This, then, is how you ought to regard us: as servants
of Christ and as those entrusted with the mysteries God has revealed. Now it is
required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful. I care
very little if I am judged by you or by any human court; indeed, I do not even
judge myself. My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is
the Lord who judges me. There judge nothing before the appointed time; wait
until the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and
will expose the motives of the heart. At that time each will receive their
praise from God. (1 Corinthians 4:3-5, NIV)
Is life really one unending bell curve?
We love to judge by comparison, from school rankings and performance
appraisals, to our fluctuating notions of rich and successful. In church, we even
dare to measure holiness horizontally, like the Pharisee who prayed “thank you
God I am not like that terrible person over there”.
The topic of how we are judged is
what Paul picks up on in 1 Corinthians 4. In verses 1 and 2, he reminds the
Corinthian church of his identity as a minister and the expectations that come
with it.
Usually when a leader takes office, he or she is sworn-in and promises
to perform their duties well. But instead of appeasing his audience, Paul
declares he cares very little if he is judged by them or any human court. I
don’t care what you think about the effectiveness of my ministry, he says; my
identity is not tied to your evaluation.
Paul’s carefree position is a hard one to get to. We
are often told, “don’t care about what
people say about you, focus on yourself and living up to your own goals.”
But Paul knows that our own standards are often unattainable and still
motivated by others in the equation, leaving us guilty and self-loathing when
we fail ourselves. And so he goes a step further and says he does not even care how he judges himself.
Can you see the trappings of Paul’s life start to fall away?
There is nothing that
matters to Paul apart from the honest scales of God.
Like Isaiah and Job in the Old Testament[1],
Paul knows it does not matter what we or anybody else thinks of our life’s work
when we find ourselves before our Maker – it will not make us innocent.
Ultimately, the standard by which we are judged is not a curve but the absolute
standard of God’s perfection.
O holy Judge, here is my heart
What can I say to You?
Where could I run, how could I hide?
Darkness is day to You
The heart of a man is a maze within
So, come, light the way, illuminate sin
Nothing’s concealed, all is revealed
Jesus, I yield to You
What can I say to You?
Where could I run, how could I hide?
Darkness is day to You
The heart of a man is a maze within
So, come, light the way, illuminate sin
Nothing’s concealed, all is revealed
Jesus, I yield to You
I was condemned under Your law
Rightly I stood accused
I felt my need, my conscience agreed
I was without excuse
So how can I judge the ones who fall?
I know in my heart I’m just like them all
I will confess: my righteousness
Jesus, must rest in You
Rightly I stood accused
I felt my need, my conscience agreed
I was without excuse
So how can I judge the ones who fall?
I know in my heart I’m just like them all
I will confess: my righteousness
Jesus, must rest in You
The Carefree Christian does not care for any verdict but Christ’s; all
have fallen short of God’s standards and He is the only way God will judge us not-guilty. She holds on to the
truths that she is a sinner yet justified by faith in Christ, and abandons
everything else that contests for her identity. Because she is secure as God’s
beloved, she no longer connects her failings or triumphs to her onward mission
as a servant of Christ, “judg[ing] nothing” before the Lord comes but
“wait[ing]” for that day. This is gospel-humility: self-forgetfulness that sets
you free to think about Christ more! The Carefree Christian thus becomes a
person who cares more because they
have dropped out of life’s competition. They already know that on the day the
Lord passes absolute judgement they will be praised and not punished, commended
not condemned, and they long to bring others into the same fold.
Dear Heavenly Father, you are light in you is no darkness at all. You
are a holy and you judge righteously, and we are so glad we can trust you to
never be unjust! We confess that we have forgotten your ways and twisted your
law to make it our own. We have deceived ourselves and claimed to be without
sin. Our eyes are blind to our spiritual hollowness, our lips are too busy
talking about stuff to sit in
quietness and speak to you. We ask for your forgiveness for the private moments
with our families, friends and in our areas of influence where we have been
unfaithful to you. We thank you that though we are so prone to wander you call
us home. We thank you for giving us your Spirit that works in us to make us
more like you. We pray that you would give us the desire to want to die to our
old selves. Help us want to love you more because our hearts are so tangled up
on themselves and we cannot move them on our own. Please give us generosity and
sacrifice to be better family members. In our church, help us trust you for
growth and teach us obedience even when loving is hard. For our brothers and
sisters who are persecuted we pray they would hold fast in their faith, and
that all under social, financial and political strain, would continue living as
they should even if it means making adjustments. We thank you and praise you,
in Jesus’ name.
Amen.
[1] See Isaiah 6:5 KJV “I am undone”; Job 9 ESV “There is no arbiter”.
