A VERY SMALL THING
1 Corinthians 4:1-4 NKJV
4 Let a man so consider us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. 2 Moreover it is required in stewards that one be found faithful. 3 But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by a human court. In fact, I do not even judge myself. 4 For I know of nothing against myself, yet I am not justified by this; but He who judges me is the Lord.
This past Sunday, I spoke on some of the things that can weigh us down spiritually. The basic premise was that natural weights slow us down when it comes to walking or running. And, according to Jesus in Luke 21:34, things can weigh down our hearts. Being weighed down on the inside is even more taxing than a physical burden.
One of the weights that Jesus mentioned was the worries and cares of this life. And one of those worries and cares is an over concern with what people think of you. People get all wrapped around the axle thinking about how others are thinking of them. Paul had a great answer for that concern.
Paul is telling the Corinthian church how they should think about him. Not as some great figure but rather as a servant of Christ and a manager of the mysteries of God. Paul was not ashamed of being an apostle, but he often referred to himself as a servant, soldier and a faithful laborer for Christ. Paul was not into being anything more than a vessel that the Lord used to reach the Corinthians. I can only surmise that one of the keys to Paul’s effectiveness in the gospel was his humility.
Verse three is a great verse that gives us some insight into Paul’s perspective. Paul was not worried about what the Corinthians thought of him. In fact, he considered it a small thing, actually a very small thing to be judged by the church at Corinth. Paul considered it to be a very small thing to be judged by people, period. Paul indicated that he did not even judge himself. I am sure Paul examined his life and made adjustments, but the one Paul stood before was the Lord.
The word judge means to examine in order to pass sentence upon. And yet, in 1 Corinthians 11:31, Paul says we are to judge ourselves so we are not judged. But the word judge in these verses is actually two different Greek words. We must examine our lives, but the only true righteous judge who can pass sentence is the Lord. Paul was not concerned about being judged by people. Judging others is a job we leave for the Lord. We can certainly examine fruit in someone’s life, but we are not equipped to pass sentence upon them.
Paul did not know of anything that he was doing wrong, but he did not let that speak for him. The Lord is the judge, so Paul was not nearly as concerned with what people thought. What people thought of him was a very small thing.
APPLICATION
This is a great goal to shoot for, considering people’s thoughts, assessments, and judgments to be a very small thing. Talk about lifting a weight off of us. Now, we can add to that process by endeavoring to live a life before God that has fruit and leaves little room for finger-pointing. But no one is immune from the judging blows of people. We can’t stop people from judging, but we can stop their judgments from getting to us. Only when we consider their judgments, good or bad, a very small thing.