“I do not write these things to make you ashamed, but to admonish you as my beloved children. 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. I urge you, then, be imitators of me. That is why I sent you Timothy, my beloved and faithful child in the Lord, to remind you of my ways in Christ, as I teach them everywhere in every church. Some are arrogant, as though I were not coming to you.
But I will come to you soon, if the Lord wills, and I will find out not the talk of these arrogant people but their power. For the kingdom of God does not consist in talk but in power. What do you wish? Shall I come to you with a rod, or with love in a spirit of gentleness? (1 Cor 4:14-21)
It is a precious thing to have a father in the Lord, as there just are not so many of these. There many guides, but few, true fathers of the gospel. Paul was a father in the Lord.
But the children were erring. There were arrogant leaders who were boasting on foolish thing and causing quarrels. Paul hoped to see them soon, but he did not want to come as a hard, disciplinary parent if he didn’t have to. He could come in gentleness if they would but change, and that’s what he preferred.
In this, he says something that is often taken out of context:
“For the kingdom of God does not consist in talk but in power”
The word used here is not the one for authority, but the word dunamis which is the standard word for power. It’s where we get our word dynamite.
There have been many who have interpreted this as meaning the miraculous. But the context is broader than that. Otherwise there would have to be a showdown of power when Paul came, and that is not the spirit of miracles. Miracles in the Bible always serve people, not try to impress.
Power is used in other ways throughout the Bible. It is used for transformation, miracles, and authority. So what is it here?
It seems like it is about authority and transformation. The arrogant ones there were boasting on things that were empty–who was the best, who was the wisest, who followed the most important leader. This was Greek thinking. Rather, the kingdom of God was about humility, a wisdom that the world did not understand, and even suffering for the gospel instead of having a place of power.
The arrogant ones had impressive words, but did they have the power of God? Did they have the authority that God gives, in lives that were transformed by him? Is God’s power at work in them and through them?
He has spoken of this before:
“And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God” (1 Cor 2:1-5).
The power of God was in the cross and the transformed lives. This is the true power of God.
The Corinthian church had the power of the supernatural — tongues, prophets, and spiritual gifts (1 Cor 12-14). What they were missing was humility, purity, unity, and maturity. These are the fruit of God with a man or woman.
Paul is going to come to the Corinthians. If they continue to be in division, quarreling, and allowing the arrogant free reign, he is going to have to use his power. But if they repent, then he can come with gentleness which was his preference.