In the Belly of the Ship

"This is how one should regard us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God."
(1 Cor. 4:1)

The church in Corinth was choosing sides over their favorite leader. One said, "I like Peter best, he was with Jesus." Another said, "I like Paul, he is a great church planter." And yet another said, "I prefer Apollos, he can really preach." So Paul writes to the church and says, all of us are simply servants and stewards. While he speaks in this case specifically of leaders, it is true of every Christian.

The word for "servant' here is unique. It was a word used to describe the person who was a slave in the belly of a Roman ship, rowing at the orders of a master. Paul says that we are simply "under-rowers" with Christ as our master. Our responsibility is to simply obey.

The word "steward" describes a person who does not own anything but manages the affairs of someone else. We are stewards of the "sacred secrets" of God that have been revealed through the ages, but are made clear in Jesus Christ.

So Paul says each one of us are given ministries from God that relate to communicating the truth of God through Jesus Christ to the people groups of the world. We are not compared to one another, but we are judged by God based on our faithfulness to obey Him. The question is, "have we done the very best we could with what God has given us to do and with the resources He has entrusted to us to do it?"