The Spectacle of the Apostle

1 Cor 4:9-13

It seems to me that God has put us who bear his Message on stage in a theater in which no one wants to buy a ticket. We're something everyone stands around and stares at, like an accident in the street. 10 We're the Messiah's misfits. You might be sure of yourselves, but we live in the midst of frailties and uncertainties. You might be well-thought-of by others, but we're mostly kicked around. 11 Much of the time we don't have enough to eat, we wear patched and threadbare clothes, we get doors slammed in our faces, 12 and we pick up odd jobs anywhere we can to eke out a living. When they call us names, we say, "God bless you." 13 When they spread rumors about us, we put in a good word for them. We're treated like garbage, potato peelings from the culture's kitchen. And it's not getting any better.

(from THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language © 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved.)

I chose to use The Message instead of the NIV because I think it brings to light Paul's feelings about this group of Christians. While it was as the result of his labor that the work was established in Corinth, others had reaped the benefit of his sowing. Now the church was choosing sides as to whom is the better teacher and not only that, they have set themselves up as the arbiter of whom is the better preacher. While they have had the benefit of many good teachers they now feel that the students have outgrown their mentors. They feel they have come of age, they have arrived.

Poor Paul who only had the benefit of hearing the Gospel from Jesus, Ananias and the Eleven still struggles to become wise.

Of course, the sarcasm just drips from his words. But this much is true, in spite of the teachings of the prosperity Gospel, the Apostles toiled in sacrificial poverty and dedicated themselves to the furthering of the Kingdom, often to the detriment of their own well being.

But it is this very frailty that God uses to show His power. These were not imposing men. They did not come in chariots wearing the latest in Roman fashion. They depended on the goodness of their hosts and they worked to supplement their needs. These Apostles were bi-vocational. Their clothing showed the wear and tear of their frequent travels. They went places where they were not received well nor welcomed. They escaped persecution at every turn. They went where the Father told them to go because there was a passion for the lost that burned within them.

 They lived out the teachings of Jesus and turned the other cheek. They learned to love the unlovable.  

These were men who did not put down roots anywhere. They were strangers in a strange land. They were pioneers in an age of homesteaders. They laid down foundations, they did not decorate or adorn walls. They broke up fallow ground. They came against resistance and unbelief. With their blood, sweat and tears they established beachheads. They did the grunt work no one else wanted to do.

Their reward was not seen in buildings nor large congregations. They did not reap the benefits of discipleship, but without them discipleship would not be possible. Their calling was not to baptize but to preach Jesus crucified and resurrected.

We all build on their shoulders.