The church at Corinth is divided. The body hasn’t treated Paul well. Yet, Paul referred to the congregation as a holy temple and condemned anyone who might destroy the local church by building upon the gospel foundation with anything other than the gospel—teaching Christ’s person and work because He alone is sufficient. Pastors are slaves to Christ and His church. How is the local church to regard her pastor? Paul continues his admonition.

1 Corinthians 4:1-5

Let a man regard us in this manner, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. In this case, moreover, it is required of stewards that one be found trustworthy.

But to me it is a very small thing that I may be examined by you, or by any human court; in fact, I do not even examine myself. For I am conscious of nothing against myself, yet I am not by this acquitted; but the one who examines me is the Lord.

Therefore do not go on passing judgment before the time, but wait until the Lord comes who will both bring to light the things hidden in the darkness and disclose the motives of men’s hearts; and then each man’s praise will come to him from God.

How to regard your pastor (v. 1-2)

Let a man regard us in this manner, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. In this case, moreover, it is required of stewards that one be found trustworthy.

Paul is the primary author of this epistle. Sosthenes is his co-author (1:1). Paul may also be referring to others who fill the apostolic office (i.e. the twelve apostles to the Jews) and all of those who build on the foundation Paul laid (cf. 3:10; i.e. each pastor-teacher, elder, of the Corinthian church). When Paul now instructs each individual in the congregation to “regard us,” he includes all of those who do the singular work of the gospel as one (cf. 3:8). Directly applied, then, this text instructs individuals in every congregation how to regard their pastor-teachers or elders—the ones building the congregation up on the foundation of the Gospel.

Paul admonishes the congregation to regard “us” in this manner, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. The elders of the local church are slaves of the congregation. They are also to be regarded as servants of  Christ. Very little have I heard the term “Man of God,” used with reference to an elder of a local church, but the regard is biblical. The man of God has dedicated his entire life to the service of King Jesus and the proclamation of His word. He has counted worldly treasure as loss for the sake of the kingdom. He gives up his personal time and finances for the sake of Christ’s name. He is not his own servant, concerned about his benefits or rights. He is a servant of King Jesus.

As a servant of Christ, the pastor-teacher, elder, is a steward of the mysteries of God. The mysteries of God are the gospel. They are a mystery simply because worldly people cannot know them and considers them foolishness (cf. 2:7-8). The mysteries of God can be known by the people of God. The preacher-teacher is God’s steward of these mysteries for the congregation. He is the one responsible to accurately present these mysteries to the congregation of God. It is required of stewards that each one be found trustworthy—that they honestly and sincerely present God’s revelation. So, the preacher does not interpret the Bible or present it according to his own cultural lenses (be they white or black or reformed or dogmatic). He interprets and presents the Bible according to the lenses of the Holy Spirit. The gospel belongs not to one ethnic group or another. It does not belong to one theological camp or another. The gospel belongs to God. Each preacher is a steward who must be trustworthy to present God’s message rather than his own or that of mere human culture. Such a truth invalidates any woke hermeneutics of our day—by which anyone asserts that there is not enough “blackness” or any other ethnic viewpoint in an interpretation of the Bible. The Gospel transcends us. It is God’s. We are merely stewards, and we are accountable to interpret and present God’s word according to God’s meaning, not our tendency toward narcegesis. God is the source of diversity, not a product of it. Diversity belongs to Him, not He to it.

How your pastor is judged (v. 3-4)

But to me it is a very small thing that I may be examined by you, or by any human court; in fact, I do not even examine myself. For I am conscious of nothing against myself, yet I am not by this acquitted; but the one who examines me is the Lord.

Many in the church at Corinth are very critical of Paul’s person and ministry. Paul, here, reveals that he doesn’t take their criticisms too seriously. He certainly doesn’t allow their criticisms to change how he sees the holy community (cf. 3:16-17). The local church’s evaluation carries little weight in Paul’s mind—as little weight as any human court, which indicted Paul because he preached the gospel. Human-centered standards, evaluations, and laws are not the bases by which Christians live.

Paul does not even examine, or evaluate, himself. Why? When we merely evaluate ourselves, we will not likely find anything wrong. We can’t very well hold ourselves accountable, else our standard is the only standard that matters. None of us are conscious of anything against ourselves. If we were, we wouldn’t be doing it.

The one who examines Paul is the Lord. The standard of the Lord is His revealed word. Such is why we cannot exceed Scripture when examining our elders. Elders are not measured by our preferences, cultural expectations, personalities, or anything other than the character qualifications presented in Scripture. Unless an elder fails to meet those qualifications, we probably should not pass judgment. According to Paul in 1 Corinthians so far, God examines elders according to their labor in the gospel—as to whether or not each one works hard to build on the proper foundation and is faithful to the text. In the pastoral epistles, Paul provides other character qualifications:

It is a trustworthy statement: if any man aspires to the office of overseer, it is a fine work he desires to do. An overseer, then, must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, temperate, prudent, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not addicted to wine or pugnacious, but gentle, peaceable, free from the love of money. He must be one who manages his own household well, keeping his children under control with all dignity (but if a man does not know how to manage his own household, how will he take care of the church of God?), and not a new convert, so that he will not become conceited and fall into the condemnation incurred by the devil. And he must have a good reputation with those outside the church, so that he will not fall into reproach and the snare of the devil (1 Timothy 3:1-7).

You’d be surprised, or not, how often these qualifications are completely neglected when churches are looking for pastors or considering their current pastors. Instead, they ask:

• What is your vision for ministry?
• How will you encourage numerical growth?
• What is your specific end-times view?
• Do you make visits?
• Are you a conservative?
• Will you take us into the 21^st Century?
• Do you like contemporary worship in the worship service?
• How will you build a more culturally diverse community?

Instead of asking these questions and regarding current or potential elders according to our standards, Should we not regard our current and potential elders according to the standards of God and ask them questions that indicate their qualification for ministry according to God’s standards rather than ours? If we have godly men leading the church, everything that is good for the church will follow. The Lord is the great examiner. One great truth about truly Christian community is that we do not examine one another according to our own standards. We, instead, admonish one another according to God’s standard and work hard not to exceed what is written (cf. v. 6).

How withholding judgment honors God (v. 5)

Therefore do not go on passing judgment before the time, but wait until the Lord comes who will both bring to light the things hidden in the darkness and disclose the motives of men’s hearts; and then each man’s praise will come to him from God.

Paul directly applies this truth to the congregation. Therefore, because the Lord examines each one, do not go on, or continue, passing judgment before the time. Apparently, the congregation was open in it judgment against Paul and, probably, other teachers. Paul admonishes the congregation not to continue down its judgmental path. It’s not that their pastor(s) would never be judged. Paul recognizes that the local congregation is judging before the time. This instruction directly applies to those who continuously criticize preacher-teachers, elders, in their local churches today. They pass judgment before the time and according to their own qualifications rather than God’s.

When is the time pastor-teachers, elders, will be judged? Paul instructs the congregation to be patient, to wait until the Lord makes light of things hidden in darkness and discloses the motives of men’s hearts. The coming of the Lord, here, is a general references to Christ’s work of judgment in this world. He comes in judgment at certain intervals and will finally come on the great day of judgment at the end of the current age. If we don’t like something about an elder of the church, don’t agree with a claim he made, or don’t like a decision made by the elders, the worst thing we can do is rush to judgment or make a rash decision to stir the congregation or retreat. Ministries built over the course of decades that honor God fall in a matter of weeks because people rush to judgment. The kingdom of God is not built up by hasty judgment. Time is on the side of the righteous. If God’s desire is to remove an elder from office, God will disclose his motives and make it plain that he does not meet God’s character qualifications. Be careful not to try outrunning God, dear church. For, God will disclose your motives also.

Referring again to the preacher-teacher, elder, Paul testifies that, since his evaluation comes not from people, his praise comes not from people. A true preacher-teacher, elder, seeks not to please others or himself according to preference; he strives to please God and be praised by God. I love the encouragement I receive from my church family. I would even say that I need it to remain in good spirits as I do the work I do for the Lord and you. If I evaluated my ministry by your criticism or praise, then I have lost sight of the one who has called me—namely Christ Jesus. I serve the church’s good, and some do not like to be sanctified. I serve for Christ’s pleasure according to His preference. That is the difference between my slavery to the congregation and to Christ. We serve for the church’s good and for Christ’s pleasure. We should neither confuse nor conflate the two. This is true not only for the elders of the church, but for every priest in Christ’s kingdom—every true Christian.