“At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore” (Ps. 16: 11)
The Basket Case Chronicles #31
“Let a man so account of us, as of the ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God. Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful” (1 Cor. 4:1-2).
Paul then describes himself, and those with him, under two different headings. The first is that of a minister, and the second that of a steward. These men were ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God.
The word minister here is huperetes, a compound of the word for “under” and the word for “rowing”—the kind of situation that used to result from ships having two or three banks of oars. An under-rower would work at the direction of another, which in this case would be Christ. John Mark once labored in this capacity for Barnabas and Saul (Acts 13:5). We would call someone like this an assistant pastor. Paul wants men to account of him this way, to reckon him as a servant of Christ, laboring under the direct authority of Christ.
The word for steward is oikonomos, and refers to a manager of the household affairs, a chamberlain. He must direct and manage, and he must also be able to give an accounting for all the silver. He is entrusted with certain responsibilities, and he must be found faithful in his discharge of his duties. Pastors are here described as stewards, but of what? The answer is something much more valuable than the household jewels, or the receivables and payables. Ministers of Christ are stewards of the mysteries of God. This refers to the gospel, that which unites Jew and Gentile, heaven and earth, and God and man. There must be no tampering with this gospel, either by adding or subtracting. Just the ancient gospel, straight up.