NO MORE THAN SERVANTS
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Opening Prayer
Whatever this day holds for me, Father, help me to walk through it in spirit and truth, with confidence that you are with me and with faith that you always accomplish your purposes.
Read 1 CORINTHIANS 3
For additional translations of the passage, use this link to Bible Gateway.
The Church and Its Leaders
3 Brothers and sisters, I could not address you as people who live by the Spirit but as people who are still worldly—mere infants in Christ. 2 I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. 3 You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere humans? 4 For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not mere human beings?
5 What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe—as the Lord has assigned to each his task. 6 I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. 7 So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. 8 The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labor. 9 For we are co-workers in God’s service; you are God’s field, God’s building.
10 By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as a wise builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should build with care. 11 For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, 13 their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work. 14 If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward. 15 If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss but yet will be saved—even though only as one escaping through the flames.
16 Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst? 17 If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person; for God’s temple is sacred, and you together are that temple.
18 Do not deceive yourselves. If any of you think you are wise by the standards of this age, you should become “fools” so that you may become wise. 19 For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God’s sight. As it is written: “He catches the wise in their craftiness”[a]; 20 and again, “The Lord knows that the thoughts of the wise are futile.”[b] 21 So then, no more boasting about human leaders! All things are yours, 22 whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas[c] or the world or life or death or the present or the future—all are yours, 23 and you are of Christ, and Christ is of God.
Footnotes
- 1 Corinthians 3:19 Job 5:13
- 1 Corinthians 3:20 Psalm 94:11
- 1 Corinthians 3:22 That is, Peter
New International Version (NIV)Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
In what areas is God calling you to grow?The Corinthians thought they’d arrived (see 1 Corinthians 4:8), but Paul insists they’re not even spiritually weaned (v. 2). Why? Because their divisions are tearing the church apart (vv. 16, 17), dishonoring the Spirit’s presence in their midst. Internal strife focused on leaders is showing just how much they’ve bought into worldly wisdom (v. 3). They’re mistaking the servants for the Source (v. 5).
They have to see leaders from the right perspective. Called by God’s grace (v. 10), they’re significant in God’s purpose as God’s ‘fellow workers.’ But they should be given no special dignity beyond their place in God’s purpose (v. 9). God grows the church, with leaders simply serving God in that endeavor (v. 8), building on the foundation of Jesus Christ (v.11).
The very thing the Corinthians most value—the stylishness of rhetoric—doesn’t matter to Paul. All that matters is whether what’s built matches the foundation. One that’s true to the foundation will come unscathed through the Refiner’s Fire (vv. 12–15). Both the followers and their leaders need to be careful: if they’re dishonoring the Spirit’s presence in their midst by pursuing quarrels, they will face judgment (vv. 16, 17). They must remember the preeminence of Christ—not one leader among many, but the only source of grace (vv. 11, 23).
Apply
Reflect on any tensions within your relationships or within your local church. Are you contributing to them or helping to resolve them?
Closing prayer
I lift up to you the leadership of my church, Father, thanking you for them and asking that you help them build up our congregation with the truth and wisdom of your Spirit.
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