1 Corinthians 3:1-9 Unite in Christian Love

1 Corinthians 3:1-9  Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual but as worldly — mere infants in Christ.  I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it.  Indeed, you are still not ready.  You are still worldly.  For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly?  Are you not acting like mere men?  For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not mere men?  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.  I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow.  So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow.  The man who plants and the man who waters have one purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his own labor.  For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building.

We who are IN CHRIST are God’s workers, God's building.  We are not our own: we have been bought with the price of Jesus Christ's blood.  We know the resurrection has happened, and now we live as Jesus lived, by the Spirit of the living God.  In the above focus, Paul addresses a sickness endemic in mankind: We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way.  (Isaiah 53:6)   In Judges, the Bible says they did as they saw fit, what was right to them.  (17:6 & 21:25)  Paul in Romans 3:23 reiterates a Bible theme that all have sinned, all have gone their own ways, falling short of the glory of God.  Paul declared, No one is righteousness, not even one.  Jew and Gentile alike were under sin without Christ.  When Paul speaks of spiritual immaturity in the Corinthian church, he is really addressing an attitude, a behavior akin to worldliness, secularism.  This rebellious, self-willed attitude was first found in the Garden of Eden:  "You will not surely die,” the serpent said to the woman.  “For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."  (Genesis 3:4-5)  The serpent's intentions were to separate mankind from God.  He was successful: the errant couple went their own way, and they were banished from the Garden.  From that time on, we see men and women doing what is best in their own eyes for their own purposes.  Sometimes people even use religion to fulfill this self-centered lust in their hearts: the desire to be God in their own eyes, doing what is right in their own sight.  Paul voices concern for the Corinthians doing exactly that when they choose sides on whom they will follow.  He knows this self-willed, man-centered attitude will destroy Christ's work in the Corinthian church if allowed to go unchallenged, for God must be the Head of the church.

We are witnesses to the historical fact that the Christian church has been splintered into a thousand pieces over the centuries.  Separation has been almost the defining theme in the body of Christ.  Rather than holding to the basic theme of Christ crucified, Christ resurrected, Christ glorified; believers have divided over minor issues, even on the way a church organizes it congregation.  Dogma has been debated and skewed in many directions.  Sadly, this has  played into the hands of our adversary: the devil.  So much discord and widespread divisiveness has weakened the testimony of the universal church of Christ on Earth, revealing our sinful nature and desire to have our own way, our perspective.  In historical accounts, we read about religious people killing each other based on differing views of water baptism, or the nature of God, or church order.  Mankind's desire to elevate himself and his ideas has always corrupted the church of the living God.  In the above focus, we see Paul warning the Corinthians about proclaiming their allegiance to certain people.  He knows this is a spirit of the world, and this spirit will destroy the unity of the church, of Christ himself.  He tells them very directly that these important people in their eyes are mere men who have specific roles in the church.  They should appreciate their roles but not elevate the people, for they are servants of God with assigned tasks.  God is the builder of the church.  He is the one who chooses the sower, the planter, the one who waters.  So, Paul wants them to give glory to God and not to people.  Paul told the church at Rome: May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus, so that with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.  (Romans 15:5-6)  The Corinthian church lacked this spirit of unity, and they were dissolving into factions that did not bring glory to God. 

Jesus himself was always concerned about bringing glory to God the Father.  After his resurrection, He wanted his disciples to have a clear perspective of what they had seen in Jerusalem, about his  death and resurrection.  He did not want them to splinter, to walk away, living their lives as they desired.  He had a purpose for them; He needed their unity to fulfill God's plan for redemption of the lost.  After the resurrection, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.”  They were startled and frightened, thinking they saw a ghost.  He said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts rise in your minds?  Look at my hands and my feet.  It is I myself!  Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have.”  When he had said this, he showed them his hands and feet.  (Luke 24:36-40)  Paul fears the message of Christ and his resurrection will be lost in Corinth if the church splinters into factions.  The Corinthian church's purpose was to show God's love to people.  If the church began to devour each other because of disagreements about who they wanted to follow, their behavior would harm the salvation message that God loves people and sent Jesus to save them from their sins.  Jesus spoke the truth to his disciples: Then Jesus opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures.  He told them, “This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.  You are witnesses of these things.  (Luke 24:45-48)  Jesus made sure the disciples were in agreement with what they saw and experienced.  He sent them out with a message of love and redemption.  Paul wanted the Corinthians to have the same message, to put away childish things, immature things, even secular things.  To love and to not even notice when others seemingly do it wrong.  Love is patient, love is kind.  It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.  It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.  Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.  It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.  (1 Corinthians 13:4-7)  May each of you prosper in Christian unity and in the love of God this week.