1So let a man think of us as Christ’s servants and stewards of God’s mysteries. 2Here, moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found faithful. 3But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you, or by a human court. Yes, I don’t even judge my own self. 4For I know nothing against myself. Yet I am not justified by this, but he who judges me is the Lord. 5Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord comes, who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness and reveal the counsels of the hearts. Then each man will get his praise from God.
6Now these things, brothers, I have in a figure transferred to myself and Apollos for your sakes, that in us you might learn not to think beyond the things which are written, that none of you be puffed up against one another. 7For who makes you different? And what do you have that you didn’t receive? But if you did receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it?
8You are already filled. You have already become rich. You have come to reign without us. Yes, and I wish that you did reign, that we also might reign with you! 9For I think that God has displayed us, the apostles, last of all, like men sentenced to death. For we are made a spectacle to the world, both to angels and men. 10We are fools for Christ’s sake, but you are wise in Christ. We are weak, but you are strong. You have honor, but we have dishonor. 11Even to this present hour we hunger, thirst, are naked, are beaten, and have no certain dwelling place. 12We toil, working with our own hands. When people curse us, we bless. Being persecuted, we endure. 13Being defamed, we entreat. We are made as the filth of the world, the dirt wiped off by all, even until now.
14I don’t write these things to shame you, but to admonish you as my beloved children. 15For though you have ten thousand tutors in Christ, you don’t have many fathers. For in Christ Jesus, I became your father through the Good News. 16I beg you therefore, be imitators of me. 17Because of this I have sent Timothy to you, who is my beloved and faithful child in the Lord, who will remind you of my ways which are in Christ, even as I teach everywhere in every assembly. 18Now some are puffed up, as though I were not coming to you. 19But I will come to you shortly, if the Lord is willing. And I will know, not the word of those who are puffed up, but the power. 20For God’s Kingdom is not in word, but in power. 21What do you want? Shall I come to you with a rod, or in love and a spirit of gentleness?
This passage seems at first glance to be the opposite of what we just read in chapter 4, but it isn’t. Paul is not telling us to judge fellow believers, but he is instructing us to make a determination about whether a brother is involved in sin, and he cautions us not to become entangled in it ourselves. It is easy to slide into sin yourself if you’re hanging out with other Christians who are engaged in a carnal lifestyle. Let me give an example. As a young man, I had all of the urges and desires that came with being a young man full of testosterone and youth. It was one of the most difficult times of my life to stay sexually pure, as the Bible instructed that I should be. I had to use great wisdom in choosing which sisters in Christ I needed to be around. Paul, of course, includes any believer, whether male or female. Some sisters in Christ helped me to stay chaste and pure. With a few others, I felt “chased” and tempted to become involved with them sexually when it wasn’t proper. I learned to avoid those who didn’t help me in my quest to be Christlike.
I’m not blaming the sisters. I was recognizing my own weakness at that time. I knew that in a moment of sexual hunger, I would be tempted beyond my own capabilities to hold myself back. They weren’t the problem. I was the problem. This goes for any of the other sins that Paul lists. You may have a brother or sister who is envious or slanderous towards others. That means they talk about other Christians behind their backs. They resent what others have. You’ll be too tempted to join in. If you have a past problem with addiction, don’t hang out with believers who exercise their freedom in Christ by having a drink. Just stay away from fellow believers who are caught up in anything that might pull you away from where you’re headed. Stay the course. Don’t lose the plot. Follow the compass. Follow Jesus. It’s not that those carnal brothers and sisters are to be avoided because you’re such a goody two-shoes kind of person. Avoid them because you are weak. You need all the help you can get, and Paul says that avoiding those kinds of fellow believers will keep you from falling into behaviors and lifestyles that are not in conformity with your identity in Christ.