1 Corinthians 3

Think for a moment about the people who have shaped your faith.

Maybe it was a pastor whose sermons opened the Scriptures for you in a way you had never experienced before. Maybe it was a mentor who walked alongside you through a dark season. Maybe it was a teacher, a book, a podcast, or a small group leader.

These people matter. Their work is real. Paul never says otherwise.

But here is the question chapter 3 is pressing on us: Has the servant become the source?

The church at Corinth was fractured along exactly those lines. Some said, "I follow Paul." Others said, "I follow Apollos." They had taken gifted, faithful teachers — and turned them into tribal identities. Their spiritual lives had become organized around human figures rather than around Christ.

Paul names the diagnosis bluntly.

"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. I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready." — 1 Corinthians 3:1–2, NIV

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Episode Transcript

SPEAKER_00 (00:07):
Think for a moment about the people who have shaped
your faith.
Maybe it was a pastor whosesermons opened the scriptures
for you in a way you had neverexperienced before.
Maybe it was a mentor who walkedalongside of you through a dark
season.
Maybe it was a teacher, a book,a podcast, or a small group

(00:29):
leader.
Now these people matter, theirwork is real, and Apostle Paul
never says otherwise.
But here's the question chapterthree is pressing on us.
Has the servant become thesource?
The church at Corinth wasfractured along exactly those

(00:50):
lines.
Some said I follow Paul, otherssaid I follow Apollos.
They had taken a giftedfaithfully teachers and turned
them into tribal identities.
Their spiritual lives had becomeorganized around human figures
rather than around Christ.

(01:11):
Paul names the diagnosisbluntly.
Brothers and sisters, I couldnot address you as people who
live by the Spirit, but aspeople who are still worldly,
mere infants in Christ.
I give you milk, not solid food,for you were not yet ready for
it.
Indeed, you're still not ready.

(01:32):
So notice how Paul points to asthe evidence of their
immaturity, not heresy, notmoral failure, just this
jealousy and quarrelling, theordinary friction of people
competing for status, comparingthemselves to others, rallying
behind their preferred voices.

(01:55):
So for Apostle Paul, thefriction is a spiritual symptom.
It tells him the gospel has notyet gone deep enough.
And then he does somethingsurprising.
Rather than defending his ownreputation or even Apollos, he
deflates both of them.

(02:16):
What after all is Apollos?
And what is Paul?
Only servants through whom youcame to believe.
And as the Lord has assigned toeach his task.
Servants, instruments, tools ina larger hand.
He then offers one of the mostmemorable images in all of his

(02:36):
letters versus six and seven.
I planted the seed Apolloswatered it, but God has been
making it grow.
So neither the one who plantsnor the one who waters is
anything, but only God who makesthings grow.
John Calvin, commenting on thispassage, observed that God could

(02:57):
not have designed a world wherecrops spring from the ground
without any human labor at all,but he chose to work through
farmers, through the plantingand watering of ordinary human
hands, while keeping the powerof growth entirely in his own.

(03:17):
Now the farmer is real, thefarmer's work matters, but the
farmer is not the life.
And the distinction is importantand it changes everything.
Think about what it means foryou and your own spiritual life.
You may have a pastor you deeplytrust, and that's good, and

(03:39):
that's a gift.
And you may have a spiritualdirector or a mentor or
counselor or coach or atheologian whose work has shaped
you profoundly and that's goodtoo.
Receive them as gifts from God.
But here is the question worthcarrying into this week.
Are you trusting the servant orthe source?

(04:02):
Are you trusting the servant orthe scriptures?
When the sermon is good, issomething in you reaching
through it toward God or juststopping at the preacher?
When a book opens a truth toyou, do you come away more
dependent on Christ or moredependent on the author?

(04:23):
When a coaching conversationbears fruit in your life, does
the fruit draw you toward deeperrootedness in God or toward more
sessions?
The servant plants and theservant waters, but it's only
God who gives the growth.
And this is not just a warning,it is a relief.

(04:45):
It means that you do not have tofind the right teacher to unlock
your spiritual life.
It means that when a trustedmentor disappoints you or a
beloved pastor leaves or acherished resource is no longer
available, the source of yourgrowth is still fully present in

(05:06):
your life, still fully at work,still entirely capable of making
things grow.
And Paul and Apollos are one, hesays in verse eight, they are
not rivals, they are co workersin God's field.
The church belongs to noteacher, it belongs to God.

(05:34):
So here is the one question tocarry with you today, and that
is, is there someone orsomething you have been
depending on for spiritual lifethat only God can give?
You should name it.
Not so much to dismiss it, butto hold it rightly.
Receive the servant as aservant, and trust the source as

(05:57):
the source.
Plant faithfully, water humbly,and let God do what only God can
do.
Well that's it for today, andthanks once again for joining
us.
I have a fuller uh Bible studyof course first Corinthians
chapter three on the home pagethat I manage.

(06:20):
It's uh jubileecoach.com, oneword jubileecoach.com.
And if you go to the today'slive blog section, um I have a
more thorough uh Bible study uhprinted for you.
I don't have the audio portion,I'm trying to keep the audio
portion uh brief and to thepoint.

(06:44):
So, once again, thanks a lot forjoining us, and uh to all who
love the Lord with an undyinglove, may God's grace and peace
be with you today andforevermore.
Godspeed.