Christianity is a Team Sport! - 1 Corinthians 3

The Church and Its Leaders

3 Brothers and sisters, I could not address you as people who live by the Spirit but as people who are still 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 humans? 4 For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not mere human beings?

Paul cites as one of the main problems is that the Corinthians are spiritually immature.  Instead of living by the Spirit they are living by the "flesh".  He also says they are still "worldly".  The bottom line is that although they are born again by the Spirit, they are still acting as children, and not growing up to maturity in Christ.  As Paul encourages us in Romans 12, "Do not be conformed to the world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind."   Therefore, Paul could not teach them about the deeper things of the Spirit, but had to focus on the basics.  

The key symptoms of this were jealousy and quarreling were arguements about the importance of their particular leader.  At the heart of living according to the flesh is pride.  Pride is thinking I am a better than you.  In essence the Corinthians were saying, "Because I follow Paul I am better Christian than you! Or because I follow Apollos we are the real Christians."  Instead of it being about serving the Lord and reaching out to new people, they were concerned about their own status.  This was a clear sign of immaturity.  At the heart of being a mature Christian is being more concerned about others than yourself or your "tribe".  

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 has been making it grow. 7 So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. 8 The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labor. 9 For we are co-workers in God’s service; you are God’s field, God’s building.

Paul says that it is not up to us to take inventory of another person's work but to focus on what God has called us to do.  Christianity is a team sport.  We all have roles to play.  Jesus is our coach.   When we start thinking it is all about us we miss the point.  I always remember growing up when we played basketball there was also the guy who we called "the ball hog".  This was the guy that took all the shots and never passed the ball, because all he cared about was how many point HE scored. 

He who plants and he who waters are one: In combating the Corinthian desire to divide among leaders, Paul reminds them they are all on the same team.

i. How silly to say, “Planting is what is really important. Those waterers are really missing the boat.” Or to think, “Watering is where it’s at. Those planters better get their priorities straight.” The fact is planters and waterers are both necessary, both need each other, and both are working towards the same goal.  

Where has God called you to play a role on the team?  Do you realize that God has specifically given you a task to build the church?  How do you encourage others to use their gifts?  Are you in a small group which is optimal for sharing gifts and cheering each other on in the walk of faith?