Building on the Foundation

Reading:  1 Corinthians 3:10-15
    
    Paul flips metaphors from gardening to building.  “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”(1 Cor 3:10).  Just as he “planted”(1 Cor 3:6) by initially teaching the gospel in Corinth, so he also has laid the foundation of Jesus (1 Cor 3:11).  Now the Corinthians continue to grow as others come and teach them, which Paul describes as building on the foundation.  There are a variety of materials available for use in such buildings—“gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw”(1 Cor 3:12)—and some will fare better than others.  Paul is arguing that every teaching has an impact in building strong, faithful lives—or weak, fragile lives.

    But these verses are directed at those who teach and build on the foundation.  It is a warning that however you help build others’ lives, “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”(1 Cor 3:13).  Paul promises that the strength of the faith and commitment we build in others will be tested.  It is unclear if he is referring to the fire of the final judgment or the ordinary tests of life (as in Matt 7:25, 27).  When we see our brothers, bolstered by our teaching and encouragement, surviving, we “receive a reward”(1 Cor 3:14).  Meanwhile, when the “work is burned up,” we are devastated (“suffer loss”) even though we can still be saved (1 Cor 3:15).  

    All Christians contribute to the growth of our brothers and sisters, building on the foundation of Jesus.  These verses show that this is a sober responsibility.   The strength of the counsel we give, the teaching we share, and the example we set will be tested.  We long to see one another developing the strength to withstand the tests of life, even though we acknowledge that this is not our sole responsibility.  It is a call to thoughtful, careful, deliberate work with one another.

-----------
One Thing to Think About:   Whose lives am I helping to build?

One Thing to Pray For:  The strength for myself and others to withstand the test
 

God Gave the Growth

Reading:  1 Corinthians 3:5-9
    
    Paul has come back around to addressing the Corinthians’ divisions based on which man they follow (1 Cor 3:4).  “What then is Apollos?  What is Paul?  Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each.  I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth”(1 Cor 3:5-6).  These men they are making so much of are mere “servants,” mere gardeners.  Of course those who teach us are meaningful to us because they are the ones “through whom you believed,” but we are missing the point when we honor the men.  “So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth”(1 Cor 3:7).  Who deserves praise here?  

     There is something deeper here as well.  “He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor”(1 Cor 3:8).  Even though Paul and Apollos had different roles in the conversion of the Corinthians—probably based on when they were involved in the process—they are actually “one.”  Neither is more important than the other; they are on the same team.  They are scandalized to learn that the Corinthians are pitting them against each other.  The work we do for Jesus is never about us because “we are God’s fellow workers” and other Christians are “God’s field, God’s building”(1 Cor 3:9).  Who deserves praise here?

    Gospel work is planting and watering.  We teach where we can, almost always building on someone else’s work (see John 4:36-38).  Often we do not see the results of the seeds we plant, but someone else does.  No matter our role or success rate, it is never about us.  God enlists us in his work, empowers us, places his word in our hands, works alongside us, and gives the growth.  Who deserves praise here?

-----------
One Thing to Think About:   Why do we tend to praise men and not God?

One Thing to Pray For:  A spirit of teamwork with other believers
 

Stuck on Milk

Reading:  1 Corinthians 3:1-4
    
    After all this abstract talk about natural and spiritual people, Paul has a rebuke to give.  “But I, brothers, could not address you as spiritual people, but as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ”(1 Cor 3:1).  Ouch!  Paul has to dumb down his words to them—the way we would talk to a young child—because they are spiritual babies.  “I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it.  And even now you are not yet ready, 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?”(1 Cor 3:2-3).  He continues with the metaphor of raising a child.  At some point, the child grows to transition from milk to solid foods; this is a sign of health.  Yet the Corinthians are stuck on milk, still struggling to accept and practice the simplest parts of the gospel message.  They are old enough in Christ to know better.

    Why such strong words?  Their actions are demonstrating their lack of growth.  No matter how long someone has been a disciple of Jesus, “jealousy and strife” reveal an immature, worldly heart.  When such attitudes—and the divisions they inevitably lead to (1 Cor 3:4)—surface, we cannot move on.  It is not time to study Revelation or explore the nuances of our soteriology; it is time to start living better and treating one another with love.  

    Just like we expect children to progress and mature, so God expects us to be growing.  Sometimes Christians sit in the same pew decade after decade, carefully reading the Bible and reciting the right answers, yet living in hatred, bitterness, fear, jealousy, and pride.  Something is wrong; we are stuck on milk.  Spirituality is not a matter of merely having a thrilling personal connection to Jesus.  Spirituality is a behavior:  sincere love, willing humility, and eager service.

-----------
One Thing to Think About:   Does my behavior show that I am a spiritual person?

One Thing to Pray For:  Eyes to see my weaknesses and blind spots
 

Spiritually Discerned

Reading:  1 Corinthians 2:14-16
    
    Throughout this section, Paul has described two types of people.  One type is “perishing” while the other is “being saved”(1 Cor 1:18); one type seeks the “wisdom of this age” while the other seeks the “secret and hidden wisdom of God”(1 Cor 2:6, 7); one receives “the spirit of the world” while the other receives “the Spirit who is from God”(1 Cor 2:12).  This explains why two people can hear the same message about the cross and have wildly different reactions.  “The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned”(1 Cor 2:14).  The “natural” or unspiritual person cannot understand, appreciate, or accept the words the Spirit reveals (see also Rom 8:5-8).  He may hear the words, but he will deem them ridiculous because they do not appeal to his unspiritual way of thinking.

    But Paul says that such words can be “spiritually discerned” by a different kind of people.  “The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself judged by no one”(1 Cor 2:15).  The same word is used three times here; it means to discern, judge, or appraise something.  Spiritual people can discern God’s will and wisdom in the message of the cross.  In fact, spiritual people discern or appraise “all things” so that they can determine what God’s will is for them.  They are always on the lookout for the spiritual dimension of life—good and evil, wise and foolish, loving and hateful.  Yet it is not their own brilliance that enables them to judge well.  “‘For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?’  But we have the mind of Christ”(1 Cor 2:16).  When we know the thoughts of God, we are equipped to discern and apply them in all areas of life.

    Being a natural or spiritual person is a choice, as we will see (1 Cor 3:1-4).  Will we humble ourselves and submit to God’s will even if it does not please us?  If we merely rely on our own intellect and knee-jerk opinions, we may miss God and his will because they are “spiritually discerned.”

-----------
One Thing to Think About:   How well do I discern the spiritual dimension of life?  How can I improve?

One Thing to Pray For:  The humility to trust God instead of my intellect 
 

The Thoughts of God

Reading:  1 Corinthians 2:11-13
    
    Since we cannot think our way to God, how do we learn about him?  Paul explains with a simple principle from human relationships:  “For who knows a person’s thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him?  So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God”(1 Cor 2:11).  We can grow quite skilled in reading body language or guessing the intentions of others, yet we never know someone else’s true thoughts unless they tell us.  So God’s thoughts would forever remain a mystery to us unless the Spirit within him revealed his thoughts to us.  The Spirit of God “searches everything, even the depths of God” and “comprehends the thoughts of God”(1 Cor 2:10, 11).  The Spirit’s revelation means we can finally know God’s will and thinking.

    “Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God”(1 Cor 2:12).  The Spirit who indwells Christians is not “the spirit of the world”—meaning the thoughts and ideas that make us like the worldly people around us—but is the Holy Spirit himself.  Through his revelation, we can “understand the things freely given us by God.”  It is not clear if he is referring to the Corinthians’ spiritual gifts, which had a teaching function, or to the apostles’ teaching (I lean toward the latter).  “And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual”(1 Cor 2:13).  So when the apostles teach the Spirit’s revelation, it is never “by human wisdom”—never to glorify themselves.  

    There is a risk here that we will get sidetracked into discussing the precise nature of the Spirit’s work and miss the main point:  we have access to God’s thoughts!  We can know that he has tremendous love for us and wants to live with us eternally.  We can know how he feels about our everyday choices.  We can know when we disappoint and thrill him.  We can know how he wants to be worshiped and served.  Praise God for sharing himself with us!

-----------
One Thing to Think About:   What would life be like if God had never revealed his thoughts to us?

One Thing to Pray For:  Earnest desire to follow after God’s Spirit—not the “spirit of the world”