Let a man so consider us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. Moreover it is required in stewards that one be found faithful. (1 Corinthians 4:1, NKJV)
So often in ministry we like to consider ourselves as evangelists, pastors and so on, but here, Paul is looking at it in a different way. He’s saying, all of us, as ministers of Christ, are stewards of the Gospel. And the requirement of a steward is that he should be found faithful!
Whether you are a member of the congregation, or in ministry as a pastor, prophet or apostle, what counts is faithfulness in whatever God has called you to do! Though Paul is referring specifically to those in ministry like himself, it applies to all of us who have a sense of responsibility that we are working for the Lord. We do not all carry the same level of responsibility – the greater the gifting, the greater the responsibility and the greater the need of faithfulness – but we are all judged on faithfulness in the little things. The ministry that I have does not just depend on me. In some cases, to prepare some events, we have hundreds of people working, and we are dependent on them to see success in what we are doing! If just one fails, it upsets the whole. There is a requirement for faithfulness in us all.
Paul continues to talk about ministry, about those who worked with him and those who worked in competition with him, and about the sacrificial price he paid to work in ministry… And in v15 he says, “Though you have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet you have not many fathers.” It is still true today, we have many instructors, but not so many fathers. We lack fathers in the Church. Now, because of my age, my experience, my 70 years in ministry, people are looking on me more as a father. I learnt so much from my own father, and I want at my age to be a father to you – whoever you are, whether you are the least in the Church, the smallest in the Kingdom, or pastors, leaders, evangelists, prophets – I want to become a father, to bless you and encourage you. This is a sense of responsibility that God is giving me at my age.