Paul does not open this chapter with a gentle greeting. He demands that the Corinthians account for him and Apollos as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. The word for servant here means an under-rower, the lowest kind of galley slave. A steward is a household manager entrusted with another man's goods. Neither role carries status or independence. The only requirement for a steward is faithfulness, not brilliance, not popularity, not success measured by human standards.
Paul then makes a startling claim about judgment. He says it matters very little to him that the Corinthians judge him, or that any human court does. He does not even trust his own self-assessment. He knows nothing against himself, but that does not mean he is innocent. The only judge who counts is the Lord. So Paul commands them to stop judging before the appointed time. When the Lord comes, he will drag the hidden things of darkness into the light and expose the motives of every heart. Only then will each man receive his praise from God.
Paul has applied these principles to himself and Apollos as a lesson. He wants the Corinthians to learn not to go beyond what is written, and not to be puffed up in favor of one teacher against another. He asks a series of questions that cut to the root of their pride. Who makes you different from anyone else? What do you have that you did not receive? If you received it, why do you boast as if you had not? The implication is clear: their arrogance is built on borrowed goods.
Paul then turns to sarcasm. He says the Corinthians are already filled, already rich, already reigning as kings without the apostles. He wishes they really did reign, so that he and the others could reign alongside them. But the reality is the opposite. God has put the apostles on display at the end of the procession, like men condemned to die in the arena. They have become a spectacle to the whole world, to angels and to human beings.
The contrast is brutal. The Corinthians think they are wise in Christ, but Paul says the apostles are fools for Christ's sake. The Corinthians think they are strong, but the apostles are weak. The Corinthians enjoy honor, but the apostles endure dishonor. Paul describes the present reality of his ministry: hunger, thirst, nakedness, beatings, homelessness. They work with their own hands to survive. When they are reviled, they bless. When they are persecuted, they endure. When they are slandered, they entreat. He calls himself and the other apostles the filth of the world, the offscouring of all things, even now.
Paul insists he is not writing this to shame them. He writes to warn them as his beloved children. Though they may have ten thousand tutors in Christ, they do not have many fathers. Paul is their father because he begot them in Christ Jesus through the gospel. So he begs them to imitate him. He has sent Timothy, his beloved and faithful child in the Lord, to remind them of Paul's ways in Christ, the same ways he teaches everywhere in every church.
Some in Corinth have become arrogant, assuming Paul will not return. But Paul says he will come to them soon, if the Lord wills. When he comes, he will not be interested in the words of the arrogant. He will look for power. The kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power. He ends with a direct question: What do they want? Should he come with a rod, or with love and a spirit of gentleness? The choice is theirs, but the authority is his.