1 Corinthians 4:15
For though ye have ten thousand instructers in Christ, yet have ye not many fathers: for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel. For though ye have ten thousand instructers in Christ, yet have ye not many fathers: for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel.
Paul became a spiritual father to the Corinthian believers by first proclaiming the gospel to them and leading them to salvation in Christ, though many others afterward instructed them in the faith. The same fatherhood belongs to anyone who brings another to faith through the gospel, creating a parental bond that calls for love, respect, and deference, as seen when an older worker leads a younger one to Christ. Gospel work needs such fathers and not merely many teachers, for there are many instructors but few who care for and guide souls in the faith. An instructor is quick to prescribe hard remedies for others, oppose a fellow laborer, and withdraw confidence from one who errs, while a father acts with sympathy, mercy, and sanctified love, admits his own liability to err, prays with the discouraged, restores confidence, and keeps him at work in a place to labor. One such spiritual father is of higher value than a score of teachers, because youth beset by strong temptations need tender, faithful care to maintain virtuous character rather than judging, controlling, and injustice that alienates affection.
Father Through the Gospel
In Christ Jesus Paul had begotten the Corinthian believers through the gospel, and in that begetting he had become their spiritual father. Though they might have ten thousand instructors in Christ, they had not many fathers, for few stood to them in this fatherly relation to their spiritual beginnings. That fatherhood belonged to him as the one who first proclaimed the gospel to them. Whom God used to bring many to salvation, this relation bound him to his converts by a distinctive parental bond stronger than Christian brotherhood alone.
The same fatherhood made Paul the spiritual father of Timothy, whose conversion came through Paul's preaching of the gospel. Their bond then grew through shared missionary labor and through danger and hope borne together. Wherever one person brings another to faith through the gospel the same distinction holds between the many who instruct and the spiritual father who begot, as when a gray-headed minister stands as father in the gospel to a younger worker. That relation gives converts special reason to show love and sympathy, and respect and deference, to the one so used.
On that fatherly ground Paul warns the Corinthians as beloved sons and beloved children, not to shame them. He beseeches them to be followers of him. He calls them beloved sons while recalling the hardships he endured in his service for Christ. His hardships and his manual labor stand alongside this appeal, showing that work with his hands did not lessen his ministry or his care for them.
Fathers Needed in Ministry
Gospel work needs spiritual fathers and not merely many teachers, for there are many instructors in Christ but few fathers to care for and guide others in the faith. An instructor prescribes bitter medicine for others that he would not take himself, gives opinions against a fellow laborer, and is quick to make an example of an erring brother by withdrawing confidence and favor. A father moves wisely toward himself first and acts with sympathy and humanity, with mercy and sanctified love, knowing liability to err and need of a teachable spirit are common to all.
He admits his own mistakes, takes the discouraged, indebted and strengthless brother by the hand, kneels to seek the Lord in his behalf making his case his own, and restores confidence by sympathy, prayer, and practical help. That help keeps the erring one at work trusting his brethren will help him when he mistakes, encourages him to brace up like a man, to stay inside the ring, to be true to principle and go to work, and helps him find a place to labor where a hundred laborers are needed where there is now one. One spiritual father is of higher value than a score of teachers, because ministers teach for eternity and trace imperishable impressions on the soul.
In a dangerous time when youth are beset with strong temptations and deceived by false hopes, they need tender, faithful care as fathers in Israel and not judges, with love that is seen and felt rather than controlling and governing and acts of injustice that alienate affection. Such care is needed so they can maintain virtuous character and shun the destroyer amid temptations to use tobacco, drink intoxicating drinks, visit the theater, play cards, destroy virtue by lasciviousness, and a thousand temptations on every hand. The verse is part of the instruction defining the position of a steward, given for ministers and physicians to study diligently and to test where they stand in faithfulness, conscience void of offense, and handling the Master's property without mean or selfish dealing.
In publishing houses, which are to be training schools like the schools of the prophets to train trustworthy, principled, quick-understanding men and skillful workmen who can teach others, there are many directors and judges and lawyers in spirit and temper but not many fathers. Having many instructors means having many unsanctified men dealing with souls in a way God does not approve, devoid of mercy, justice, and love of God, not serving or glorifying the Lord, placing a wrong mold on those in their charge and molding character after Judas and Cain rather than the divine similitude. Having fathers means having few who deal with souls with sanctified hearts in mercy, justice, and love to mold them after God. Those who bring people to faith through the gospel are spiritual fathers distinct from instructors, which applies to qualified men who care for young and inexperienced people as spiritual fathers, helping the sin-sick soul as well as treating the body.