To whom are believers responsible according to 1 Corinthians 4?
Believers are responsible only to the Lord. According to 1 Corinthians 4, until the Lord comes, this is where their responsibility lies. At His coming, He will bring to light hidden things and manifest the counsels of hearts, and then every person will have praise of God.
Les explains that the final impact of our lives won't be fully known until the Lord, the righteous judge, reveals it at the last time. Every person we have touched in this life will still carry on in some way, and we don't know what they will accomplish. The same is true for the lost person, who reaps rewards from people following in his or her footsteps. Therefore, believers are responsible only to the Lord, and until He comes, that is where their responsibility lies. Les points to verse 5, where the Lord will bring to light the hidden things of darkness and make manifest the counsels of the hearts, and then shall every man have praise of God.
Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts: and then shall every man have praise of God.