This transcript was generated by whisper.ai.

I want to welcome you to day four of our look together through 1st Corinthians,
chapter four. We're going to look at verses 14 to 17 today. We're talking about
the things that keep you going in ministry, the things that really make a
difference in our daily lives.

And it all has to do with heart and attitude and how you see yourself. We began
this week by looking at the job description of ministry. I'm a servant who's
been entrusted, so I need to be faithful.

And then we look together at the judge of ministry. And it's not others, it's
not even myself, it's God. And I'm waiting for his timing in it.

So for now, I just be faithful. We looked yesterday at the attitude of ministry
and how it can be easy for us to get drawn into arrogance, but humility, the
humility of Jesus, that's what makes the difference. And today, we're going to
take a look together today and tomorrow at the relationship of ministry.

What's the relationship connection in the ministry and the service for God that
I do? In verses 14 to 17, Paul talks about that. Listen to what he has to say.

Listen to what he has to say about the relationship that we have with each
other. Verse 14. "I am not writing this to shame you, but to warn you as my dear
children.

Even though you have 10,000 guardians in Christ, you do not have many fathers.
For in Christ Jesus, I became your father through the gospel. Therefore I urge
you to imitate me.

For this reason, I am sending to you Timothy, my son whom I love, who is
faithful in the Lord, who will remind you of my way of life in Jesus Christ,
which agrees with that which I teach everywhere in every church. " In these
verses, and I'm sure you picked it up, Paul talks about the relationship that we
have with each other as we minister in his name. It's not a business
relationship.

It is a family relationship. Truth is, ministry cannot occur in a strictly
business-type relationship. Some people think if we just got better organized,
we could make a bigger difference in the world.

And when they say better organized, they don't mean around the gifts of the
Spirit. They mean by some business model, purely business model. I think we can
learn a lot from business, but business is not the model of the church.

A nine to five, we're closed weekends, guaranteed profit margins, MasterCard and
Visa not accepted kind of model is not going to work in the church. It'll never
work because the business world is designed for the performing of tasks and for
the making of money. It's good to have tasks performed, and I'm not against
making money when it's used especially for God's glory.

That's fine for business, but ministry is always more than a task. It is a
relationship. The evaluation of ministry is not the bottom line how much money,
it is eternity, what we're putting away for eternity.

And this relationship in ministry is what ministry is all about. Ministry begins
in a relationship with Christ, and it is expressed in relationship to people.
Ministry occurs in a family, and this idea of family just overflows in these
verses.

Paul talks in verse 14 about my dear children. I'm warning you as my dear
children. He speaks to them, he warns them as children.

It's very different to be warned by a boss in a business situation or to be
warned by your dad, especially a dad who loves you, and that's what Paul is
talking about here, a dad who's concerned about his kids, who wants the best for
his kids. Paul says that's how I'm warning you. It's in a family relationship
that I'm warning you.

It's not a military relationship, it's a family relationship. Paul says you're
my dear children. He says I'm your father through the gospel.

Paul felt the responsibility of what it meant for him to have led them to faith
in Christ. He led these people in Corinth to faith in Christ. It was the
responsibility of a relationship, and he pictured it as I'm your father, you're
my child.

I'm your father through the gospel. I got to bring you to faith in Christ, and I
feel the responsibility of that. But it is a family responsibility, not a task
responsibility.

And then he says Timothy, my son whom I love. He's going to remind you of my way
of life in Jesus Christ. So there's family in all of these verses, and in these
verses we're reminded of why a family relationship is so important.

Paul talks about family, and then in verse 16 he says, "Therefore I urge you to
imitate me. " Why is relationship so important in ministry? Why is this family
relationship so important?

Because you cannot photocopy Christians. You can't mass produce ministers.
Learning discipleship and ministry is done through a relationship.

Learning the lessons you and I need to learn about what it means to follow Jesus
and how to serve others come through personal example. You can't get it just
through a book. Books can help, but you can't get it just through a book.

You can't get it just through a seminar. Seminars can help, but you can't get it
just through a seminar. It comes through personal example.

It comes through what happens in families. Children imitate their parents. For
good or bad, they imitate their parents.

And Paul says, "I'm living for Jesus. I'm not perfect, but I'm living for Jesus.
And because of that, I want you to imitate that in me.

Imitate me. " In fact, he was very clear about this. Imitate my way of life in
Jesus Christ.

Imitate that. It's more caught than taught. It is seen.

And when I see it, then I can do it. You see, when it comes to a family, our
human families, a good family teaches you how to relate to the world. A good
family teaches you how to have integrity in tough situations.

A good family teaches you how to take responsibility for yourself. And if you
had the privilege of growing up in that kind of a family, that's a great
blessing of God. And there are things that you can learn in a family like that
that you cannot learn anywhere else because they are caught.

They are imitated. They are learned by being seen. And Paul says the church is
like that.

If you did not grow up in that kind of a family, now you have a new family. It's
the church. And in that family, you can learn what it means to have integrity.

You can learn what it means to live a life of responsibility. You can learn a
new way of living. It can be caught there.

So here's the question when you take a look at these verses. Who in your life is
a father or a mother to you in your faith? Who has brought you to faith in
Christ, who has been crucial in your growth in your faith in Christ?

And the question behind that is not just the person. Maybe a name comes to mind.
Maybe two or three names come to mind.

But the question behind that is how do you need to be imitating them right now
in a situation that you're facing and a decision that you're making? What did
you see in them? What did you see of Christ in them?

What did you see in them that was their way of life in Christ? But right now,
that's what I need to do. That's how we learn to have faith in the family of
God.

Now, let me ask another question. Who is a son or a daughter to you in your
faith? You may be a brand new believer.

You've just been a believer for a few weeks, but there's somebody else who's
watching you already. You may have been a believer for years and years now, and
there's many people who are watching you in your faith. The question behind that
one is, it's not just the names that we need to know, but the question behind
that is how do you need to remind them of a way of life in Jesus?

What is it that God's challenging you to do right now? You see, sometimes when
God challenges me to do something, I think it's just for me. That's a pretty
selfish way of thinking.

The truth of the matter is when God challenges you to take a step of faith, it's
not just for you. It's also for all those people who are going to see in some
way. You may not even know that they see, but they're going to see.

They're going to recognize. And that step of faith that you take, it's going to
remind them of a way of life in Jesus, and it's going to encourage them to live
that way of life in Jesus. I get selfish sometimes.

You probably do too. And in that selfishness, I think, "Well, it's not really
important how quickly I do this that Jesus is asking me to do. I'll get to it
someday.

" Or maybe even get more selfish than that and think, "Lord, I sense this is
what you want me to do, but I really wanted to do this instead that I want to do
first. " The truth is, when I do that, it hurts not only me. It also hurts all
those sons and daughters in the faith that God has watching me right now.

And if you think there aren't any, you're lying to yourself. Every one of us
have people watching us, people in your family, people at your work, people that
you come across just in your day-to-day life. They see.

They see Jesus in you. So the question is, how do you need to remind them today?
What's God challenging you to do that will remind them of a way of life in
Christ?

As we close together in prayer today, I want to pray about those two things. Who
do you need to be imitating? Who do you need to be reminding?

Let's pray. Lord, speak to our hearts through your Spirit. Remind us of someone
that was a challenge to us in our faith and of something we need to do because
of that challenge today.

It's a family relationship, so challenge us in the family. And Lord, also remind
us that there are people watching us. So what is it we need to be doing today
because there are others who are watching us?

What faith step are you asking us to take? With either of these, Lord, it's not
about the people watching us. It's really about you in the end.

And what we want to do is do it to please you. They are not the judge of our
ministry, but they are influenced by our ministry. So let us do these things to
please you, to honor you, recognizing that as we do that, our life has changed
and others' lives are changed.

In Jesus' name, we pray for the strength to have this faith today. Amen. Join us
tomorrow.

Paul's going to continue to talk about the importance of family relationship in
the church.