The Minister's Authority and the Church's Duty Text: 1 Corinthians 16:10-11
Introduction: The Contempt of the Familiar
We live in an age that has weaponized contempt. It is the default posture of our culture. We hold our leaders in contempt, our history in contempt, and increasingly, our pastors in contempt. The evangelical world is not immune to this. In fact, we have developed our own pious-sounding versions of it. We have a low view of the ministry because we have a low view of the authority of the one who established it. We think of the pastor as a hired hand, a CEO, a life coach, or a content provider. And when the man in the pulpit is young, or timid, or simply not as flashy as the conference speaker we just streamed, this contempt can curdle into a particularly ugly form of spiritual pride.
The Corinthian church was a mess. They were gifted, to be sure, but they were also arrogant, factious, and worldly. They were spiritual show-offs, puffed up with their own knowledge and their own preferred leaders. Paul had planted the church, Apollos had watered it, but the Corinthians had managed to introduce a rot of pride that threatened the whole crop. Into this hornet's nest, Paul sends his son in the faith, Timothy. And in our text today, he gives the church a stern and direct command about how they are to receive him. This is not a suggestion. It is not a friendly tip. It is an apostolic command, and it reveals a foundational principle for church health: how a congregation receives a faithful minister is a direct reflection of how they receive the Lord who sent him.
These two verses are intensely practical. They deal with hospitality, respect for the office of the ministry, and the basis of true spiritual authority. The Corinthians were being called to submit, not to Timothy's personal charisma, of which he may have had little, but to the work of the Lord he was doing. This is a lesson our own democratic, anti-authority, celebrity-driven church culture desperately needs to relearn.
The Text
Now if Timothy comes, take care that he is with you without fear, for he is doing the Lord’s work, as I also am. So let no one despise him. But send him on his way in peace, so that he may come to me, for I expect him with the brothers.
(1 Corinthians 16:10-11 LSB)
Receive the Man, Receive the Master (v. 10)
We begin with the first part of the instruction:
"Now if Timothy comes, take care that he is with you without fear, for he is doing the Lord’s work, as I also am." (1 Corinthians 16:10)
Paul's concern here is palpable. Why would Timothy have reason to be afraid? Timothy was, by all accounts, a more reserved and perhaps timid personality than the apostle Paul. Paul later exhorts him to fan into flame the gift of God, for God has not given us a spirit of fear (2 Tim. 1:6-7). But his temperament was not the primary issue. The primary issue was the character of the Corinthian church. They were a rough crowd. They were argumentative, litigious, and they had factions who were openly hostile to Paul's authority. Sending Timothy into that environment was like sending a lamb into a wolf den, and Paul knew it.
So he commands them, "take care that he is with you without fear." This is a call for the mature and godly remnant in the church to step up and run interference. It was their job to create an atmosphere where the ministry of the Word could go forward without the minister having to constantly look over his shoulder. This is a crucial function of a healthy church. A congregation should be a safe harbor for a faithful pastor, not a gauntlet to be run. When a church is full of murmuring, criticism, and back-biting, the minister is hindered from doing his actual work because he is constantly forced into a defensive crouch.
And what is the basis for this command? It is not Timothy's impressive resume or his dynamic personality. The basis is this: "for he is doing the Lord's work, as I also am." The authority does not reside in the man, but in the work. The work is the Lord's. Timothy is simply a vessel, a servant, a workman. But because he is doing the Lord's work, he comes with the Lord's authority. Paul puts Timothy's work on the exact same plane as his own apostolic work. It is the same work. The authority is derivative, flowing from Christ, through His Word, by His commissioned minister. To create an atmosphere of fear for Timothy was to show contempt for the Lord who sent him. Jesus said it plainly: "He who receives you receives Me, and he who receives Me receives Him who sent Me" (Matt. 10:40). This is the principle of delegated authority.
The Sin of Clerical Contempt (v. 11a)
Paul sharpens the point in the first part of verse 11.
"So let no one despise him." (1 Corinthians 16:11a LSB)
The word for "despise" here means to treat as nothing, to hold in contempt, to look down upon. This was a particular temptation for the Corinthians. They valued eloquence, wisdom, and the flashy spiritual gifts. Timothy was young, and likely not the powerhouse orator that Apollos was. It would have been easy for these spiritual snobs to dismiss him. "He's just a kid." "He's not Paul." "He's not as deep as Apollos."
This is a perennial sin in the church. We despise ministers for all sorts of carnal reasons. He is too young. He is too old. His sermons are too simple. His sermons are too academic. He is not a "people person." He spends too much time with his family. We have a checklist of worldly qualifications, and if the man God has sent doesn't measure up, we feel justified in our contempt. But Paul says this is forbidden. "Let no one despise him."
This command is not a shield for ministerial incompetence or unfaithfulness. The Scriptures are clear about the qualifications for elders and the process for bringing a charge against one. But Timothy was a faithful man doing the Lord's work. The issue was not his faithfulness, but his lack of worldly pizzazz. Paul is teaching the church to look past the vessel to the treasure within the vessel. The power is in the gospel, not the personality. A church that obsesses over the personality of the pastor is a church that has lost its focus on the gospel. They are treating the ministry like a consumer product to be rated, instead of a divine word to be obeyed.
This is why Paul tells Timothy elsewhere, "Let no one despise your youth, but be an example to the believers" (1 Tim. 4:12). The antidote to being despised is not to puff out your chest and demand respect. The antidote is godly character. The authority is confirmed by a life lived in conformity to the message preached. The congregation has a duty not to despise him, and the minister has a duty not to be despicable.
Support the Work, Send the Worker (v. 11b)
The command is not merely negative, "do not despise," but also positive. They have a tangible duty to him.
"But send him on his way in peace, so that he may come to me, for I expect him with the brothers." (1 Corinthians 16:11b LSB)
To "send him on his way in peace" was a standard phrase for providing for a traveling minister's journey. It meant supplying him with provisions, financial support, and whatever else he needed to get to his next destination. It was a practical, tangible expression of their partnership in the gospel. It was not enough to just tolerate his presence and then say, "good luck on your trip." They were to actively and generously support his ministry. Their financial support was an outward sign of their spiritual submission to the work he was doing.
This is God's ordained method for supporting the ministry. Those who are taught the Word are to share all good things with their teacher (Gal. 6:6). The ox that treads the grain is not to be muzzled (1 Cor. 9:9). A church's financial generosity to its ministers is a barometer of its spiritual health. A stingy congregation is almost always a rebellious congregation. They are withholding their support because, deep down, they despise the authority that the minister represents.
Notice the goal: "so that he may come to me." Timothy was on a mission, and that mission had a destination. The Corinthians were a stop along the way. Their duty was to facilitate that mission, not hinder it. They were to be a launching pad, not a quagmire. A healthy church understands that it is part of a much larger kingdom enterprise. They receive ministers, benefit from their labor, and then send them on, blessed and supplied, to the next field of battle. They are not possessive or parochial. They are kingdom-minded.
Conclusion: Honoring the Office
So what is the takeaway for us? This passage is a potent corrective to our modern, low-church, anti-authoritarian instincts. God has established an office in the church for the preaching of the Word and the administration of the sacraments. The men who fill that office are just that, men. They are earthen vessels. They have flaws, weaknesses, and annoying mannerisms. But if they are faithfully doing the Lord's work, they come with the Lord's authority.
Our duty as a congregation is threefold. First, we are to create an environment "without fear." This means we put a guard over our mouths. We refuse to participate in gossip, slander, or grumbling against the church's leadership. We deal with grievances biblically, in private, and with a spirit of humility. We make the church a place where the pastor can focus on his primary calling: prayer and the ministry of the Word.
Second, we are to refuse to despise the man God has sent us. This requires us to repent of our consumeristic attitudes. The pastor is not there to entertain us or to affirm our preferences. He is there to afflict the comfortable and comfort the afflicted with the Word of God. We must learn to honor the office, even as we hold the man accountable to the duties of that office. We honor the office by receiving the Word he preaches, not as the word of man, but as it truly is, the Word of God (1 Thess. 2:13).
Finally, we are to support the work. This means we pray for our pastors. This means we encourage them. And yes, this means we support them generously with our tithes and offerings, sending them forth in peace to do the work to which God has called them. When we do these things, we are not just being nice to the pastor. We are demonstrating our submission to the Lord Jesus Christ, the head of the church. He is the one doing the work, through frail men like Timothy, and through frail men like your pastor. Honor the workman, for the sake of the Master.