand guardians in Christ, you do not have many fathers. Indeed, in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel. I appeal to you, then, be imitators of me. - 1 Corinthians 4:1-16
Paul is telling the people of Corinth that they have made a mistake by building themselves up as followers of Christ.
How often do we do the same thing, seeing ourselves as good or righteous while mentally judging others?
Until we find ourselves beaten and broken, without understanding why, like Job, we think we have earned our grace.
Things are going well, we may say, because we are good.
But things may be going well despite our actions, not because of them.
Be like me, Paul says. Humble yourself and know what it is like to be without, to be broken before God and man, and then you will begin to understand the kingdom.
God is in all of us, but we have to want a relationship with God in order to feel His presence in our lives.
It is not He who abandons us but we who abandon Him.
So, Paul says being beaten can lead us closer to God, not away from Him, and we will have a glimpse of what it was like to be Christ, sacrificed for all.
No one wants to bring pain and suffering upon themselves, and we pray that it never comes, but there will be a time when things start to go wrong. Then we will need to remind ourselves that God is there in the dregs with us.
More to come...