DEVOTION
THE 1ST
LETTER TO THE CORINTHIANS
MERE MEN OR BELIVERS
1 Cor 3:1-9
3:1 Brothers, I could not
address you as spiritual but as worldly — mere infants in Christ. 2 I gave you
milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still
not ready. 3 You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling
among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere men? 4 For when
one says, "I follow Paul," and another, "I follow Apollos,"
are you not mere men? 5 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. 6 I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. 7 So
neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes
things grow. 8 The man who plants and the man who waters have one purpose, and
each will be rewarded according to his own labor. 9 For we are God's fellow
workers; you are God's field, God's building.
NIV
There are two concepts within
this section of the letter, and we should take a look at each one. First, we should
consider the qualifiers for being mere infants that are not ready for solid
food. It is interesting that Paul equates these two qualifiers with being
worldly, which are jealousy and quarreling. It is interesting when we look at
the Greek, the word translated as jealousy is zelos which carries this
idea of ardor, or with enthusiasm, passion, fervor, or zeal. This is not passive
jealousy or envy, but it is active without reservations. That does not sound
like a mature believer at all. The other qualifier for being an infant or worldly
is quarreling. The Greek word is eris, which carries the idea of wrangling, which
as a verb, and is a long complicated dispute, it is bickering or squabbling. This
is not a once-in-a-time situation, but goes on and on, with this constant division
between two people. It might even foster a sense of hatred, as this quarreling
continues. Again, this does not sound like a believer in Christ Jesus, but, as
Paul puts it, acting as mere men. These emotions were running high in Corinth
over which pastor was the best one to follow. Does that sound anything like our
post-modern church? There are a lot of voices out there both through visual
and written media. Perhaps we do not openly dispute which of them is better at
expressing the word of God, but it does seem that believers have favorite ones
they listen to. As believers in Christ Jesus, have we become distracted
or even deceived by some of these voices, listening to their form of Christianity?
Then we have local churches that seem to develop around the personality of the
local pastors. If a believer is offended by what he says, they might leave to
find a pastor in another church that tickles their ears better. What we have to
believe is that it does not matter about the person, but it is all about the
work of God. If we listen to the Spirit, he will lead us through this life,
directing us to the right place of worship and he will make us grow. We cannot
be content with being mere men, but seek out the truth of the word, as we listen
to the Spirit. Then one other thought is about those who are called. Paul makes
the point that it does not matter if he plants and Apollos waters, as long as
God is the one doing the work in his temple, which is us. We all must follow what we have been called to do, as part of the body of Christ. It does not
matter what our calling is, as long as we follow that calling, and God will
reward each of us according to our own labor, which is whatever we have been called
to do. We cannot want to do what another has been called to do, or envy their calling,
for we will be rewarded according to our own calling, whatsoever that is. Let
us not be like mere men, but live as a believer.
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