LIKE ORDINARY PEOPLE
1 Corinthians 3:1-7 NASB
3 And I, brothers and sisters, could not speak to you as spiritual people, but only as fleshly, as to infants in Christ. 2 I gave you milk to drink, not solid food; for you were not yet able to consume it. But even now you are not yet able, 3 for you are still fleshly. For since there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not fleshly, and are you not walking like ordinary people? 4 For when one person says, “I am with Paul,” and another, “I am with Apollos,” are you not ordinary people?
5 What then is Apollos? And what is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, even as the Lord gave opportunity to each one. 6 I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth. 7 So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but God who causes the growth.
Paul had some challenges with the church at Corinth. According to the notes in the Thomas Nelson NKJV, Corinth was the most important city in Greece during Paul’s day. “It was a bustling hub of worldwide commerce, degraded culture, and idolatrous religion.” Paul’s letters to the church addressed problems and offered teaching and correction. This church was made up of people who were involved in pagan rituals but had embraced faith in Christ. But coming from an environment worse than our Las Vegas, these new believers had much to overcome. In this third chapter, Paul is correcting the church regarding their dividing up over different preachers.
Paul jumps right in, telling the church he couldn’t speak to them as spiritual people but as to fleshly people, infants in Christ. Paul was not mincing words. Because the church was embroiled in jealousy and conflict, Paul declares them to be fleshly. Some translations read carnal. The underlying meaning is flesh ruled. The church was ruled by their fleshly desires, and they were walking as ordinary people. The term ordinary people can be misleading. How else are we to live? But the term ordinary people could be better rendered as living according to man. Or living by man’s ways, not God’s ways. One translation reads that they were walking according to mere unchanged men. I like that. The church was still acting as if nothing had changed in them. Acting as they did before coming to Christ.
An interesting note is that Paul called this church fleshly. He did not say they were not born again. He did not say that their behavior had caused them to lose their salvation. He said they were fleshly or flesh-ruled and living as if they had never been changed. This is why Paul said he had to feed them with spiritual milk, not solid food. Infants are not ready for solid food. Babies need milk.
Paul calls out the divisions that were in the church. People were identifying with Paul or Apollos, and Paul did not like it. The Texas version would read what’s wrong with y'all. You are acting like people who have never been changed. Paul was acutely aware of the fact that men were not to identify with preachers. Paul said that he and Apollos were only servants that the Lord used to reach the Corinthians. Paul planted the seed of God’s word. Apollos came behind him and taught, so Apollos watered the seed of the word that had been planted. But God caused the growth.
In verse seven, Paul shares a revelation that would help all of us in the church. The ones who plant and water are not anything. It’s God who causes the growth. So, according to what Paul said, it is God who should receive all the glory, not preachers.
APPLICATION
Because of internet media coverage today, the concept of celebrity preachers is a thing. But if we are caught up with preachers, we are acting like the church at Corinth, living like mere unchanged people. I have no problem respecting those in authority. I have no problem listening to different preachers but identifying with none of them. It’s the Lord who saved me. It’s the Lord who anoints for service, and it’s His word we preach and teach. Let’s act like people who have been changed and make sure we give the glory and honor to God.
PRAYER
Thank You, Lord, that I am no longer the same person that I used to be. Thank You that You have done a work in me, and I am changed. Thank You for all the servants You have put in my path to plant and water. I acknowledge You as my source of growth.