1 Corinthians 4:14-17, "I do not write these things to shame you, but as my beloved children I warn you. For though you might have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet you do not have many fathers; for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel. Therefore I urge you, imitate me. For this reason I have sent Timothy to you, who is my beloved and faithful son in the Lord, who will remind you of my ways in Christ, as I teach everywhere in every church."
Shame you … warn you: With his biting sarcasm, Paul knows the Corinthian Christians might be pretty ashamed. He wants them to know his purpose hasn't been to make them feel ashamed, but to warn them of a significant spiritual danger: pride.
You might have ten thousand instructors: The instructor was apaidagogoi, a guardian or "slave-guide," who escorted the boys to and from school, and who supervised their general conduct.
I urge you, imitate me: The first reaction of many of the Corinthian Christians would probably be horror. "Imitate you, Paul? You are regarded as a fool, as weak, as dishonored; you are hungry and thirsty and poorly clothed, homeless and beaten; you work hard to support yourself with manual labor. People look at you and see filth and the offscouring of all things. And you want us to imitate you?"
I have sent Timothy: Timothy seemed to be Paul's chief "trouble shooter," often being sent to problem churches.
Dear God, may my life be so filled with Your Spirit that others are drawn to You, and not me.
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