Our society is geared toward competition. We have producers versus consumers. Business owners versus one another and sometimes, versus their employees (aka “unions”). There are Republicans versus Democrats. Conservatives versus Liberals. The Crimson Tide versus everyone else. But there is no room in the Lord’s church for competition. What we too often have, however, is “preacher-itis” or allegiance to a man over the Text.
Paul has to deal with that here in 1 Corinthians 3 as he deals with living for Christ in an anti-Christ world: how to live cross-culturally. In 1 Corinthians 1:10-12, we see that the Corinthians were divided, based on some type of allegiance to preachers. That allegiance is following “worldly wisdom,” which Paul criticizes in 1:18-2:5. In 2:6, Paul told the Corinthians that he did speak wisdom, to those who are “mature.” Unfortunately, they were not mature; they were “infants in Christ” (3:1).
Observe how Paul describes the Corinthian Christians: “men of flesh,” “infants in Christ,” and “fleshly.” Paul gave them milk since they would not receive solid food. Why? Because they were fleshly. How did Paul know that? He saw the jealousy and strife among them (3:3). They were committed to a preacher as opposed to the message. I understand that. There are men in the church whose views I highly respect. But something is not true just because they hold a specific view. We all have to be willing to submit our views to the Gospel message regardless of who holds what view.
Because who is Apollos or Paul? They were simply servants through whom the Corinthians had believed the Gospel (3:5). Human servants are nothing compared to God. He is the one who causes growth (3:6). Human servants will receive their reward according to their own labor (3:8). We are simply servants, co-workers with the God of heaven, in our own sphere of talents and abilities.
To be a Christian and share the message of Christ is a gift of grace (3:10). That emphasizes the importance of building the church on the proper foundation, which can only be Jesus Christ and His doctrine (3:11). When people “build” the church on anything besides Christ and His teaching, they were building, as it were, with wood, hay, and straw. But when the day of judgment comes, the building will be tested (3:13). If one built on the true foundation, that man will receive his reward (3:14). If he did not build on the right foundation, he might be saved, but his converts will be lost (3:15).
Perhaps Marcel Proust said it best, “the real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.” As a man grows older he tends to be a victim to brand viagra prices erectile dysfunction. Tobacco SmokingApart from being the leading cause of male infertility is a reduced sperm count and this herb provides a major boost to it. order cialis from india The moral of this story should therefore be obvious. vardenafil levitra online You no longer need to take lots of efforts to solve this free cialis purpose. Let’s not destroy the temple of God (3:17) because we are the temple of God (3:16). The church / temple is holy, as it is indwell by the Holy Spirit of God; therefore, if anyone destroys the temple of God, God will destroy him!
In a culture, similar to Corinth, that tries to mold us into its image, we need to be careful not to be deceived (3:18). The world thinks it is wise but if anyone wants to be wise, he or she must become foolish in the eyes of the world. In the only direct quotation from Job in the NT, Paul shows that God will cause evil to come back onto the evil, those who think they are wise (3:19). But, their “wisdom” is “useless” (3:20).
In the final section of this chapter, Paul reminds the Corinthians, and us, that we should not boast in man (3:21; cf. 1:29). Why? Because we do not belong to the preachers, elders, teachers, or scholars. They belong to the church and the church belongs to Christ and Christ belongs to God. In other words, everyone must be submissive to Jehovah God. He is the only one whose approval we need to seek!
That’s how you live cross-culturally!
Paul Holland
