What does 1 Corinthians 4:11 mean?

Paul continues to describe daily reality for the apostles who serve Christ by ministering to others. He has contrasted the relatively wealthy and respected position that the Corinthians appear to hold with the apostles' lives of being regarded as foolish by the world and having little to show for it in earthly terms.

Paul now stops the comparison to focus on the great lack that he and the other apostles are experiencing. They live with the constant reality of hunger and thirst. They don't have much clothing, and it is certainly not fashionable by the standards of the day. They are beaten up by the realities of the world—in some cases, literally, physically beaten—for the sake of Christ. Their lives are dangerous, as the Corinthians likely remember well from Paul's time with them.

Finally, Paul and the other apostles are said to be homeless. Paul spent his life as a traveling evangelist and missionary, likely staying with generous hosts and in rented rooms. He never settled down into a home of his own. His specific service to Christ would not allow it.

Paul continues to describe the hardships of living as a minister and apostle of Christ in the following verses, but he also begins to describe their strong and positive response to these conditions.