This week, we look at 1 Corinthians 3:1-9 as we consider growth. How does the light coming into the world help us to grow? And how do we in turn help others to grow?
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I think it is interesting as we hear this text to think about how similar at times the early church actually was to how things remain today. I hear Paul questioning the church at Corinth that he had been instrumental in starting, and I think that some things never change. The third verse in particular feels so convicting: “When jealousy and fighting exist between you, aren’t you unspiritual and living by human standards?” It is almost like Paul had a crystal ball that allowed him to look ahead to the present day church in general. As we consider what is going on in our world, in our nation, even in our local congregations, it is hard not to feel like Paul is speaking directly to us.
For the church in Corinth, the biggest concern that Paul is addressing in this letter to them is the division that has grown up among them. One group has decided that they have certain spiritual truths that the others do not know, and they try to claim authority for their own position. Apollos was another believer and missionary like Paul who was traveling the region preaching and teaching about Jesus. But, having come from another region, he had a different focus and approach from Paul. So one faction of the church was claiming to be followers of Apollos and they were at odds with those who considered themselves to be followers of Paul.
And this is where Paul’s wisdom comes into play. He does not attack or belittle Apollos or his ministry. He doesn’t claim that he. Paul, is right and that Apollos is wrong. Instead, he points out that all of them should instead remember that they belong to Christ. He pointed to the different roles at play.
Paul had visited the community first. He planted the seeds for them, got them started. After he had left, Apollos had come along. He had worked with the community again, helping them continue to grow in their relationship with God. But it was God that caused the growth.
It was not Paul’s power that caused the church to rise or fall. As Paul asks a bit pointedly earlier in this letter: “Has Christ been divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?”
He makes light of his own role in the community to point to the one greater than himself. His job, his role, his vocation, is to point people to the light that is God as known through Jesus. He may plant seeds, but it is God that makes them grow. Apollos may water those seeds, but God makes them grow. Any argument that does not serve to support one another or that places allegiance to someone else before God is a problem.
Paul recognizes that in the end, he and Apollos and all the other leaders of the church are only servants. They are servants who helped the community believe, but it is God that is the basis of that belief. For Paul, this overrides all the arguments and disagreements that the community might have.
This is the first of several points that Paul addresses in this letter to the church at Corinth. But even with all the various disagreements, it always comes back to what it is that connects us to one another in God. In the case of Paul, as he makes clear near the end of this letter, love is the thing that binds it all together. Through the love God has shown us, we are able to love one another more fully. As he says in the famous 13th chapter, without love, it doesn’t matter what gifts we have or how strong we are in our personal faith. Without love it doesn't just mean nothing; without love it means less than nothing.
And so we are reminded today to love one another just as God loves us. We are reminded that we are not followers of this person or that person, but we are all followers of Jesus. We are not Democrats or Republicans, we are Christians. And our participation together in that relationship with God should override all the things that would divide us.
For it is the light of God shining into our lives that is the cause of our growth. And as the church, we are the body of Christ continuing to reflect that light of love into the rest of the world. We plant the seeds, we provide the water, and we make sure there is room for that light to shine through.
Where are those places in our lives today where we still need this reminder?
What are the differences we use as an excuse to separate ourselves from others?
What difference does it make to be reminded that we are all part of the one body of Christ?
How can the world be better if we reflect God's light of love out into the rest of the world?