1st Corinthians 3:1-23
Our teeth are such a weird part of our bodies. Best introductory statement ever. But teeth are a necessary tool in order for us to function as God intended. In other words, we need our teeth to chew. But, it doesn’t happen overnight. When we are born, we don’t have teeth. This is why babies are fed milk. And then, as they grow, and teeth start to break through the gums, soft foods are introduced. Once they figure out how to use their teeth, we introduce harder food until eventually our children are eating food that requires chewing in order to properly swallow. I mean, I don’t think this is something that I have to prove to you this morning. But, there is a spiritual truth to this process, one that Paul addresses when writing his letter to the young church in Corinth.
Last week, in chapter 2 of 1st Corinthians, we saw Paul address the power of the Holy Spirit in terms of wisdom, proclamation, revelation and interpretation. The process of growth for every believer is called sanctification, the process by which we are shaped into the image of Jesus, by the work of the Holy Spirit. Over time, as we grow in our relationship with Jesus, we are able to understand the deeper theological truths that are found in Scripture. We are able to handle some of the more difficult texts that cause wrestling in our minds. This is the supernatural process that happens as we grow.
Unfortunately for this young group of believers, they hadn’t progressed much in their faith, if at all. In fact, Paul begins chapter 3 by revealing this, and reminding them of the implications of how they are behaving towards one another.
Read 1st Corinthians 3:1-4
“But,” Paul says…the power of the Holy Spirit has been given to each of you, revealing truth and providing understanding to that which the Holy Spirit has revealed to us. I was with you for 18 months, and then I left Apollos with you, who has been faithfully and excellently preaching and teaching you, and it’s been a couple years since I left. You are no different than when you first believed!” I mean what an indictment on these young believers. “You have been given the Holy Spirit, but you have not utilized His power in your lives. You still live as those who are in the flesh. You still behave as those who don’t believe. You are still spiritual babies. When I was there, I fed you milk, because that’s what infants drink. By now, you should be eating more substantial, solid food, but you’re still not ready!”
Jealousy and strife have created disagreement and division, and this young church is behaving no differently than the world around them. They aren’t “in the flesh” in terms of their salvation, but they are allowing their flesh to manifest in place of the Holy Spirit. You are not executing by the power of the Holy Spirit. You have placed Him on a shelf and are relying on human wisdom. You are thinking with worldly wisdom, and it’s not working.
After he reminds the church of their mistakes, Paul continues to align their perspective to the Lord. He is trying so hard to get them to understand how to properly view the Lord, especially in relation to their own selfishness and pride, and this time we see him really emphasize the Church as a whole. The Church as the body of believers, made manifest through local expressions of the body of Christ on mission together.
Big Idea: A healthy church has Christ as the foundation, is worked on by faithful believers, and relies on God for its growth.
3 Metaphors of Healthy Church Growth
Read 3:5-9
1. Field
We see a few things here:
A. God Assigns the Workers
Paul begins by bringing himself and Apollos down to a humble position. Remember, these believers were boasting in these men, so Paul is trying to teach them perspective. “Apart from Christ, I am nothing! Apart from Christ, Apollos is nothing! In fact, if it wasn’t for the Lord sending us and assigning us the task, we wouldn’t have been able to do it!”
In fact, Paul says they are servants of the Lord, and in turn servants to the church. Their main goal is to point people to Jesus, not to themselves. In fact, it would do a disservice to the church if Paul took credit for any of it, or if Apollos began to believe that the church was successful because of his excellent preaching. It becomes a dangerous thing when pastors or church leaders begin to take credit for the growth of the Lord’s church. God does not need me. God does not need you. But, God desires to use us to proclaim the good news of the gospel. And everyone has a different role. I take such comfort in this next truth.
B. God is Responsible for Growth
We can take this idea 2 different directions. This is one verse that I have latched onto on this wonderful journey of church planting. Believe me, it’s very tempting to play the game of comparison to the churches down the street, to look at their social media and become envious of their size, their programming, their budgets. The trap of overprogramming, production, events to elicit growth. And while I do believe we can apply this to numerical growth, I believe it goes deeper than that. I think what Paul is saying here has to do with spiritual growth. Paul had one job, to preach the gospel, to throw out the seed into the soil. It wasn’t up to him where it landed, whether fertile or rocky soil, it was only up to him to cast the seed out. Once the gospel was out there, and the seed took root in the hearts of people, Apollos stepped in. He watered those seeds. He taught. He discipled. He helped uncover and explain truth. But, what Paul does not want these believers to miss is that their spiritual growth and development was not up to Paul, or Apollos, or anyone else. They didn’t deserve the credit. Should they be encouraged in the work that they did to plant and water? Yes of course. But the Holy Spirit takes the seed, takes the water, and produces fruit from that.
C. God Rewards the Labor
It’s important to draw the distinction here. Paul is not saying that God rewards the results. He’s not saying that God rewards success. God rewards the work. John Macarthur draws comparison between Jeremiah and Jonah in his commentary on 1st Corinthians: “Jeremiah was one of God’s most faithful and dedicated prophets, yet he saw little result of his ministry. He was ridiculed, persecuted, and generally rejected along with the message he preached. Jonah, on the other hand, was petty and unwilling, yet through him God won the entire city of Nineveh in one brief campaign. Our usefulness and effectiveness are purely by God’s grace.”
Praise God for the laborers who sacrifice their lives where there is hostility to the gospel. Praise God for the laborers of the small country churches who faithfully preach the Word of God. Praise God for the prayer warriors who spend countless hours pleading with the Lord to save their friends and family. Praise God for faithful laborers who rarely see any tangible fruit, but continue to work diligently anyways. And praise God for those who are faithful to preach the gospel and do see fruit. The important thing for us all to keep our minds on is that our success in gospel work does not mean results, it means faithfulness to the task. And we don’t know what this looks like, but one day our labor will be rewarded.
And what a privilege it is, as Paul says, to be “fellow workers with God.” We are partners with God in gospel work. We are not equal of course, but we have a role to play. We cast seed, and in some cases we water the seeds that have been planted. Guys this should be so encouraging for us. We might hit a wall in sharing the gospel with someone, but we never know where the seed landed, and who might come along later in their life to water that seed and see it take root. But what a privilege to be counted worthy of fellow gospel laborers with God. We also see Paul compare the Church to a building.
Read 3:10-15
2. Building
Let’s look at a few more truths that we see here:
A. Jesus must be the foundation of a healthy church
This is a direct correlation to the previous metaphor. Paul cast the seed of the gospel, Apollos watered it, and the Holy Spirit grew it. Here, Paul laid the foundation of the gospel, Apollos and presumably others built upon it. It doesn’t matter who does the building, as long as the foundation is Christ. According to a historical commentary, “Since ancient times, builders have used cornerstones in their construction projects. A cornerstone was the principal stone, usually placed at the corner of an edifice, to guide the workers in their course. The cornerstone was usually one of the largest, the most solid, and the most carefully constructed of any in the edifice.”
In Isaiah 28:16, we see prophecy around this: “therefore thus says the Lord God, “Behold, I am the one who has laid as a foundation in Zion, a stone, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone, of a sure foundation: ‘Whoever believes will not be in haste.’
Psalm 118:22 says, “the stone that the builders rejected has become the Cornerstone.”
Jesus quotes this Psalm in Mark 12, and Paul and Peter both refer to Jesus as the chief Cornerstone upon which our faith, and the church is built. Maybe your mind goes to Jesus talking to Peter in Matthew 16. Jesus asks Peter who he says that Jesus is, and he responds, “you are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus responds, “on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.” Peter’s confession of the truth of the gospel, Jesus being the Son of the living God, Christ the Messiah sent to save, is the rock on which the church is built.
Jesus is the foundation. Anything else upon which we build will crumble. However, Paul does shift a bit here and talk about the dangers of what is being built on top of the foundation.
B. We must be cautious of what we use to build a healthy church
There are 2 groups:
Gold, silver and precious stones (inflammable)
Wood, hay and straw (flammable)
We have to think of these through the lens of fire, and in context the fire that is judgment. In our modern vernacular, we would say that someone or something going through the fire is a process of testing. This is what Paul is saying. At some point in the future, the work that has been done will be revealed. It will either stand the test of purity, or it will crumble and be exposed for its weaknesses.
It’s interesting to note here that Paul does say that this refers to true Christians, those saved by faith in Jesus, because even those who have not added to the work with fruitful, sturdy things will be saved from the fire, from judgment, they just won’t receive a reward. “If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved.”
As I thought about this, and tried to really grasp what Paul was saying, I found some examples from a pastor of what these materials might look like practically. It seems if we remain in context of what Paul has been saying, this is an appropriate application. He says, “gold, silver and costly stones” (sound doctrine, well-equipped saints, godly wisdom) and “wood, hay and straw” (false doctrine, mushy saints and human wisdom).
The point is this. With Jesus as the cornerstone, as the foundation upon which our lives and subsequently His Church is built, we must take every precaution to ensure that what we are doing to build His church aligns with Scripture. We must be sure that it doesn’t distract from what the Lord has called us to do. We must make sure that we are preaching truth no matter what, not watering down the gospel to satisfy the world. We must make sure we are doing everything we can do disciple one-another, to be fully equipped and ready to share the gospel. We must pursue godly wisdom, together, and not let the wisdom of this age guide our steps.
Now, Paul uses one more metaphor in the text. He refers to the believer, and again in effect to the church, as a temple. For the sake of time, and because Paul addresses this at greater length in chapter 6, we won’t dive into that this morning.
3. Temple
Paul ends this chapter reiterating the difference between Godly wisdom and worldly wisdom.
Read 3:16-23
He ties a nice bow on this section by reminding them that worldly wisdom is futile, that their only boasting should be in the Lord, and that no man should be elevated above Christ.
Big Idea: A healthy church has Christ as the foundation, is worked on by faithful believers, and relies on God for its growth.
