Jesus Creed

Gospel 34

Tuesday November 18, 2008

Categories: Gospel
In our series on the meaning of the word "gospel" we are now looking at how Paul uses this great term in his letters to the Christians in Corinth. Today we look at 1 Corinthians 4:14-17:

14 I am not writing this to shame you, but to warn you, as my dear children. 15 Even though you have ten thousand guardians in Christ, you do not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel. 16 Therefore I urge you to imitate me. 17 For this reason I am sending to you Timothy, my son whom I love, who is faithful in the Lord. He will remind you of my way of life in Christ Jesus, which agrees with what I teach everywhere in every church.
This text, too, is revealing of what Paul means by gospel.
And what it reveals is this: gospeling involves conversions and conversions involve spiritual relations to those converted. In fact, Paul saw himself as the spiritual parent of those who converted as a result of his gospeling. He saw himself as their spiritual father.

But he is their father with one big condition: he is their father "in Christ." This is not something he did but something that happened as the converts were united to Christ.

This fatherliness leads to the moral injunction that Paul thinks his "in Christ" converts ought to imitate him! He wants them to imitate his life of service and of rejection and being the "scum of the earth" (1 Cor 4:13).

Conversion, in other words, entails relationship to the "converter". Of course, this can involve abuse and control issues ... but Paul is urging the Corinthians to live according to the gospel of Christ crucified and that means living like Paul.
Advertisement
Comments
RJS
November 18, 2008 8:51 AM

Rick,

Paul teaches - and he expects people to remember. But he also models the whole gospel and teaches the whole gospel.

I think one of the key points here is that "making disciples" and teaching them to obey everything I (Jesus) have commanded you (Mt. 28:20) requires (1) being a disciple and (2) obeying the commands of Jesus.

John Frye
November 18, 2008 12:02 PM
http://www.jesustheradicalpastor.com

RICK,
It is not either/or but you know and I know that the "teachings" part is played way out of hand in the USAmerican information-driven church rather than in vibrant transformational communities. Truth is to be incarnated...and not only in Jesus.

Your Name
November 18, 2008 12:59 PM

RJS and John-

I think we all are in agreement.

John- I have seen enough of your comments and posts to know that you do value verbal and written teaching, so I should have qualified my earlier comment with that.

My motive for bringing this up is that I have seen Christians abandon the verbal and written (including Scripture), and focus just on the modelling. They have made it an "either/or", and so I just wanted to mention the need for both (the whole).

Rebeccat
November 18, 2008 5:47 PM

These sorts of passages are why I love Paul; he sees what God is doing in him and encourages others to follow the path that he is on. Can you imagine if someone who talked like Paul walked into bible study at most churches today? LOL, I don't think he'd be real well received. One of my big pet peeves is church leaders who insist, "I'm struggling just like everyone else." I do understand the desire not to be seen as an exotic creature living on a pedestal. But if you haven't been down the road closer to God, and don't think you'll ever get much further than me, where exactly were you planning to lead me? We seem to have decided that as believers we can talk about ourselves as sinners(but not too bad, because we have to keep up appearances) saved by grace (not that we're special or better than anyone else or anything). But it's almost verboten to say, "I'm really a mess" or "I've been transformed by God and you should imitate me so God can transform you as well." We seem to want people to stay in the comfortable mushy middle.

Jason R
November 18, 2008 11:14 PM

I think Paul's encouragment to imitate him has to do with the struggles of the Corinthian Church. It is not the reception of the Gospel, that is their understanding of it, that is the problem, but how they are living it out (there are schisma's among them). So Paul here lifts up his own life of denial of authoritative rights (see chp 9) as an example of how the gospel should be lived out in community. That is, living out the gospel should be about the upbuilding of the community. In other letters the issue is one of theology so he instructs in a way as to correct the theological problem (e.g. Galatians). But in 1 Cor. it really is an ekklesia problem not a specifically doctrinal problem. How the gospel should be lived out calls for powerful example rather than fancy rhetoric.

Read All Comments

Post a Comment

By submitting these comments, I agree to the beliefnet.com terms of service, rules of conduct and privacy policy (the "agreements"). I understand and agree that any content I post is licensed to beliefnet.com and may be used by beliefnet.com in accordance with the agreements.



Please type the text you see in the box below to verify your post and help us prevent spam. You have a limited time to type - you may wish to compose your comment in a separate document and paste it here upon completion.

Type the characters you see in the picture above.

Advertisement

Search This Blog

About Jesus Creed

Scot McKnight is a widely-recognized authority on the New Testament, early Christianity, and the historical Jesus. He is the Karl A. Olsson Professor in Religious Studies at North Park University (Chicago, Illinois). A popular and witty speaker, Dr. McKnight has given interviews on radios across the nation, has appeared on television, and is regularly asked to speak in local churches and educational events. Dr. McKnight obtained his Ph.D. at the University of Nottingham (1986). Click to continue reading Scot McKnight's Bio...

View Scot's Speaking Schedule

Contact Scot at Facebook

feed icon Subscribe

RSS Feed

Receive updates from Jesus Creed

Calendar



Add to Technorati Favorites

Blogroll

Daily Prayers:

Emerging Movement:

Other sites I frequent:

Recommended Online Readings:

Scholarly Books I've written:

Scholarship Online:

Stuff online:

Advertisement

Advertisement


About Beliefnet

Our mission is to help people like you find, and walk, a spiritual path that will bring comfort, hope, clarity, strength, and happiness. More about Beliefnet.

Legal

Copyright © Beliefnet, Inc. and/or its licensors. All rights reserved. Use of this site is subject to Terms of Service and to our Privacy Policy. Constructed by Beliefnet.

Advertisement

Report as Inappropriate

You are reporting this content because it violates the Terms of Service.

All reported content is logged for investigation.