1 Corinthians 4:14-17 (NIV)
I am writing this not to shame you but to warn you as my dear children. Even if you had ten thousand 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 have sent to you Timothy, my son whom I love, who is faithful in the Lord. He will remind you of my way of life in Christ Jesus, which agrees with what I teach everywhere in every church.
Paul is not merely being authoritative in his letter, although he could have been based on his commission and his status in the church. Instead, he legitimately cares for the Christians in Corinth as a father cares for his own children.
As a spiritual father, Paul’s longing is to see the Corinthians grow and mature in the Lord. He wants them to avoid the pitfalls that could harm them, cripple them, or even lead to their death. For that reason, he wants them to really focus on what he’s telling them. He wants them to learn from his own life, so that they can avoid the pitfalls that he himself fell into.
Paul is sending this letter to them in the hands of Timothy, his protégé and trusted fellow- worker. Paul will come as soon as possible but can’t leave Ephesus at the present time, because a great door for effective ministry has opened to him there (1 Corinthians 16:8-9). But the situation in Corinth really is serious, so Paul is sending the best man he has to fill his place until he himself can come.
Timothy’s job will not be just to make sure that the theology of the Christians is correct. He will help them to revamp their lifestyle as well, reminding them of how Paul lived among them. Even though one’s way of life springs naturally from the state of their hearts, there are sins that can be fallen into, and harmful ways of living that can drag ones heart away from God as well.
Paul had integrity. That means that his life philosophy, his theology, and his lifestyle were all one. He did not have one lifestyle that he lived in front of the “church people” and a different lifestyle that he lived when he was on the road. His relationship with Jesus controlled every aspect of his life, so that he was always just himself, the Apostle of Jesus, in every situation, with every person. And he wanted that same integrity to characterize the Corinthian Christians as well.
Father, I discovered fairly early in my Christian life the real necessity of having integrity. Before I surrendered to Jesus, I was duplicitous, the very opposite of having integrity. I could put on an effective mask when I was with Christians or at church, a mask that convinced them that I was a “good Christian”. But the person that my wife and son knew, the person that my coworkers knew, was a completely different person, the real me who would never be confused with a Christian. But when I turned to Jesus, I was transformed into a person who didn’t need to wear a spiritual mask. He gave me a single godly life that I could live without shame, no matter where I was; a life that matched my theology in every respect. But, as Paul was warning the Corinthians, that life of integrity needs tending. Little weeds of sin or carelessness that I allow into my heart can easily affect my whole lifestyle, drawing me away and requiring me to pick up my old mask again. Lord, help me to always walk in integrity before You, and before all people. Help me to keep my life open to the influence of Your Holy Spirit, so that He can keep me clean and pure on the inside, living a holy life of integrity on the outside that needs no mask. Amen.