1 Corinthians 4:13

Being defamed, we intreat: we are made as the filth of the world, and are the offscouring of all things unto this day (KJV)

Then: Paul finishes his list. Being defamed, being stripped of all good intentions and reputations by detractors, rather than becoming angry (Hodge, p. 74) they speak kindly hoping to exhort their adversaries. Their reaction is the same when they are seen as the filth and offscourings of the world because they continually suffer hunger and thirst. It is not a condition which has changed nor, as the Corinthians can infer, likely to change.

Now: The most recent modern day counterpart to Paul is probably Mother Teresa. We don't think of her as hungering or thirsting, but she certainly went among the poor and voluntairily endured signifcant hardships throughout her life. The difference between the poor without Christ and the voluntarily poor with Christ is heartbreaking. Those with Christ have his presence; those without him have nothing. The difference between the rich without Christ and the voluntarily poor with Christ is just as heartbreaking. The worldly rich still have nothing.

Extra Source: Commentary on the First Epistle to the Corinthians by Charles Hodge (Grand Rapids MI: Eerdman's, c1950, 1995) online at http://books.google.com/books?id=p_eicwvOhUAC&dq=Corinthians+commentary+Hodge&printsec=frontcover&source=bl&ots=N5y0XtoVzJ&sig=ho-hOQGsur5Q_AT-t9joFxZjDrc&hl=en&ei=jtQ4S8-tHdOhlAf_t9GeBw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=8&ved=0CCEQ6AEwBw#v=onepage&q=&f=false