Challenges for Leaders

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Opening Prayer

Help us, Lord, to see ourselves as we are before You, and so to remain humble and dependent upon Your grace.

Read 1 Corinthians 3:1-23

^[1] 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”; ^[20] and again, “The Lord knows that the thoughts of the wise are futile.” ^[21] So then, no more boasting about human leaders! All things are yours, ^[22] whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas 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.

Meditate

“Without question one of the most remarkable Christian doctrines is that Jesus Christ himself through the Holy Spirit will actually enter a heart, settle down, and be at home there. Christ will live in any human heart that welcomes him” (Robert Boyd Munger). Amazing: my heart, Christ’s home!

Think Further

Paul uses irony to bring home to the Corinthians the emptiness of their claims to be advanced in spiritual knowledge. There is irony in the contrast between their boasts and the reality that they are “mere infants” still requiring to be spoon-fed (1,2). Irony often leads to humor, as the absurdity of human pride is held up to ridicule, and perhaps we Christians sometimes require to be shown how ridiculous our exalted claims for ourselves are in the light of our failure to provide convincing evidence of the healing, uniting power of the Gospel. The most superficial acquaintance with the language sometimes used by Christians using electronic social networks to talk about faith reveals exaggerated claims to spiritual experience from people who have scarcely begun the life of faith. Paul’s tactic seems designed to let the Corinthians see behind their own distorting masks and then to laugh at themselves as they come to their senses.

There is a sobering warning here for church leaders. Having described himself and his colleagues as “only servants” (5) and as utterly dependent upon God who alone “makes things grow” (7), Paul warns would-be teachers and evangelists that their work for the kingdom will one day face the ultimate examination for its authenticity and spiritual quality: is it consistent with gospel values or, behind the façade of professionalism, does it amount to “wood, hay or straw” (12)?

Professionalism in ministry, with its technical skills, threatens to eclipse Paul’s spiritual priorities, and we do well to reflect on this passage. As Richard Hays puts it: “Are we trying to build the church with clever management techniques and psychological insights? If so, we need to be reminded that no foundation can be laid other than Jesus Christ and that currently ‘relevant’ building materials may quickly be shown to be ephemeral.”

Apply

Are you a leader? Take time to think prayerfully about these issues. Are you a member of a congregation? Take time to pray for your leaders.

Closing prayer

Indwelling Holy Spirit, You point me to Christ. Grant me his authority and humbleness as I seek to be his servant in the world.

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