Diving Deeper | Only Servants
Part of A Deeper Response to the Scripture
August 8, 2021

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Only Servants

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. I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. So, neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labor. For we are co-workers in God’s service… —1 Corinthians 3:5-9

In the first two chapters, Paul has been telling of the dangers of worldly thinking and actions and of the importance of godly wisdom. Paul makes clear that the wisdom of God comes only by the indwelling Spirit of God within the Christ-follower. Chapter three begins, then, with Paul’s disappointment that he couldn’t speak to the Corinthians “as people who live by the Spirit.” The old ways of worldly wisdom are deeply ingrained and hard to sever. By jealousy and quarreling about what leader receives greatest allegiance (Paul, Apollos, Cephas, 1:12; 3:4-6, 21-22), the believers have proven themselves to still be worldly, “mere infants in Christ” (3:1).

Like Jesus before him, Paul turns to a farming metaphor to help the Corinthian church understand the seriousness of their lack of growth as Christ-followers. In all three synoptic gospels, Jesus tells the parable of the Sower (Matt 13:1-23; Mk 4:1-20; Lk 8:4-15). Remember that Jesus describes four outcomes for the seed: trampled along a path, rocky soil giving the seed no moisture, thorns that choke the seedlings, and seeds in good soil that produce abundantly.

In 1 Corinthians 3, Paul says that he himself planted the seed and Apollos watered the seed. Each did the task given him by God, but it is God who brings growth. Paul and Apollos and Cephas are only servants of God. These leaders have been rescued and redeemed by God in Christ through the Spirit just as the young Corinthian believers have been. Paul says that arguments over human leaders have done what Jesus predicted: jealousy and factious arguments have trampled the seed, deprived it of life-giving moisture, and are thorns among them that are choking the growth of the Corinthian believers.

Paul ends chapter three saying, “So then, no more boasting about human leaders!” Don’t do it! This boasting is choking your life in Christ. “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord” (1Cor 1:31).

Consider:

  1. Who do you see around you who serves with humility and joy? Consider for yourself what it means to be God’s servant. Are there unspoken expectations of rewards lurking beneath your service? If so, what are they? Be honest with God and rejoice in His forgiveness.

  2. Paul ends chapter 3 saying, “So then, no more boasting about human leaders!” It’s not hard to look around and see leaders today, both outside the Church and within the Church, who boast in power and allegiance. What are the dangers of following these leaders? What is the Church to do instead?

  3. Ask for the Spirit’s power to see clearly what it means to be God’s servant. May He help you increasingly surrender to the crucified Christ. By the Spirit, may you grow in faith and love of God and his people.