1 Corinthians 4:1-5
Paul’s Relationship with the Corinthians
4 So look at Apollos and me as mere servants of Christ who have been put in charge of explaining God’s mysteries. 2 Now, a person who is put in charge as a manager must be faithful. 3 As for me, it matters very little how I might be evaluated by you or by any human authority. I don’t even trust my own judgment on this point. 4 My conscience is clear, but that doesn’t prove I’m right. It is the Lord himself who will examine me and decide.
5 So don’t make judgments about anyone ahead of time—before the Lord returns. For he will bring our darkest secrets to light and will reveal our private motives. Then God will give to each one whatever praise is due.
So don’t make judgments about anyone ahead of time—before the Lord returns. For he will bring our darkest secrets to light and will reveal our private motives. Then God will give to each one whatever praise is due.
I remember reading this verse when I was a child and it terrified me. The idea that God was watching me all the time and judging me was incredibly stressful and concerning. I knew what my private motives were and I did not want them all to be brought to light.
However, I think that I missed the point that Paul was trying to make. He wasn’t so much saying that we need to overanalyse our motives for everything. He was saying that we need to stop listening to the voice of the crowd around us. It is so easy to live for the praise of people and allow their opinions of us to drive us forwards.
We get worried about rejection, so we tolerate behaviour we know is wrong. We want to be admired or praised, so we work ourselves to the bone. We people please and find ourselves feeling frustrated and vulnerable. Like a puppy, excited for treats, we are trained and formed by our desire for praise and acceptance from the world around us.
Externally, we do this as well. We find it so easy to judge people’s behaviours and characters. Someone behaves in a way that we disagree with and we immediately criticise and condemn them.
Paul’s point is that it is impossible for us to judge others and we should not be worried about the judgment of others. We live for the praise of one. It is God that we are trying to please and it is his praise that we long for.
