1 Corinthians 3 - Is Discipleship Optional?
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?
This passage is great help for us, as we think about Christian discipleship, and what it means to become spiritually mature in Christ. Two of most consistent metaphors when it comes to becoming a mature Christian is the one Paul is using here. I.e. A baby growing up to move from being given milk to being fed with meat. He also uses an agricultural one. I.e. A seed growing to bearing fruit. Biblical stories include: "Parable of the Mustard Seed" (Mark 4), "The Fig Tree That Bore No Fruit" (Matthew 21). Fig Tree in the Vineyard (Luke 13), The Good Tree vs. The Bad Tree), or the Vine and the Branches. (John 15), and others as well.
In this passage Paul is addressing the spiritual immaturity of the Corinthians. They showed by their behavior that they had not understood and more importantly not put into practice the basic spiritual truths. In this case there was division in the church over what leader they were following. They were putting their faith in mem, not in Christ. They were not ready for the deeper matters of the faith, because they had not applied the fundamental truths Jesus taught.
All of my time in seminary and in my years as a pastor, I think my greatest desire is to create a church where the natural proclivity is to create mature Christians, who follow the teaching of Christ not just intellectually but in their lives. This is what it means to "bear fruit". Fruit is borne, as John says in his famous chapter on discipleship John 15, as we "remain" or "abide" in the Vine, which is Christ. I.e. Jesus said, "I am the Vine and you are the branches."
Today we often call Christians who would profess to know Christ but are still living according to the principles of this world, "carnal Christians". They have not as Paul says in Galatians learned to, "Crucify the flesh and its sinful desires." They are not being transformed by the renewing of their minds but being conformed to the world, as Paul teaches in Romans 12:2
We see this tendency in the American church by the fact that we use the term so and so is a "mature Christian". Or, so and so is a "practicing Christian". This has the implicit assumption that one can be an immature or non-practicing Christian.
Dallas Willard in his classic book the, "Divine Conspiracy" gives a prophetic word as to what the pastors and teachers in a church are teaching and preaching. He asks the question, "Is your teaching and preaching leading to producing disciples or consumers of religious good and services?"
He also says that somehow we have made "discipleship optional" or just for the serious Christian. He states,
We have accepted the idea that you can be a Christian forever yet never become a disciple. We have enough trouble with “Christian”—then when we allow disciple to stand in contrast to Christian, it makes everything cloudy. The concept has become confused.
Do you see discipleship as optional or the implied purpose for coming to faith in Jesus?
Does your life look like the life that Jesus modeled and taught his followers to imitate?
If someone observed your life on a regular basis, would they conclude that you are a Christ follower?
Jesus, thank you for being our Savior. You are not only our Savior but also our Lord! Amen.
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