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.