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§12 A Paternal Appeal and Admonition (1 Cor. 4:14–21)

Paul introduces a new metaphor, and his tone changes as he explains his motives for writing and then issues an appeal to the Corinthians. He portrays himself as a father and the congregation as his children. He refers to the special relationship he has with the Corinthians, and he explains this intimate association as the natural result of his having founded the church through the preaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Paul develops the metaphor of a father in a way that the Corinthians would easily comprehend. They are urged to follow Paul’s example. Moreover, in order to direct the Corinthians, Paul informs them that he is sending Timothy, who in the pattern of relations named here would be a sibling to the Corinthians. Paul appeals to the Corinthians to take up or return to the standards of life that informed all the congregations that Paul founded.

Thus, again Paul calls the Corinthians away from idiosyncratic, haughty behavior as he reminds them that they are part of the larger church that God in Christ is calling into being. Finally, with his basic point having been made, Paul expands the family metaphor by writing as a father to rowdy children and issuing an unambiguous parental threat.

4:14 / Paul’s denial that he was attempting to shame the Corinthians seems hard to believe, unless, as seems likely, he means to indicate that shaming them was not in itself his primary purpose. The word Paul uses (Gk. entrepō) carries the sense of “turning in [on oneself]”; and while it does not mean “to devastate” or “to disgrace,” it could imply “to demoralize.” In the context of this letter, Paul’s criticisms of the Corinthians cannot be understood as an attempt to render the congregation passive. Perhaps one should understand that Paul designed his sharp rhetoric to induce a sense of embarrassment in order to accomplish another goal. As his remarks continue one can see Paul’s more positive purposes.

Paul states his real goal: to warn [the Corinthians], as [his] dear children. The word translated as “to warn” by the NIV may be better rendered “to instruct” or “to teach,” since it most often functions in Greek in reference to admonishing that puts one in mind of a lesson in a didactic fashion. “Warning” in English connotes a more negative sense than Paul may mean to suggest. Indeed, the positive tone of his purpose comes through in his reference to the Corinthians as “my dear [lit. ‘beloved’] children,” so that one perceives that Paul is more a mentor to his children than a referee or a police officer.

4:15 / Paul explains the reason he was concerned for the Corinthians, but the NIV leaves untranslated the explanatory word “for” that introduces this sentence in Greek. In fact, this verse adds one explanation to another to make Paul’s point clear (he writes lit. “For” … for; NIV omits the first of these but translates the second).

The language is heavily metaphorical, but Paul’s logic is straightforward. There are many other leaders who will have important, influential relationships with the Corinthians (ten thousand guardians), but all others than Paul are only guardians (Gk. paidagōgos), a term that designated a slave charged by the father of a child to escort the child to school in order to guarantee the child’s safety and attendance. Such persons played a vital role in the upbringing of children, but they in no way were as crucially related to the children as was the father. Thus, while admitting the presence, significance, and authority of others, Paul claims for himself a special connection, responsibility, and authority in relation to the Corinthians.

In a second word of explanation, Paul adds, for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel—which more literally reads, “For in Christ Jesus through the gospel I myself begot you.” The statement explains or elaborates Paul’s point that the Corinthians do not have many fathers. One should notice, however, that in Greek Paul places the phrases in Christ Jesus and through the gospel at the beginning of his statement to emphasize the particular identity in which and the particular means by which he founded the congregation in Corinth. His relationship to the Corinthians has special meaning because he gave them birth in Christ and because they came into their father-child relationship through the gospel. Paul values the relationship because it came into being as a result of God’s saving power at work in the world in the cross of Christ, not merely because human relationships are inherently wonderful.

4:16 / Paul focuses and strengthens his appeal. Therefore indicates that he means to make a specific point from his remarks. He then “urges” the Corinthians, using a word (Gk. parakaleō) that often functioned in courts of law to make an appeal to a judge or a jury to draw a particular conclusion or to reach a particular verdict. The rhetoric is strong, and in that vein Paul says, imitate me. As their one father “in Christ Jesus” Paul teaches his children the way in which they are to live by offering himself to them as an example. This call to imitation may seem arrogant, egotistical, or self-righteous, but in 11:1 it becomes clear that in this call to imitation Paul is urging the Corinthians to Christlike living, for there he plainly says (lit.), “Be imitators of me, even as I am of Christ” (11:1). Moreover, one should keep in mind the pattern of life that Paul had described in the verses immediately prior to this section (see 4:11–13). The concept of imitation had a rich history both in the Greco-Roman world and in Judaism. Children imitated parents and disciples imitated masters. In no case was the imitative behavior understood to be simple mimicry. Children and disciples internalized the values, thoughts, and behaviors of their role models so that they became very much like them.

As Paul calls the Corinthians to imitate his behavior, which he understood to be an imitation of Christ, he calls the church to its mission. They are not merely to behave in a decent and upright manner; they are called to active service, as Paul himself was. Their life in Christ is to be lived lovingly for the sake of others, never selfishly. In mission they should live as Paul did, sacrificially offering their very selves to God for the execution of God’s will and work in the world. As the Corinthians become Paul-like, they will be Christlike; and in turn they will live in a godly fashion as the real people of God present and at work in Corinth.

4:17 / Paul writes of sending Timothy to the Corinthians in order to help them live according to his example. Paul’s statement may mean either that he had already sent Timothy or that he is about to do so. The NIV translates this in a way that suggests the latter, but the matter is ambiguous and not crucial.

More important is the description of Timothy: my son, whom I love, who is faithful in the Lord. As Paul’s son (Gk., lit. “child”) Timothy is in a position not only to tell the Corinthians about Paul’s ways but also to show them the manner of life to which they are called. Timothy is already known to the Corinthians, since according to the account of Paul’s original ministry in Corinth (Acts 18:1–18) Timothy had joined him in the city (18:5) and perhaps remained after his departure (18:18). Yet, the subsequent remarks in 1 Corinthians 16:10–11 suggest that Paul was uncertain or anxious about the welcome that Timothy might receive from the Corinthians. The uncertainty extends from the role that Timothy was to play in Corinth; he goes as Paul’s representative. If Paul is under fire in Corinth, his agent would experience the same kind of scrutiny and criticism, since his task is to remind them of Paul’s way of life in Christ Jesus. Paul’s declaration of personal affection (“whom I love”) and his praise of Timothy’s Christian conscientiousness (“who is faithful in the Lord”) are strong words of recommendation.

Paul qualifies the lifestyle and teaching that Timothy would represent to the Corinthians with the phrase which agrees with what I teach everywhere in every church. Thus, what Timothy brings them from Paul is not novel. It is the universal way of Christian thought and life that Paul promulgated among all the congregations he founded. Any deviation or innovation in Corinth would need to be evaluated against the generally recognized way of life in Christ Jesus that had been laid as the foundation of the Corinthians’ faith (3:10–15).

4:18–20 / These verses form one long, complex sentence in Greek, but the NIV sensibly follows the versification of the text and renders Paul’s lines in three related sentences. First, he names the problem in a specific way. Up to this point he has addressed the congregation as a whole, but now he narrows his focus to isolate some in the congregation who apparently are the primary troublemakers. Now, clearly one sees that the situation is not only that the Corinthians are forming factions; in addition, there are some who are causing problems because they are critical of Paul. Thus, he writes, Some of you have become arrogant, as if I were not coming to you. The grammar is unclear, although it is plain that they have taken a position that Paul judges “to be puffed up” (Gk. physioō). This is the same word Paul used in 4:6 to describe the formation of the factions, so the factions and the criticisms of Paul are related phenomena, perhaps facets of the central problem of “boasting” that Paul condemned at 1:29; 3:21; 4:7.

Second, lest those who were puffed up and critical of Paul take advantage of his words, Paul immediately declares his intention to come very soon (lit. “quickly”) to the Corinthians. His tone is sharp in verses 19–20, not at all conciliatory as it was in 4:14–17. He holds the discussion of his specific travel plans until near the end of the letter (16:5–9), registering here that he intends to come as soon as possible. At this point he informs the Corinthians that they can be sure he will come, but he does not say when. Moreover, he adds, if the Lord is willing. These words are easily misunderstood today as a pious euphemism for “maybe.” Paul is not, however, hedging on his plans; he is an eschatological thinker who knows that the future belongs to God and that nothing will transpire in his life that does not serve God’s purposes.

Third, the force of Paul’s thought and the purpose of his future visit become clear in the final clause of 4:19, and then I will find out not only how these arrogant people are talking, but what power they have. This translation captures the sense of Paul’s more wooden statement, “and I shall know not the word of the ones who have been puffed up but the power.” Paul probably means to be ironic at this point, for the contrast he draws pits “word” (logos) against “power” (dynamis), thus picking up the language of the earlier portions of the letter, where Paul indicated that his critics in Corinth found his “word” to be unimpressive (1:17; 2:1–5) when judged from the “powerful” perspective they claimed for themselves (1:21; 2:1; 3:2). Now, Paul confronts them as having a “word” that is devoid of power, because true power is found only in the gospel (1:17), the cross of Christ (1:17–18, 23–24), and the Spirit (2:4; 2:10, 12, 14)—all of which Paul’s critics repudiate through their involvement with worldly wisdom.

Paul has already made clear that he stakes his life on the “power” of the “weakness of God” (1:25) and that he ministers in a manner consistent with God’s weakness (1:18–25; 2:1–5; 4:9–13). Here he takes that same position as he sets God’s peculiar power over against the word and the power that “some” in Corinth claim to possess. Verse 20 makes Paul’s position explicit. Opening with the explanatory word for, Paul writes, For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk [lit. “word”] but of power. The eloquent worldly wisdom valued by some Corinthians, which leads some to criticize Paul’s ministry, has nothing to do with God’s true power, mysteriously demonstrated in the cross of Christ and made effective through preaching the gospel and the work of the Spirit. Paul’s declaration applies the logic of 1:18 (“For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God”) to the situation in Corinth to make even clearer the error of the path that some of the Corinthians had taken.

4:21 / Paul continues the father-child metaphor with a rhetorical form that functions as a multiple-choice question. The use of the imagery ties together 4:14–21 as a unit and brings the argument to a conclusion, rounding off all of Paul’s reflection from 1:10 to 4:21. The question is plain and seemingly innocent: What do you prefer? But the options he offers the Corinthians show that Paul speaks now from an assumed position of authority and responsibility. Apologetics are absent. As a stern parent facing rebellious, unreasonable children, Paul threatens parental discipline: Shall I come with a [rod], or in love and with a gentle spirit? The questions are posed to the entire community, not merely to the troublemakers—in part because the community tolerates and participates in the problems, but also because the community itself has lost the capacity to exercise discipline (see chs. 5–6).

The NIV reference to a whip is peculiar and inappropriate, following inferior or misguided lexical studies. Paul’s word (Gk. hrabdos) plainly means “rod.” This mention of a “rod” employs the language and the imagery of the OT “rod of correction” to name one option for Paul’s coming to the Corinthians. The passage has come under fire because of this image. But, contemporary critics who fault Paul for speaking and thinking in a way that promotes child abuse miss his point in this verse. Paul uses traditional language to speak metaphorically about discipline. He is not suggesting a literal rod. And he is neither condoning nor promoting harsh treatment of children. Rather, he suggests an undesirable manner of relating to the Corinthians (with a “rod”) in order to heighten the desirability of the other option that he offers: his coming in love and with a gentle spirit. Love, as chapter 13 will make clear, is the necessary standard of all Christian interaction and relations. And love most naturally produces a gentle spirit, although at times love must take a firm hand in relationships that are troubled, as Paul recognizes. The larger letter reveals, however, that Paul would insist that even in administering strict discipline in the context of the Christian community, love must be the guiding force in all Christian actions. With these words Paul draws the first major section of the letter to a close.