Imitate, Don’t Idolize

0:51The faces are contorting and they're elongating the vowels and everything. It looks very silly. But they're trying to get the children to imitate them, their faces and the sounds, so that they'll know how to speak this new language. Imitation is just a key component of learning a language. And imitation, for that matter, is a key component to learning anything. Imitation is how artists first learn how to draw. Imitation is how athletes first learn how to play sports. Imitation is how musicians first learn how to play instruments. Imitation is key.

1:31Friends, today we come to chapter 4 in 1 Corinthians, and chapter 4 is the conclusion to this lengthy section on division on how the church was dividing over their preferred spiritual leaders, Paul and Apollos and Peter, to be specific. And the problem with the church in Corinth was the same problem that we all face. They had left the realm of imitation, of wanting to be like these leaders because these leaders were like Christ, and they had moved into the realm of idolatry.

2:06We're tempted to do the same thing all the time in the church today: to look at spiritual leaders, to look at authors, at pastors, at our mentors, and not imitate them, but idolize them. Make them more than they really are. And so, friends, today in 1 Corinthians 4, we're going to learn that God gives us spiritual leaders to imitate, not to idolize. Now, at the end of chapter 3, if you were here last week or if you've read that chapter before, you know that at the end of chapter 3, Paul ends by telling the Corinthians not to boast in any men, whether in him or Apollos or Peter or anyone else, don't boast in men. Instead, look here at how he begins chapter 4.

2:54This is how one should regard us as servants of Christ and stewards. Of the mysteries of God. Well, a servant's job is to obey his master. A steward's job is to faithfully manage her boss's assets. That's what servants and stewards do. No one should think of Paul or Apollos, any of the other spiritual leaders as more than servants of Christ or stewards of the mysteries of God. They are not leaders of different warring factions during a revolution. They are all a part of the same kingdom, serving the same king, Jesus. And so he says, we only want to be regarded as what we are, which is servants and stewards.

3:50You're not going to make an idol out of a servant or a steward. You might make an idol out of a famous person, out of a great communicator, a great musician, a YouTube sensation, a social media influencer. But you're never going to make an idol out of a servant or a steward. So Paul says, that's how you should regard us. But he transitions in verse 3 and he says, listen, I'm not overly concerned with how you view me or how anyone on this earth views me.

4:24He says, I don't even judge myself. When Paul looked at his own life, He had a clear conscience before the Lord. Look what he says in verse 3. I do not even judge myself, for I am not aware of anything against myself, but I am not thereby acquitted. He says he doesn't even bother to judge himself, meaning the fruit of his life and ministry, because he's not the final judge. The Corinthians aren't the final judge, the world is not the final judge, but even Paul himself is not the final judge. It is God who is going to judge him, faithful or not, in the end. Therefore, look at verse 5, therefore do not pronounce judgment before the time, before the Lord comes.

5:11Well, why not? Paul gives three reasons. The first reason we don't pronounce judgment before the time is because Jesus brings to light everything that's hidden in darkness now. He's going to bring to light everything that's hidden in darkness. When he returns, what that means is that every deed is going to be exposed. Everything will be laid bare. What we have done in the dark, in private, when no other human beings are watching us, all of that is going to be exposed.

5:49God is going to bring every one of those deeds into light. And what this means is that we can trust God to rightly judge what people. Have done. Second, we don't pronounce judgment before the time because Jesus is going to disclose the purposes of the heart. He's going to disclose the purposes of the heart. So, not only what they have done, but he's going to disclose why they did it. He's going to disclose their motives. Were they true motives or false motives? Were they selfish motives? He's going to disclose those things. And what that means is that we can trust God to rightly judge why people have done what they've done.

6:39Third, we don't pronounce judgment before the time because only at the end will all of us receive commendation from the Lord. Whatever rewards people may receive or not receive from the Lord, that's not our business. That doesn't need to concern us. God's assessment is the one that matters. And as we saw last week in chapter 3, we can trust Him to judge who deserves rewards, who does not deserve rewards, and who deserves to be punished. We can trust Him for that.

7:15Friends, God knows what people have done and why they've done it. He is the only one who is perfectly righteous and has perfect judgment, and so we can leave that to Him. So, judging this person. Or this ministry as faithful and fruitful because it looks successful in the eyes of the world is a mistake. And judging this ministry or this person because it looks faithless or fruitless as a failure is also a mistake. God alone knows what people are doing and why they're doing it. So we need to not concern ourselves with that. We need to focus on ourselves and our own faithfulness as individual Christians and as part of this local church.

8:11Now it may seem like Paul has been talking a lot about himself and about Apollos as well, these two prominent spiritual leaders. And if we look in verses 6 and 7, we find out why. Take a look there. He says he's doing all this that you may learn by us not to go beyond what is written, that none of you may be puffed up in favor of one against another. Paul says the reason that he's giving so many examples with him and Apollos is so they will learn not to go beyond what is written, but just to stay with the word of God that they've been taught from these faithful men.

8:52You see, adding to the word of God has been going on since the Garden of Eden. What did God Command Adam in Genesis chapter 2. He told him, you can eat from any tree in the garden, but do not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, because on the day that you do it, you'll die. Eight seconds later, the serpent asks Eve, what did God say to you? And Eve replies, We cannot eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

9:29We can't even touch it, or we'll die. God never said anything about not touching the tree. He only said, Don't eat of it. And how much did adding that extra command help Eve in that moment? Not a bit. It didn't even slow down. What about the Pharisees in Jesus' day? They added hundreds of commands on top of the already hundreds of commands in the Mosaic law. Did it help them to obey God from the heart as he had commanded? No. It just puffed them up with pride because they had the time and the money and the knowledge that was required to keep those extra man-made commands that many people in Israel simply did not have. All it did was puff them up with pride. They looked down on everybody who couldn't keep these commands.

10:30Friends, here's the truth about adding to God's word. Adding to God's Word puffs us up with pride and doesn't make us any better at keeping God's law. And it's that pride that leads to these factions and divisions and boasting that Paul is addressing here in verse 7. When we divide up into factions, it's because we've become puffed up with pride. And we've become puffed up with pride because we've gone beyond what is written in God's Word.

11:04Friends, the key to unity in the church is sticking to what is written. That doesn't mean that we can't discuss, debate, even the meaning and application of Scripture. All of us have opinions and convictions. Some of us have opinions and convictions that are very strong about certain areas of life. How children should be educated. Whether children should be vaccinated. What kinds of foods you should always eat or never eat. What kind of music we sing on Sunday mornings. How money should be spent or shouldn't be spent. Listen, you can hold strong opinions, even strong convictions about these or any other areas of life. That's fine. But if we become puffed up, Up with pride, and we go beyond what is written in God's Word, the inevitable result is division in the church.

12:11So, no matter what opinions, what convictions we hold on non-essential matters of faith and practice, we have to be sure that we don't become puffed up with pride and cause divisions in the church along the camps of our opinions or convictions. That was the problem in Corinth. They had gone beyond what was written. They divided up over certain teachers and their teachings. They were proud, which meant that they looked a whole lot like the world and not very much like the apostles, to say nothing of Christ Himself.

12:47I want to look again at the section beginning in verse 8. He says, Already you have all you want. Already you have become rich. Without us, you have become kings. And would that you did reign, so that we might share the rule with you. For I think that God has exhibited us apostles as last of all, like men sentenced to death, because we have become a spectacle to the world, to angels, and to men. We are fools for Christ's sake, but you are wise in Christ. We are weak, but you are strong. You are held in honor.

13:30But we in disrepute. To the present hour, we hunger and thirst. We are poorly dressed and buffeted and homeless, and we labor working with our own hands. When reviled, we blessed. When persecuted, we endure. When slandered, we entreat. We have become and are still like the scum of the world, the refuse of all things. There is a huge contrast between the way the apostles lived and the way the Corinthians were living. There's a huge contrast between the way that the apostles were viewed by the world and the way the Corinthians were viewed by the world.

14:18Paul says, We're considered foolish and weak and of no reputation, or poor. You Corinthians are wise and strong and honored and rich. And look at what Jesus said about his followers in John 15. If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own. But because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.

14:58So in these verses, Paul is like, let's take a look at the situation here. Let's consider the contrast between our life and your lives. We are considered foolish by the world. We are weak. We're hungry and thirsty all the time. We're poor, poorly clothed, buffeted, homeless. We have to do blue-collar work just to support ourselves, work that you guys look down on. And then he says, Look at the Corinthians. Look at yourselves. The world thinks you're wise, and you agree. The world thinks you're strong, and you agree. You're well-respected, you're wealthy. So Paul is saying, in light of what Jesus taught would be true of his disciples, in light of how the apostles are living, and in light of how you, the Corinthians, are living, what does it tell you that you guys are living like kings and we're treated like the scum of the earth?

16:07Of all the many convicting passages in the New Testament, this is one of the most convicting. We often call out the so-called prosperity gospel and its proponents, and rightfully so. The prosperity gospel. Gospel is a false gospel. Jesus came to save us from our sin and its consequences. He did not come to make us healthy and wealthy in this life. And yet, not only are nearly all of us healthy and wealthy, but we expect to be.

16:55We believe that we have the right to health care. More than that. We believe we have the right to affordable health care. More than that. We believe that we have the right to affordable health care right now. We shouldn't have to suffer for five seconds from a headache or a debilitating illness. We believe that we have the right to beautiful homes, new cars, $5 lattes. We just consider these things as rights. And friends, we are exporting that kind of Christianity all over the world to where the rest of the world has come to the conclusion that that's what Christianity is. It's a religion of health and wealth.

17:45I just think we need to sober up. I think we need to take a hard look at what we really believe about health and wealth as Christians before we ever share another Babylon B post. About Joel Osteen. Look at Matthew 23. Then Jesus said to the crowds and his disciples, the scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses' seat. So do and observe whatever they tell you, but not the works they do, for they preach, but do not practice.

18:28The problem with the Pharisees wasn't their theology. Jesus said, do whatever they tell you. Their theology is right. He said, just don't do what they do. Why? Because they're hypocrites. And I think when we read this passage, we've got to take a hard look in the mirror. We've got to say, I believe in my head that Jesus did not come to make me healthy and wealthy in this life. But does my lifestyle back up that theology?

19:01Do I react to trials and sicknesses and persecution? Do I react to not having the financial means that I would like to have the clothes and the car and the home and the experiences that I want? Do I respond to those things as though I am owed those things by God? Or do I respond to those things in such a way that recognizes that they are blessings that we do not deserve? If we have them, they are blessings that we do not deserve.

19:32Look at what Tom Schreiner wrote. The world does not praise and commend Christians, but slanders and rejects them. If society commends and celebrates believers, it is likely a sign that the latter have thrown their lot in with the world. At the beginning of chapter 3, Paul said that he couldn't even address the Corinthians as believers, as spiritual people, because they were living so much like the world. He couldn't even tell the difference between the rest of the people who lived in the city of Corinth and these Christians.

20:14And here at the end of chapter 4, Paul is asking us to consider the life and the teachings of Jesus and the life and the teachings of the apostles. The lives of the apostles looked a lot like the life of Jesus. But for the Corinthians, and maybe for us as well, our lives don't look a lot like the life of the apostles, to say nothing of the life of Jesus. Now, as you can see in verse 14, Paul is not trying to shame them. Look what he says. I'm not seeking to make you ashamed. Okay, hear those words. Paul is not seeking to make them ashamed. I'm not trying to shame you or myself. I'm in the same boat as everyone else in this room. He says, I am not seeking to make you ashamed, but to admonish you as my beloved children. Remember, Paul was the one who brought the gospel to Corinth. He was their spiritual father. He's the one who introduced them to Christ, and he's the one who planted and then built up the church at first. His goal was not condemnation. His goal was conviction. He wanted to spur them toward repentance and faith for all the ways that their lives did not look like Jesus' life.

21:41And that's what he's doing for us as well. So look at what he says in verse 16. I urge you then, be imitators of me. That is why I sent you Timothy, my beloved and faithful child in the Lord, to remind you of my ways in Christ as I teach them everywhere in every church. In other words, what Paul is saying is, guys, don't idolize me. Imitate me. And if you've forgotten what my life and teaching was like, just look at Timothy. His life and teaching is the same as mine.

22:29Isn't that incredible? Credible? Isn't that amazing? I mean, can we point to someone in our life and say, if you want to know what my life and my teaching is all about, just look at this person. I have discipled them. And could we say that if that's true, that they're just like us? Is that a good thing? Are they like Christ because they're imitating us and we are imitating Christ? Would that be a good thing? What a challenge. Just a couple months ago at the start of the semester, we were reminded through this brief series we did called Who's Your One? that we are all called to be disciple makers. That's what a Christian is. That's not just what a Christian missionary is, that's what a Christian is, a disciple maker.

23:21And so we have to ask ourselves that hard question. Am I making disciples with my life, with my teaching, with my example? Or am I making disciples of the world? Paul was comfortable telling the Corinthians to imitate him and to imitate Timothy because they were imitating Christ. He was their spiritual father, setting an example for his kids. But unfortunately, some people in Corinth did not look at Paul like the spiritual father that he was. If you look at verse 18, Some people are arrogant. They're speaking against Paul and acting like he wouldn't come back and challenge them anyway.

24:09But Paul was clear that if it was God's will, he would come soon. And when he came, boy, he was going to drop the hammer on these arrogant, divisive people. Look at what he says. He says in verse 19, But I will come to you soon if the Lord wills, and I will find out not the talk of these arrogant people, but their power. For the kingdom of God does not consist in talk, but in power.

24:40Now, Paul is scrawling this out on the papyrus, but if he had a mic, this is where he drops it. The kingdom of God does not consist in talk, but in power. He's not coming back to debate these divisive people. They're not going to set up a couple of chairs and have some news stations out there. No, he's going to go toe-to-toe with them and say, let's see who has the Holy Spirit's seal of approval. Let's see who actually is backed by the power of the Spirit in their ministry. And I'm telling you right now, if you've ever read the book of Acts, you don't want to go toe-to-toe with Paul on this. He has looked at people and said, you're going to be blind now, and they were blind. Not good.

25:22He was willing to confront when necessary because he loved the Corinthians like a good father loves his children. And like a good father, look at how he ends. He says, I don't want to come with a spirit, with a rod, rather, but with a spirit of love and in gentleness. He didn't want to come back and discipline them, but he was willing to do so for their good. And that's what we're going to be talking about next week in chapter 5. Is that there are some people that simply need to be disciplined for their good and for the good of the church.

26:02Friends, chapter 4 wraps up a long section, four full chapters on division in the church. Think about that for a second. This book is 16 chapters long. Fully 25% of the book is devoted to division in the church. That's how big of a deal this is. So, if we combine what we learned today with what we learned last week, what we have seen in the past couple of weeks is that there are no superstars in the church. There are just role players who do their jobs. We see today that we are just servants of Christ, stewards of the mysteries of God.

26:44In God's kindness and wisdom, He has given us spiritual leaders to imitate and to learn from. If you go and you read all of the passages in the New Testament about pastors in the local church, about elders in the local church, what you find is That in every one of those passages, it's either implied or stated that their job is to teach. But it doesn't stop there. In every passage, it's either implied or stated that their job is to set an example, to live a life worth imitating.

27:21And so I want to leave you this morning with three encouragements from this chapter. First, let me encourage you not to idolize any human leader. Don't idolize any human leader. So that would include famous ones like John Piper or Matt Chandler. That would include regular leaders like the pastors in this church or your life group leaders or older men and women that you look up to. Please imitate what is best in John Piper and Matt Chandler and every other leader you know, but do not idolize any one of us. I can assure you, my wife and kids do not idolize me.

28:10You guys often see me on Sunday morning. I have slept. I have had coffee. I am wearing a clean shirt that I ironed. I am teaching the word of God, so I'm probably not actively sinning in front of you. But I can tell you that. Even though you might conclude, what a holy man, what a great Christian and husband and dad, I can assure you that most of the time, I am a faithful Christian, husband, and dad, worthy of imitation.

28:48But I make a sorry idol because I sin and I need a Savior, just like you. And so does John Piper, and so does Matt Chandler, and so do your life group leaders, and so do the older men and women that you look up to. So imitate. Don't idolize any human leader. Second, let me encourage you to choose someone to imitate. I want you to find someone in this church to learn from. Not just what they believe that the Bible teaches, but how they live that out in their life.

29:29That doesn't mean you have to start meeting once a week for coffee for two hours. What it does mean is that you need to find someone who you think is worthy of imitation and learn how they understand and apply the scriptures to their own life. Find an older single woman, an older single man. Find a husband. A wife, a dad, a mom. Find someone. According to Titus 2, that's what we're supposed to do. Find someone to imitate. And friends, this is not new. This is not like a brand new program at New Life Baptist Church in 2019. This is what Jesus did.

30:19His disciples learned from him. They watched his life and they imitated him. This is what Paul did with Timothy and with everyone around him. He taught them and he modeled for them what it looked like to follow Christ. Find that kind of a person that you can imitate. Spend enough time with them to where you can learn what they believe and how they put it into practice in everyday life. And then, third and finally, let me encourage you to look to Christ.

30:53Whether you are a Christian or you are not yet a believer in Jesus, look to Christ. You remember what Paul said earlier in the passage? He said, When reviled, we bless. When persecuted, we endure. When slandered, we entreat. Now, I have no doubt that Paul's life so often modeled those things that he could write with a clear conscience that that's how he and the other apostles lived. But we have to remember that Paul and the other apostles were sinful people, just like us.

31:39Only Jesus was perfect and never sinned. Look at what Peter writes of him in 1 Peter 2. For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps. He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. When he was reviled, he did not revile in return. When he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds, you have been healed.

32:36So when it comes to Jesus, let's offer him the worship that he alone is due for his perfect life, in which he was tempted in every way and yet was without sin. In his death in our place on the cross for our sins. His resurrection from the grave, securing our salvation. But when it comes to human leaders, let's imitate them, but never idolize them. Let's pray. Thank you for listening to the sermon audio from New Life Baptist Church in College Station, Texas. For more information or to support our ministry, visit us online at newlifecs.net.