NOTES for Co1 4:5

The motto of the age we are living through has become the aphorism, "We wanted the best, but it turned out as always." This brilliant expression really does reflect how our life unfolds, because it applies not only to the activity of the state, but also to many of our own actions performed in "private life." It would be frightening to be judged by the fruits of these actions, because we would hardly be able to find anything not poisoned by sin. Only the sacrament of the Eucharist would be left to us then.

But the apostle Paul tells us that God will judge, in any case, not only by the fruits of our deeds, but also by the intentions of the heart. And in this there is amazing hope for us. Besides, our life is often such that we have many intentions deep in the heart and little strength. And this, according to the apostle's thought, is also not a hopeless situation. The small matter left is this: that the intentions of the heart be worthy of praise from God. Then it makes sense to ask Him for wisdom and strength to carry out these intentions.

There are famous words of Jesus, with which He calls us not to judge others, in order not to be judged also. The apostle Paul explains why one should not judge. Simply because it is necessary to know additional information for true judgment: internal motives, thoughts and intentions of the accused. But we [men] cannot know it. Only God knows what is in the heart of man, and that is why it is better for us not to judge - not to transgress against God's fairness. And Paul assures us that there will be a righteous judgment, because when God will come, all which is hidden will be put in the light. Dreadful? Of course! But, it seems, the punishment of the guilty is not the most important for the coming Judgment, God will find in each of us, something to eulogize!

Apostle Paul warns against the human judgment - quite as against the praises, people render to one another and expect from people, and quite as against condemnation. The human judgment claims to know what «the hidden things of darkness» are indeed. But in reality, we are not in position to see the counsels of the heart of one another. Only the Lord Jesus, according to the testimony of John the evangelist, doesn’t need to be informed about any man, for He Himself knows what is in the human heart (Jn. 2:25). Not less considerable in the context of the epistle, the fact that we cannot see what the Lord exactly accomplishes through men. At times, it seems to ourselves, that we are people far from God, quite as king Nebuchadnezzar and Cyrus turned out to be God's instruments, and our good counsels turn out to be a paved way to hell. Being himself a participant (and not the last one) in God's works on earth, the apostle speaks emphatically about this work of God and about the participation in it of people as a secret. Only God brings to light the hidden things. And that’s why to give any judgment on another, as well as on oneself in this life – for us, means to appropriate of the glory of God, to put oneself in the place of God, and it is a vain work.

It is remarkable as the apostle does not leave even for one minute his pastoral care for Christians. Indeed, even here, speaking about his works and those of Apollos, he reminds to the Corinthian brothers that God will judge the counsels of the hearts and their purity will deserve His praise. And an immense and fortuitous hope is in this for all of us, because the fruits of our counsels are rather often very far from being perfect.

What the apostle Paul speaks about is one of the most difficult and at the same time most necessary things in Christianity. From a worldly point of view, the path that the Lord Himself takes and to which He calls His disciples is the path of failure, the path of humiliation. “We have become a spectacle to the world”—the Greek text uses the word θέατρον, theater, spectacle: people who are watched with derision. Jesus, who was welcomed as the Messiah—scourged and crucified on a tree. Paul, the most learned of the Jews—weak and forever persecuted, constantly insulted by his own children. Peter, the head of the new religious community—crucified upside down... Is such a path not madness? The Christian’s place is in this company. This is difficult, because we so greatly desire honor, recognition of our merits, and, finally, well-being. Paul’s experience is important to us because, together with those to whom he writes, we can see the One for whose sake he endures all this. And then, in response to our consent to become refuse and a laughingstock to the world, we will hear the Creator’s words: “You are precious in My sight” (Isa 43:4).

Continuing the conversation about ministry, Paul turns to another theme very important for the servant and for everyone seeking the Kingdom: the theme of judgment and evaluation both of the person himself and of his activity. The apostle's reasoning undoubtedly echoes the Savior's words: "Do not judge, and you will not be judged," and for Paul they prove to be the expression of one of the most important principles of life and of relationships between people in the Kingdom. The key to the apostle's understanding of the problem of judgment and evaluation is his remark that he not only has no concern for other people's evaluations of his activity, but does not even evaluate himself in any way (vv. 3-4). Judgment is God's affair; it will take place at the end of time, so one should not get ahead of events with hasty evaluations (v. 5). Only in this way can mutual self-exaltation be avoided (vv. 6-7), and therefore one can become faithful servants and witnesses of Christ and the Kingdom (vv. 1-2).

Such an approach is not accidental, if we remember that in the Kingdom each person receives precisely his own reward. The Kingdom presupposes not collectivism but community life. A collective is a purely human phenomenon, and therefore the criteria for evaluating each person in it will inevitably be purely human and, consequently, universal. Here standardization is inevitable, and a final evaluation both of everything done by a member of the collective and of judgment concerning the person himself is entirely possible. By earthly measures, a person proves to be only, in the words of sociologists, a "product of the environment"; in himself he means nothing, and everything he has done is valuable only insofar as it is useful "for society," or more precisely, for the particular collective to which the person belongs. In the Kingdom, however, only God can evaluate both the person himself and everything he has done.

Of course, in a community a person's relationships both with God and with neighbors are extremely important, but here the person does not become derivative of the community in the way that in our still untransformed world he often becomes derivative of society, of the collective. And in that case it becomes clear that neither the community as a whole nor any of its members individually can or should "judge" a person, that is, give a final evaluation of the person himself and of his activity. Of course, if certain actions contradict the Torah and the one who committed them does not repent of anything and regrets nothing, the situation becomes quite unambiguous; but in that case one can say of the offender that he brings God's condemnation upon himself. In all other cases, as we can see, it is better to refrain from evaluations until the end of time, when the One to whom the decisive word belongs at the Last Judgment will speak His word.

In today’s reading, the apostle Paul speaks to us about faithfulness. Why is faithfulness so important precisely in the context of stewardship of the mysteries of God? Because we are not merely “doing something for God.” No, serving Christ and building up the Church are our very life. The Church is built from us as from living stones. If a stone keeps taking its place in the wall, falling out, and returning to its place, the building will collapse. The life of every Christian is the life of the Church. If we are unfaithful, we do not merely stop building up the Church; we begin to tear it down.