Fathers and Guardians

1 Corinthians 4:14–16 (ESV) I do not write these things to make you ashamed, but to admonish you as my beloved children. 15 For though you have countless guides in Christ, you do not have many fathers. For I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel. 16 I urge you, then, be imitators of me.

Paul tells these boastful Corinthians they need a spiritual dad. They have guardians. They need a father. The difference is substantial.

The word for "guide" or (better translated) "guardian" in the New Testament times referred to someone who worked for the family as a slave and shuttled the children to and from school, gave them instruction, and generally watched over their conduct. Like a nanny or tutor of sorts.

A guardian is someone who will tell us what we should be doing. A guardian will train us. A guardian will correct us. 

A guardian is great, but we need fathers. That's what Paul is saying.

A Father will love us. And most of all, a father will model for us what it means to follow Christ. Paul calls to them, "be imitators of me". They have plenty of guardians. Paul gets expressively hyperbolic here, saying they have "countless guides." 

As a Christian you will never have a shortage of other Christians willing to tell you what you should do. In fact, that's why many people give up on "organized" (I hate that term) Christianity or the local church. They just got sick and tired of people nit-picking their lives and heartlessly throwing scriptures at them without any personal connection. Maybe you've been there. I have.

Who is your Spiritual Father? 

Paul considered himself a father to Timothy. This gives us a clue as to what spiritual fatherhood looks like. Paul took Timothy on ministry trips. They did the work of ministry together. He didn't just delegate for Timothy responsibility, he worked with him side by side. A Spiritual Father will love us and model Christ for us but also work for Christ with us. What joy there is for a son to work along with his father on a project in the home or in the yard, to feel a sense of oneness with the elder example of hard work and discipline.

The spiritual father figure is missing in many churches! We have plenty of people willing to lecture, stand behind a pulpit and shout commands at us, but do we have people who love, model Christ, and work in ministry with us? There is no substitute.

The Corinthians lost their father figure, and they only had lectures from countless guardians. The result was pride and haughtiness about what they knew... (see 1 Cor. 8:1). They needed a father, they needed to remember their original father figure and follow his lead.

PRAYER:

Father, help me to model for others and help me to submit to my spiritual fathers. I thank you that you want this for Your church. You want loving, modeling, co-laboring disciple making happening in Your body. Help me to be a part of that wonderful work. In Jesus' Name.