Now I urge you, brothers – you know that the household of Stephanas were the first converts in Achaia, and that they have devoted themselves to the service of the saints – be subject to such as these, and to every fellow worker and laborer. I rejoice at the coming of Stephanas and Fortunatus and Achaicus, because they have made up for your absence, for they refreshed my spirit as well as yours. Give recognition to such people.
1 Corinthians 16:15-18
Paul has mentioned “the household of Stephanas” before. They, along with “Crispus and Gaius,” were the only ones at Corinth whom Paul had personally baptized (1:14-16). Now he calls them “the first converts in Achaia” (16:15a). Achaia was the name given to the Roman province which made up the entire Greek peninsula south of Thessalonica (cf. Acts 18:12). The New Testament writings generally correlate Achaia with Macedonia, the Roman province which included the northern region of Greece and the southern sections of present-day Yugoslavia and Bulgaria, because in Paul’s day Rome had combined Achaia and Macedonia into one large province that covered basically all of Greece (cf. Acts 19:21; Rom. 15:26; 2 Cor. 9:2; 1 Thess. 1:7-8). Since Paul had preached in Athens before traveling to Corinth (Acts 18:1), he most likely converted Stephanas and his household in Athens.
Both Paul and the church at Corinth knew that the household of Stephanas had “devoted themselves to the service of the saints” (16:15b). “Devoted” (tasso) carries with it the idea of assigning a task to someone. Stephanas’ household had “devoted themselves” (i.e., assigned to themselves) to the task of “the service of the saints.” “Service” (diakonia) is correlated with the concept of “waiting on” someone, serving them, ministering to them. In other words, Stephanas and his family were so fully committed to Christ and his church that they had basically assigned themselves the responsibility of serving their fellow Christians in whatever need they had.
Christians, do we have a similar mindset towards our own brethren? We must, as seen in the fact that the Holy Spirit inspired Paul to direct Corinth to respond to Stephanas’ devotion to serving them by “be(ing) subject to such as these, and to every fellow worker and laborer” (16:16). “Be subject” (hupotasso, a military term meaning “to rank under”) is in the present tense, meaning that the Corinthian saints were to continually “rank themselves under” the household of Stephanas and every other fellow Christian who worked and labored with them in the church. In other words, they were to consider each other and each other’s needs and interests as more important than themselves (Phil. 2:1-5). Paul put it to the Roman church in a similar way: “Outdo one another in showing honor” (Rom. 12:10b). Stephanas and his family gave themselves the assignment of waiting on their fellow Christians at Corinth, who were then directed by God to do the same with Stephanas and each other. Christians, this is how we must look at each other and treat each other (Gal. 6:10).
Paul informs Corinth that he “rejoice(s)” in response to Stephanas, Fortunatus, and Achaicus coming to see him (16:17a). These three were members of the church at Corinth and had likely brought him Chloe’s report (1:11) and the questions the church had for him (7:1ff). Paul missed his Corinthian brethren (16:17b), so the arrival on his doorstep of three of them “refreshed” his spirit, just as he knew they also “refreshed” the spirits of their brethren at Corinth (16:18a). For these reasons, they deserved “recognition” from their brethren (16:18b). When people, especially our fellow Christians, do things that are worthy of praise and honor, we should give them such (Phil. 2:29; 1 Thess. 5:12-13; 1 Tim. 5:17).
— Jon
