Paul asked that he, and the other apostles (us), be regarded by the Corinthians as servants. There are several different words in the language of the New Testament to describe a servant. Here, Paul used the word hyperetas, describing a subordinate servant functioning as a free man. He did not use the more common word for a servant (doulos) which designated a common slave.

The word hyperetas literally means an “under-rower,” in the sense that someone was a rower on a big galley ship. So, though it is not the lowest word for a servant, it certainly was not a prestigious position. It’s a place a bit lower than the “over-rower.” A rower on a galley ship simply did what they were required to do, and they worked hard. That’s a good picture of how Paul and other apostles served Jesus and His people.

In addition to servants, Paul asked to be considered as stewards, who were the managers of a household. In relation to the master of the house, stewards were slaves; but in relation to the other slaves the steward was a master. They planned and managed the work, the finances, the strategy, and the records of the master.

What did Paul and the other apostles “manage” in the household of God? Among other things, they were stewards of the mysteries of God. They “managed” (in the sense of preserving and protecting) and “dispensed” (in the sense of distributing) the truth (mysteries) of God. Whenever Paul heard criticism of his style or manner, he could simply ask, “Did I give the truth to you?” As a good steward, that’s what he first cared about.

For stewards, the important thing was faithfulness – to be found faithful. They had to be efficient managers of the master’s resources. A steward never owned the property or resource he dealt with; he simply managed it for his master and had to manage it faithfully.

Today, God people (especially those responsible to lead in some way) should have the same attitude: “Consider us servants and stewards.” As servants, they shouldn’t think too much of themselves, and work hard. As stewards, they should faithfully manage on behalf of their Master.

We don’t need more celebrities and superstars; we need more faithful servants and stewards. If we faithfully fulfill those roles, God will be honored, and His kingdom will progress.

It’s important to recognize that those whom Paul addressed were part of the family of God; they are called brethren. In a sense, that was their problem. They were not behaving like spiritual people, but like carnalpeople – that is, fleshly people. They behaved like immature Christians, as babes in Christ.

There are some who think that there is no such thing as a carnal Christian. Some say it is a contradiction in terms; that what Paul really meant was that these carnal ones were not Christians at all. Yet Paul clearly called them brethren, and he said they were babes in Christ. It’s hard to see how Paul could consider them brothers and call them babes in Christ if they weren’t in the family of God and as babes in Christ, had made a genuine start in the Christian life.

These Corinthian Christians, to some extent, were thinking and acting according to the flesh, not the Spirit. Of course, the flesh did not dominate every aspect of their life, or they would then have had no evidence of being born again. But Paul confronted them where they were clearly thinking and acting in a carnal (fleshly) manner.

Paul didn’t mean that our material substance – the cells and tissues that make up our body – are inherently sinful. There is weakness associated with being “made of flesh,” but this weakness isn’t automatically sinful (2 Corinthians 3:3). Here, the problem with the Corinthian Christians was they were carnal, that is “fleshly” – they were characterized by the flesh. This speaks of the believer who can and should live differently but does not. They aren’t spiritually minded, but they are fleshly minded.

Paul told the Christians of Galatia that they must “walk in the Spirit” and then they would not “fulfill the lust of the flesh” (Galatians 5:6). There were more than a few among the Corinthian Christians who were losing that battle; they were believers, but at least in some ways, their life was marked more by the ideas and actions of their flesh instead of the ideas and actions of the Spirit of God.

Paul spoke of three categories.

– The natural man (1 Corinthians 2:14), is patterned after Adam and rejects the things of God.
– The spiritual man (1 Corinthians 2:15), knows the things of God and endeavors to think and live according to the Spirit.
– The carnal man knows the things of God, yet in some significant ways doesn’t walk in the Spirit, but is characterized by the flesh.

Which one are you?