Pastor's Pen
July/August 2002

(1 Cor 4:15) For though ye have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet have ye not many fathers….

The Corinthian church had a long line of attractive and colorful ministries parading through. Although Paul might have been hyperbolizing to say 10,000 – the point remains, there were many other ministries there. Actually, this is quite shocking when you realize that many of these ministers must have been aware of the gross sins that were taking place amongst them! Were they turning their heads? Were they just ignoring them?

The apostle Paul – who was the true father, was not turning his head. Paul was concerned for the eternal state of these believers. He saw the damage that many of them were doing to their own souls, and he did not spare to tell them.

We have to realize that Paul was making the Corinthians very uncomfortable as he addressed their problems, and he was also making himself very unpopular among many of them also. Paul did not spare the rod because he wanted to deliver these people from destruction. (See Pro. 23:14)

To be a true father in this 21^st century requires certain valiancy. Sometimes, it is just as hard to stand up for the right – for the truth in your own home, than to rush the gate as in the days of yore. We laud the valiant who fight the good fight and run through the troop. But it takes just as much courage to be a good father in the 21^st century. The world wants to pull your children away – yes, you can be as unpopular as Paul was to some of the Corinthians, or you can be as great as Paul was to those who were corrected by him!