Episode 175 - "Motives in Ministry" - 1 Corinthians 3:10-15

1Cor. 3:10 According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it. 11 For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw— 13 each one’s work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. 14 If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. 15 If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.

Paul had previously used an agricultural illustration and described himself and Apollos as fellow laborers in a field. His point is that each person has a role and responsibility given by God. No one is more important than another. This work is important. But the results are produced exclusively by God. Paul wants the Corinthian believers to view themselves in the same way, with each person doing what they can for the ministry and not thinking and acting as though anyone is more or less important. How do we know that? First of all, in the preceding verses, he accused them of having “jealousy and strife” among them. (v. 3)

If we return to verse nine, he switches imagery from an agricultural illustration to a construction illustration. He says, “You are God’s field. You are God’s building.” He adds in verse 10, “According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation . . . “ (v. 10a) Paul is not bragging here. Notice that God gets the credit again. Paul understood the value of his ministry to them. It’s like he’s saying, “I sought to not only do what the Lord wanted me to do, but how the Lord wanted it done.”

Now he adds, “Let each one take care how he builds upon it.” Who is he talking about? He talking about them. He’s telling them that “jealousy and strife” cannot exist in this building where the foundation is Jesus Christ. They cannot minister from their egos and fight with each other. Indirectly, it speaks to us as well, doesn’t it? We need to “take care” of how we build upon the foundation of Christ.

Those who serve to minister to others need to take this work seriously. They first need to know that they aren’t building their own building. These believers at Corinth and we today are building upon the same foundation laid by Paul and the apostles. That foundation is Jesus Christ. (v. 11)

The second thing is the quality of the materials in this building. If we were building an actual physical building, we would want it to be strong and beautiful. We wouldn’t want something trashy and flimsy. Why should we want the “building” of the spiritual church to be any different? Jesus Christ must be foundational to who we are and what we are about. If we are trying to build our own “building,” it will not last. If we bring our egos into our ministry and fight with each other all the time, it’s like poor building materials.

Paul says, “Each one’s work will become manifest” (v. 13a) People who build physical buildings today can often hide poor workmanship and cheap materials and it never becomes noticed. But Paul says that is not true of our service in the church. It will be revealed. How?

Paul explains that “the Day will disclose it . . .” (v. 13b) What is that? Paul speaks of a coming “Day” often referred to in the Old and New Testaments as the “Day of the Lord.” This is a time of judgment by God. An additional passage about this day I find particularly helpful is 2 Peter 3:10, “But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.” This is a future prophetic day at the end of time as we know it. Notice how similar Peter’s description of it reflects how Paul describes it in the rest of verse 13 through verse 15. This judgment is like a fire that destroys the less valuable and weak things. Most people have seen how quickly things like straw and wood go up in smoke. In the spiritual sense, works done from our egos and sense of self-importance are the most “combustable” and will be destroyed.

A final thing to notice from verse 15 regarding this Day is that while those things we did out of selfish motives will be destroyed, the believer is saved from that destruction. The thought of such a day is somewhat awesome. But the point of it is not for God to destroy us but to purify us by removing those things that were done from our flesh and not from the Spirit whom the Lord has given us. As I reflect on this whole concept, I find that it makes me think about how often my ego wants to take control or get credit for something I’m doing. Perhaps I just want my way in a particular service. I need to “take care” and bring this all to Jesus. At the same time, I find this encouraging because this day of the Lord is not about God punishing me. It’s about God purifying me. It’s God making us fit for eternity with him.

How do we apply this? We must keep our minds focused on Christ and pray the Holy Spirit will cause us to consider why we are doing something. Are we seeking to garner praise, popularity, or power for ourselves, or are we building on the foundation of Christ?

Prayer: Heavenly Father - May your Spirit lead us to think of Christ and serve others as you would intend and equip us as you did Paul, Apollos, and others.

Episode 174 - "God gives the growth" - 1 Corinthians 3:1-9

1Cor. 3:1 But I, brothers, could not address you as spiritual people, but as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ. 2 I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it. And even now you are not yet ready, 3 for you are still of the flesh. For while there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not of the flesh and behaving only in a human way? 4 For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not being merely human?

1Cor. 3:5 What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each. 6 I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. 7 So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. 8 He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor. 9 For we are God’s fellow workers. You are God’s field, God’s building.

Someone close to me had made a mess of his life through substance abuse. When we connected again sometime after I’d started seminary, he wanted to talk to me about my own spiritual journey. It became apparent that some of his “friends” who’d lived a similar lifestyle had a “religious experience,” and their lives radically changed. This person wanted that same kind of experience. He wanted a quick fix to his own life. While this does sometimes happen that people make rapid, drastic changes in their life, this is not normal. Paul uses the imagery of natural human growth for spiritual growth. You start out as a baby, and you grow over time.

Jesus’ disciples were with him for approximately three years and still struggled with their faith in Jesus. Even after the Holy Spirit came upon them at Pentecost and we see their courage and faith shine at times, Peter, “the rock,” was sometimes more like quicksand that shifted easily. (See Galatians 2:11-13)

The believers in Corinth are no different. While Paul commended them for their faith in the opening verses of chapter 1, saying that they had every spiritual gift, it becomes quickly clear that Paul is not saying that they are the epitome of righteous living. They’ve got a lot of growing up to do in their faith. This is the reason he is writing this letter. He calls them out on their need to grow up and become more mature in their faith. He likens them to children who have not matured to the point where they can eat solid foods. This is quite direct. But it’s important they get this.

What is the fundamental issue that reveals their spiritual immaturity? His answer is “jealousy and strife.” (v. 3) This explains what is going on with the competition between them of who was identifying with Paul, Apollos, or someone else. They could not and would not put away these silly arguments to be unified in Christ and seek to build up others instead of alienating and insulting them. Paul has said they haven’t matured at all since he was with them, and he says now at the end of verse 3, “are you not of the flesh and behaving only in a human way?” From my understanding of the Greek text, Paul is rhetorically asking them, “Aren’t you just being worldly like the rest of humanity?” The expectation is that Christians should (ultimately) think, act, and speak differently than most people around us.

Paul then exposes the problem with the basis of their arguments. He asks, “What is Apollos? What is Paul?” The point is, do they really think these men are anything greater than other men? Paul answers his own question. He says, “We are servants who brought you a message from the Lord as the Lord has directed each one of us.” (My paraphrase v. 5) Paul continues by explaining the limitations of each one. “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth.” (v. 6)

There is a memory verse for you. That is a truth that every one of us can easily remember and, with great difficulty, can put into regular practice. It is so easy to fall into the trap of thinking too highly of ourselves. Rather, we need to remember the Lord has an assignment for each of us, just like he did Paul and Apollos, and we cannot think of ourselves more highly than anyone else because we are human. It’s God who does the real work. We are just messengers and servants. But God chooses to use us in his wonderful plan.

Paul repeats in verse 7 that it’s “God who gives the growth.” Then, in verse 8 Paul says, “each will receive his wages according to his labor.” There is some promise of reward for our service in ministry.

Finally, in verse 9, Paul says, “We are God’s fellow workers. You are God’s field, God’s building.” Don’t miss what Paul is doing here. He’s bringing his indictment on their spiritual immaturity to the light of God’s purpose for them. He’s saying, “God is working on you. He wants to build you up. You’ve got to stop living like the world and let God do his work in your life.”

Prayer: Father in Heaven - We ask that you shine the light on the issues in our life that are inhibiting our growing up in the faith as you so purpose.