1 Corinthians 04 Round Two: Spiritual Mentors

What if the church needed a million faithful mentors more than one more superstar? We open 1 Corinthians 4 and follow Paul as he speaks like a spiritual father to a fractured community, calling them away from pride, comparison, and empty talk. Through a candid story about hidden prayer and a deep reading of the text, we trace the difference between borrowed spotlight and cross-shaped authority—and why that difference still saves communities from tearing apart.

Paul names himself and Apollos as servants of Christ and stewards of God’s mysteries, judged finally by the Lord who reveals motives. That shift reframes leadership: fidelity over applause, fruit over flair. He pulls back the curtain on the cost of ministry—hunger, ridicule, weary labor—and the surprising response of blessing those who curse. It’s a portrait of cruciform power that stands in quiet defiance of platform culture. Then comes the heart of the call: imitate a life you can actually see. Paul sends Timothy as a living template, proving that formation happens best through proximity, consistency, and gentle correction.

We talk practical next steps to build a mentoring culture: pray for mentors because the work is heavy, ask one trusted person for a monthly hour over coffee to discuss Scripture, prayer, and one concrete step, and then turn to someone a step behind and offer the same. If everything we have is a gift, then mentorship is how we steward that gift into another life. The result is a church less dazzled by clever speeches and more alive with God’s power—less divided by status and more united by shared practice. Ready to trade hype for holiness and talk for power? Hit play, then share this with someone you could mentor or be mentored by, subscribe for more daily Bible breakdowns, and leave a review to help others find the show.

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The More We Dig. The More We Find.

Scripture quotations taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation (NLT).
Copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation.
Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Chapters

• 0:00 Welcome And Episode Setup
• 0:43 Community Updates And Support
• 1:27 Personal Story About Prayer And Mentoring
• 4:40 Context: Corinth’s Divisions And Paul’s Role
• 5:13 Reading 1 Corinthians 4
• 9:29 Paul’s Costly Calling And Fatherly Authority
• 12:19 Timothy’s Mission And Power Over Talk
• 14:05 From Celebrities To Spiritual Fathers

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:00

Welcome to the Bible Breakdown Podcast. Every day, we take one chapter of the Bible, dig deeper, and discover that the more we dig, the more we find. You can find out more at the BibleBreakdown.com. Now let's grow in God's Word together. Well hello, everybody. Welcome back to the Bible Breakdown Podcast with your host, Pastor Brandon. Today, 1 Corinthians chapter 4. And I want to give this one the title, Spiritual Mentors in Your Life. You ever had a mentor in your life? You ever had a spiritual mentor in your life? They're so very rare nowadays, but they're more important now than they've ever been. We need them. We need to pray for them. And we need people who want to be spiritual mentors and not spiritual superstars. We're getting into that in just a moment. But as always, before we do that, if you like what we're doing here, make sure you like, share, and subscribe to this YouTube channel. Also leave us a five-star review on the podcast. I see so many of you doing that. Thank you so much. You are still my favorites. And also, if you are listening or listening to this, make sure you go to the Bible breakdown discussion. And I would love to engage with you in there. Let us know what you're enjoying. Let us know if you have any ideas on how we can change up this podcast, this YouTube channel, so that we can just engage more with one another. So I really love doing this. I'm going to make sure that as we dig, the more we dig, the more we find. And I just see myself as like sitting across the table with a cup of coffee, my Bible, and we're just gushing about God's word and just enjoying it along the way. And so we're going to continue doing that. And while you're opening your Bibles to 1 Corinthians chapter four, talking about spiritual mentors. I've had some different mentors in my life, and my dad was one of them. I used to, uh, when I still do, but really look up to my dad, especially once I became a Christ follower. And my dad would have these different things I got to be a part of, and was a bunch of young uh people that really want to pursue ministry in their life, and he would get all of us together and he'd talk to them. And it wasn't, it wasn't just those moments of like literal like training, like sitting in the classroom. It was more just also how he would interact with different people and do different things. And I get this one story I'll tell you as we get ready and you get your Bibles open to 1 Corinthians 14, top your coffee off real quick. That my dad, sometimes he um he would want to go out and pray out at the church. And the kind of the way the place would be is the church would be on one side of the property, and then across the parking lot would be the church that the pastor would live in. They call it a parsonage. And we would be out there, and my stepmom would want me to go and get him for something, whatever. And sometimes I couldn't find him. And one day she told me, I want you to go out to the church and get your dad. And I was like, He's not out there. Well, yeah, yeah, he is. I saw him go out there. I was like, No, no, no, he can't be out there. The lights are off. She just looked at me and she kind of smiled and she said, How about this? You go into the auditorium and you say, Hey dad. And if you don't hear anything, say it one more time. And then tell me he's not out there because she knew something I didn't. So I go out there, and of course I was terrified of the dark. So I go out there and I'm like, hey, dad. Don't hear anything. So wait a second, hey dad, finally here. What? What do you need, son? You okay? Scared me half to death. I didn't thought I'd done either either the Lord is talking to me or I'm about to die, right? I just, it scared me half to death. And I think I scared him half to death too. And finally, I'm like, can I turn the light on? Yes, turn the light on. I mean, now he's frustrated, right? Like, Dad, I mom wanted me to come get you. Why are you in the dark? And he started laughing and he said, Because of this right here. He said, Sometimes I have a hard time getting away from people so I can spend time with the Lord. And it looks like it's not working anymore. So, so what he would do is, is because a lot of times living in a rural community, if the lights of the church were on, people just thought that meant I guess the pastor needs company. So they just stop all times, day and night, just to go by and just talk, just talk, just a much slower time of time of life back then. People just go and talk. And the reason why my dad might be out there was because he wanted to talk to God, wanted to pray. And so he got into the habit of going out to the church, especially at night, and leaving the lights off so he could pray. And so, since he was a spiritual mentor in my life, I tried that once. And the whole time I go out there and the whole time it's pitch black. All I'm thinking about is I've never been scared of the dark. I'm just terrified of what's in the dark that I can't see. And so I think my prayer time lasted about five minutes. And every time I'd hear a creak or every time I'd hear something settle, I just decided that that all the scary movies were coming true. And so that I just figured out that that's one area I was not going to follow, my spiritual mentor. But I don't know if you ever had any of those in your life. And what Paul is doing is he is talking about his relationship and Apollos' relationship with them. And remember, this is a family therapy session. You know, he's trying to bring a divided church back together again. And he's trying to say, you need to listen to me, because remember, I'm not just a teacher that's passing through, but man, I'm like a spiritual father to you guys. And you don't have enough of those in your life. I don't think we have enough of those in our life now. We need spiritual mentors, but then also listen to how Paul talks about the kind of life that he and Apollos and different ones have to lead. And I think that's part of the problem is spiritual mentors go through a lot. So we need them, but we also need to pray for those that are there. So let's read this together. 1 Corinthians chapter 4, verse 1 says this. So look at Apollos and me as mere servants of Christ who have been put in charge of explaining God's mysteries. Now, a person who is in charge as a manager must be faithful. As for me, it matters very little how I might be evaluated by you or by any human authority. But I don't even trust my own judgment at this point. My conscience is clear, but that doesn't prove me right. It is the Lord Himself who will examine me and decide. So don't make judgments about anyone ahead of time, for before the Lord returns, he will bring out the darkest, or when he does, he'll bring out the darkest secrets to light and will reveal our own private motives. Then God will give to each one the praise that is due. Lord help us, right? Verse 6. Dear brothers and sisters, I have used Apollos and myself to illustrate what I've been saying. If you pay attention to what I have quoted to you from Scripture, you won't be proud of one of your leaders at the expense of another. For what gives you the right to make such a judgment? What do you have that God hasn't given you? And if everything you have is from God, why boast as if it were not a gift? You think you already have everything you need. You think you are already rich, and you have begun to reign in God's kingdom without us? I wish you were already reigning. Then you would I'd be able to reign with you. Instead, I sometimes think that God has put us apostles on display, like prisoners of war at the end of a victor's parade, condemned to die. We have become a spectacle for the world, for the people and angels alike. Our dedication to Christ makes us look foolish, but you claim to be so wise in Christ. We are weak, but you are so very powerful. We are honored, or you are honored, but we are ridiculed. Even now we go hungry and thirsty. We don't have enough clothes to keep us warm. We are often beaten and have no home. We work weary with our own hands and earn our own living. We bless those who curse us. We are patient with those who abuse us. We appeal gently with evil things when evil things are said about us. We are treated like the world's garbage, like everybody's trash, right up to this present moment. I'm not writing these things to shame you, but to warn you as my beloved children. For even if you had 10,000 others to teach you about Christ, you have only one spiritual father. For I became your father in Christ Jesus when I preached the good news to you, so I urge you to imitate me. That's why I've sent Timothy, my beloved and faithful child, to in the Lord. He will remind you of how I follow Christ Jesus, just as I teach in all the churches wherever I go. Some of you have become ignor arrogant, thinking that I will not visit you again, but I will come and soon, and if the Lord lets me, and then I will find out whether these arrogant people just give pretentious speeches or whether they really have God's power. For the kingdom of God is not just a lot of talk, it's the living, it's living by God's power. Which do you choose? Shall I come with a rod to punish you, or should I come with love and a gentle spirit? Oh Lord. I'll tell you something. Paul ain't messing around. And I'd think I'd rather get a spanking than hear Paul tell me he's disappointed in me. You know what I'm saying? Oh, when I was a kid, because I was saying my dad was also my spiritual mentor, I would rather have anything bad happen to me than for my dad to say I'm disappointed. And that's what Paul is saying. Is he saying, Look, I'm not like one of these traveling salesmen. I'm not one of these people that's come and gone. And you've seen the things I have been through. I've lived among you. You've seen how I've suffered and how I've struggled, and I've been right there. That's why when I'm talking to you, when I'm doing these family therapy sessions, you can take it from me because here I am. I've been a spiritual father to you, not just passing through. And he's saying, and I've sent Timothy. Now, Timothy later becomes the pastor of the church of Ephesus, which is where Paul is. And so Paul likely sends Timothy from Ephesus there to say, hey man, listen, I'm gonna put you in charge while you're there. Try to go straighten everything out and tell them about what I'm doing here so that they'll know what to do there. There's a lot of people who were talking while Paul wasn't there and he's going, ah, you know, he talks a big game when he ain't here, but when Paul gets here, he's just nice and doesn't do anything. He ain't gonna do anything. And Paul's like, Bet money. Bet money I'm not gonna come and take care of. Business when I come up in there, if I have to, because I'm not gonna let you guys stay divided because I love you too much. And you know what we need? We need mentors like that. One of the things that hurts me as a pastor is, man, I'm a nobody. I pastor a local church, and I'm thankful for that. I'm thankful to spend, God willing, my entire life at one location loving the people of real life church. And I'm not speaking negatively against any other pastor doing anything else. You know, for whatever reason, we need these big-time celebrity pastors for God's purposes. God's sovereign, he knows what he's doing, and that's fine. But for every one superstar pastor, I think we need a million of spiritual fathers that not are just pastoring congregations, but small group leaders. You know, people within the church who are just quietly, faithfully mentoring other people. Men and women who say, you know what, I don't have to be known by the world as long as God knows my name and I can make a difference in the lives of others. Do you know there's young people in your world right now that need a spiritual mentor? There's people younger than you that need a spiritual mentor. You might be in your 20s. You know there's people that are teenagers, they don't have a father or a mother. They need a big brother and a big sister. There's someone if you're in your 30s or someone in your in their 20s that needs someone who's just a step ahead. If you're in your 40s or someone in their 30s, there's there's someone in your life that they can find celebrities everywhere. But they don't have as many spiritual fathers and mothers. I want to ask you this question as we get ready to leave. Who is someone in your life that you can elevate into a spiritual mentor in your life? That doesn't mean they're gonna be perfect. Sometimes the best thing you can learn from a spiritual mentor is how not to do something. But do they love Jesus? Do they love Jesus more than they love you? If so, maybe you should pray about and I would tell you to talk to them. Say, hey, look, I'm not asking you to change your life. I'm not asking you to change your life and wrap it around me. I'm asking if I can become part of your life. What if once a month we got together, had a cup of coffee for an hour, I just asked you about your walk with God. I want to get better, I want to grow. And then what if you looked behind you and you found someone you see potential in? Someone who's just a couple of steps behind, and you said, you know what? I don't want you to stop your life. I want to become part of your life. And I just want to speak life into you. I just want to be here for you once a month. I just want to ask you, you know, if how's how's school going? How's your kids going? How are you doing? And just be that spiritual mentor. But now I want to warn you what Paul is saying here is he's saying you have thousands of teachers, but one father, one spiritual father. So you have to be willing to stay the course because people can find celebrities everywhere, but a faithful spiritual mentor, man, those are hard to find. And we need a bunch of them. So what about you? Who can you ask as a mentor in your life and then who can you commit, you know, and pray and ask God to open the door that you can become part of someone else's life to be an example to them? Let's pray together. God, thank you so much for today. Thank you, God, that in the chaos of Corinth, you're bringing wisdom, you're bringing steps to help them find unity again. And one of the things we unify around you, we unify around what you're doing, and then we unify around the right motives and the right leaders. That's what Paul is doing. Is he saying, make sure we're rallying around the right thing and make sure you realize I got skin in the game. I'm doing this. Pray you'll give us that heart for one another. And we'll find people that can mentor us, and we'll find people that we can invest our lives in. Lord, I know that that's not always the most fun thing in the world. It takes time, it takes effort, it's hard, but there's goodness there, and that's how we make a difference. We thank you for that today. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Well, family therapy session for the Church of Corinth is over for today, and don't forget God's word that says First Corinthians 10. So whatever you do, eating or drinking, do all for the glory of God. I love you. I'll see you tomorrow for First Corinthians chapter five.