Observation: Paul is leaning into one issue in the church at Corinth, specifically their division over which teachers they prefer. Some prefer Paul, some (most?) prefer Apollos, and now they have young Timothy with them too. In supporting one, they often speak ill of the others, and the result has been some mean rumors and lies told about Paul. In this section, he is dealing kindly with this topic, and introduces this idea as a baseline for thinking about all apostles ... they are "servants of Christ and stewards of God’s mysteries".
That is an interesting thought to be applied to all church leaders, especially senior pastors. They are first and foremost two things ... servants who are following the express direction of Jesus Christ, and confidants of the Lord who have been entrusted special information. Now to be clear, if they do not meet this criteria, perhaps there is cause to worry about their proper position and service to the Lord. But to the extent they do align with this description, there is a level of honor and trust to be extended to them. Both of these attributes - servant to Messiah and confidant of Yahweh - imply that their actions and decisions should at the very least not be hastily judged but others.
Application: As someone privy to information about church workings and leadership decisions, I am far too quick to judge some decisions. I have opinions about my pastor that are mostly good ... but I know his weaknesses as well. The result is that, when I see an action that seems born from those weaknesses, I make hasty decisions about such actions.
However, I do know that my pastor has a gift of prophesy, and I have seen how this has played out in service to the Lord and the evangelism of the good news of Jesus. In most cases, there is a good chance the Lord has revealed a mystery to our pastor, or maybe even the Lord still withholds the mystery but has given direction that will later prove important and aligned to God's plans.
When I judge my pastor, I am acting like the church at Corinth. That may be common, but it is also quite bad and can only lead to bad things. I would never follow any human blindly - every human errs - but I need to be slower to judge, and quicker to pray about how I may consider church actions and their alignment to the Lord's purposes and plans.
Prayer: Lord, please forgive my judgment of all others, especially my judgment of the saints, teachers, and apostles of Jesus. I recognize that similar earthly and unwarranted judgments have affected and hurt me, so I should have learned how you dislike such judgmental hearts. I know people around me who are stewards of your own mysteries, entrusted to hear your directions. I am likely jealous of that, so please forgive my covetousness as well. May I simply serve you in humility, today and every day. Amen.
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