Well, our sermon text this morning is 1 Corinthians chapter 3, verses 1 through 9.
That's page 953 in the Pew Bible.
Let me invite you to turn there with me.
Let me read our text for us.
Paul writes to the church in Corinth.
But I, brothers, could not address you as spiritual people, but as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ.
I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it.
And even now, you are not yet ready, for you are still of the flesh.
For while there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not of the flesh and behaving only in a human way?
For when one says, I follow Paul, and another, I follow Apollos, are you not being merely human?
What then is Apollos?
What is Paul?
Servants.
Through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each.
I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth.
So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.
He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor.
For we are God's fellow workers.
You are God's field, God's building.
Let's pray together.
God, we acknowledge that our eyes are closed to spiritual things, to the things of you.
Unless you, by your spirit, open our eyes for us.
So God, we ask that you would do just that now, as we consider the message of this passage.
That you would open blinded eyes.
That you would soften hardened hearts.
That you would awaken us from our sleep.
So that we might see you in your son, Jesus Christ.
And then we might turn from selfishness and waywardness and worship and trust you alone.
Father, we pray this in the name of Jesus.
Amen.
Well, imagine with me a man named Phil.
Phil has all the right theological books in his library.
On a day like today, Reformation Sunday.
Did you know that?
It's Reformation Sunday.
Is that actually right, John?
Is today Reformation Sunday?
I think it is.
Well, Phil could show you a whole section devoted to the reformers in his library.
Luther, Calvin, Zwingli, even Melanchthon, and Bucer.
He's read and digested them all.
It seems.
And he's got a great stock of commentaries on every book of the Bible.
Works from every period of the church.
Phil really knows his stuff.
Spiritually speaking, he looks like a pretty mature person.
And then there's Wendy.
Wendy loves her local church.
After all, it's a growing, vibrant place.
People are coming to know Christ.
People care for and love each other.
And she's there every Sunday.
Singing from her heart.
Taking notes on the sermon.
Serving in children's ministry every few weeks.
Heck, she even comes to the evening service sometimes.
Wendy loves her church.
Spiritually speaking, she looks like a pretty mature person.
And of course, then there's Marcus.
Marcus has an incredible conversion story.
He was running headlong away from God.
Worried about no one but himself and his own aspirations.
Until one day, a friend invited him to church.
It was a well-known church in a big city with a faithful, godly, well-known pastor.
And over time, God's grace got a hold of Marcus.
Pretty soon, everyone could see the difference.
He had stopped chasing success and fame.
And now he was humbly pursuing Christ.
That was a number of years ago now.
And Marcus's job has taken him to another city.
But he's still following Jesus.
He's still running the race after Christ.
Spiritually speaking, he too looks like a pretty mature person.
But what would you say if I told you that in fact, each of these three Christians were still dangerously immature in their faith?
What if I told you that they were still, to use the Apostle Paul's words in verse 1, infants in Christ?
You'd probably wonder, how could that be?
I mean, we'd love to have more Phil's and Wendy's and Marcus's in the church, wouldn't we?
In fact, maybe you see yourself in one of them.
Maybe some of the people you know are just like them.
What could possibly be wrong with them?
After all, aren't genuine conversion like Marcus and active fellowship in a local church like Wendy
and an understanding of the faith?
Like Phil, aren't these the telltale signs of growing healthy Christianity?
What could possibly be wrong?
It would utterly shock us to think that they could be dangerously immature.
And you know, in the same way, that's probably how the Christians in Corinth felt.
Shocked.
When they first heard, read to them this section of Paul's letter.
Six times in these four verses of chapter 3, these first four verses,
Paul calls them more or less dangerously immature in Christ.
But wait a second, some of them must be thinking,
us?
Infants in Christ?
Us behaving in a merely human way?
Us, not spiritual, but of the flesh?
Paul, come on.
That can't be.
I mean, think of what we know about the church in Corinth.
By the time Paul wrote this letter, the church at Corinth had been around for a number of years,
probably five or more.
And for the first year and a half, the apostle Paul himself was their pastor and teacher.
And then after that, they had Apollos, who was known for being a great teacher in the early church.
So these weren't some newly planted, half-baked in the faith Christians.
They seemed to have a good foundation, and they'd been around for a while, relatively speaking.
And on top of all that, we know that they were not lacking in any spiritual gift,
as Paul himself said back in chapter 1, verse 7.
In other words, the Holy Spirit was visibly active in their midst.
What we might call today miraculous gifts were perhaps a regular thing for them.
So here it seemed was an established, vibrant, and yes, we would say spiritual church.
Seminary students from all around were dying to get their internship credits at Corinth.
Corinth.
Church growth magazines were always calling for interviews.
Corinth was the it church.
But Paul says,
I could not even address you as spiritual people.
You're so woefully, dangerously immature.
So what did Paul see that the Corinthians didn't?
Look at verse 3.
Less than halfway into that verse, he says,
For while there is still jealousy and strife among you,
are you not of the flesh and behaving only in a human way?
There it is.
Jealousy and strife.
Or perhaps we could put it this way.
Comparison and competition.
What this text is telling us is that if our hearts are ruled by jealousy and strife,
if they're riddled with comparison and competition,
if our minds are constantly asking,
where do I fit?
Am I ahead or falling behind?
How can I make myself look a little better?
Then we are still, friends, infants in Christ.
Then we're still living out of our old, fallen nature.
And at the general level, that's certainly true.
Jealousy and strife in any form are signs that we need to keep growing in our walk with Christ.
But at Corinth,
this comparison and competition took a specific form,
a particular shape.
Look at verse 4.
For when one says,
I follow Paul,
and another,
I follow Apollos,
are you not being merely human?
Now we've seen this problem in previous weeks,
haven't we?
The church in Corinth was becoming divided into factions
based on which leader or teacher they identified with.
And literally they were saying,
not I follow Paul or Apollos,
but literally I'm of Paul.
I'm of Apollos.
I belong to this or that leader.
And that makes me something special.
That makes me a cut above.
And that kind of comparison,
that kind of competition,
Paul says,
proved that they were still infants in Christ.
Immature.
Merely human.
But is this a specific problem that we deal with today?
I mean,
maybe not in the same way, right?
But it still crops up
in some less obvious forms.
Think about Phil with his great theological library.
Of course,
a deep understanding of the faith is a good thing.
We should all strive to grow in our biblical knowledge.
Remember the church in Acts?
They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching.
And so should we.
At one point in Israel's history,
God even said through the prophet Hosea
that my people are destroyed for a lack of knowledge.
Growing in our understanding of the faith
is incredibly important.
But when Phil,
with his great theological library,
hears about some of the books
that his fellow church members are reading,
he sometimes can't help but look down his nose.
And you should have seen his face
when someone recommended he read a new devotional
that just came out.
Devotional?
Really?
He thought.
That's a little beneath me.
I mean,
I'm reading Calvin's Institutes.
Again.
In the Latin.
And in the French.
I don't think I'll have time for your quaint devotional.
But here's the thing.
That devotional could have been full of the gospel.
Full of Christ crucified.
Phil wasn't rejecting it
because it was full of errors or heresy.
He was rejecting it because in his mind
he only reads big important Christian books,
the real theology.
In other words,
he had propped up his identity
in the church
among other Christians
over against other Christians
with his reading habits
and preferences.
And in so doing,
he was setting himself over
against his brothers and sisters in Christ.
Just because they recommended something
a little less weighty and academic.
And just like Corinth,
the church is divided.
Or think about Wendy
who loved her local church.
That, of course,
is a great thing.
Healthy Christianity
is always lived out
in a concrete,
face-to-face body of Christ
that we call the local church.
Again, remember the church in Acts.
They devoted themselves
to the fellowship.
Not to the podcast.
To the fellowship.
But Wendy,
while she's thrilled
about her own church,
she isn't so thrilled
about the fact
that there's a new church
starting up in town.
Some of her friends
visited the other Sunday
and they told her
that the gospel
was really clearly preached.
Wendy even went
and checked out their website.
And there doesn't seem
to be anything wrong
with the church.
But that just makes her
all the more uneasy
and upset.
Because people should want
to come to her church.
church.
Not some other place.
She wants her church
to grow,
not theirs.
She wants her place
to be doing the exciting work
and getting the new visitors
and starting the new programs.
Of course,
she might not
consciously admit
to all that.
But the pit in her stomach
says it all the same.
Wendy,
without even thinking of it,
had been comparing
and competing
with other believers.
Pitting her own congregation
against another one.
Even though they both
preach
Christ crucified.
Lastly,
what about Marcus?
In his new city,
Marcus has been faithful
to find a new church.
But you know,
he can't help
always feeling
a bit disappointed.
The pastor of his old church
always seemed to speak
right to him.
And in his new church,
he has a harder time
connecting with the sermons.
In his old church,
he had a great group of guys
who discipled him.
But now,
these guys,
they all seem to be
in different stages
of life than him.
And he's not sure
he has a lot to learn
from them.
Nothing seems to measure up
to his old church.
In fact,
he still listens
to the podcast
from his old church
on Saturday nights.
But then every Sunday morning
in his new church,
he just feels more
and more disappointed.
So you see,
friends,
even if today,
our churches
might not be
ripping into factions
around specific leaders,
we can still
let that same
spirit of comparison
and competition
creep in.
Whether it's pride
over which Christian authors
we do or don't read,
or jealousy
over whose church
is attracting
the most new visitors,
or disappointment
over a new church
that doesn't match
the memories
of an old one.
And when we let
these sorts of things
grow,
according to this passage,
we're living like infants
in Christ.
In fact,
Paul is so bold
even to say
that we're acting
as if we're still
of the flesh.
Now that's really
strong language.
The flesh
in the New Testament
means our old,
selfish,
sinful,
unredeemed nature.
This text is saying
that when we let
that kind of
jealousy and strife,
this sort of comparison
and competition
creep in,
it's as if we're living
like we don't even
know Christ
at all.
It's as if we're living
like the Holy Spirit
isn't living
inside of us
in any way.
Now Paul clearly
addresses them
as believers,
right?
He calls them
brothers and sisters.
He says they're
in Christ
even if they are
infants in Christ.
In other words,
he considers them
to be Christians.
But then he turns
around and says
they're of the flesh.
So is Paul
contradicting himself?
Are they Christians
or not?
Well,
I think in some sense
that's the point
he's trying to make.
Paul's saying
that when you
and I
as believers
live like this,
riddled with
comparison and
jealousy,
caught up with
strife and competition,
it's like we're
walking
contradictions.
Walking
contradictions.
We know Christ
but we're not
living like it.
We have the spirit,
we're a new creation
but we're acting
like mere humans,
like our old
sinful selves.
God's.
Now as an aside,
some people have
thought that in this
passage Paul is
teaching that there
can be such a thing
as a genuine
Christian who
never really
pursues holiness
and lives just
like the world
their whole life
and yet will still
be saved in the end.
this was sometimes
referred to
as a carnal
Christian
as opposed to
a spirit-filled
Christian.
Carnal being another
way of translating
of the flesh
in our passage.
But I think it's
clear
that Paul's
actually
not teaching
that here.
Isn't it?
He's not trying
to introduce
two sort of
categories of
Christians here.
No,
he's saying
there's one
sort of Christian,
the growing
kind.
And if you're
not growing,
something is
horribly wrong.
Beth and I
just had
an infant.
And friends,
if our infant
never grew up
and started
eating solid
foods,
if Owen
always hit
himself in the
face like he
does now,
if he always
pooped his
pants like he
does now every
two to three
hours,
friends,
you wouldn't
say,
oh,
that's just
a normal
human being.
No,
something would
be dreadfully
wrong.
In fact,
Paul will go
on to say
in 2 Corinthians
that if you
persist in
blatant,
unrepentant sin
and disobedience,
then perhaps
your conversion
wasn't genuine
to begin with.
Examine
yourself,
Paul will
say in 2
Corinthians 13
5.
Examine
yourself
to see
whether you
are in
the faith.
But Paul's
not quite
there yet
with the
Corinthians.
Here he's
still addressing
them as
believers.
He's still
trying to
jolt them
awake to
get them
to grow
up by
helping
them to
see how
contradictory
their lives
have become.
Now,
if we take
a step
back,
it's worth
asking,
isn't it?
Is all
this really
so bad
as Paul
makes it
out to be?
I mean,
come on,
the Corinthians
haven't killed
anybody.
They're just
squabbling
and one-upping
each other
through their
petty little
factions.
It's foolish,
sure,
but is Paul
just a little
overreactive
here?
I mean,
who cares
if I get a
little jealous
at the church
across the
street?
And who cares
if I look
down my nose
at those
fluffy,
foolish books
that those
people are
reading over
there?
And who cares
if I put
my previous
pastor on a
pedestal that
no one can
reach?
Does that
really mean
I'm a walking
contradiction?
Well,
friends,
if we take
the gospel
seriously,
then the
answer is
yes.
On the
one hand,
at the very
basic level,
these kinds
of divisions
in the church
misrepresent
the God
who saved
us.
Amidst
the three
eternal
persons of
the Trinity,
Father,
Son,
and Holy
Spirit,
there is
perfect
unity.
So perfect
that Christians
believe not in
three gods,
but in one
God,
Father,
Son,
and Holy
Spirit.
And if the
church is
meant to be
a reflection
of the
glory of
the God
who saved
us,
then that
partly happens
through reflecting
God's
supreme,
beautiful,
lovely
unity.
Divisions
in the
church are
serious
friends because
they tell
a lie
to the
watching
world about
who God
is.
God is
not a
God of
strife
and conflict,
but a
God of
perfect
unity.
But pushing
a little
deeper,
there's another
reason why
divisions are
such a
contradiction to
the gospel.
people.
Because
underneath all
the jealousy,
the strife,
the comparison,
the competition,
what I'm
doing in
all that is
putting my
identity and
my significance
in a
human person
and in so
doing trying
to make
much of
myself.
When the
Corinthians
said I'm
of Paul or
I'm of
Apollos,
don't you see
what they were
doing?
They were
getting their
self-worth
and their
status from
their attachment
to those
human leaders
and they
were trying
in doing
that to
make themselves
better than
each other
through some
sort of
connection to
this or
that popular
teacher.
And in
the same
way,
when you
are jealous
or suspicious
of another
local church
or ministry
across town,
when you
only read
certain books
and not
others,
when you're
unimpressed
by your
current church
or even
more generally,
when you
compare yourself
to someone
else in
any way
and when
you see
yourself as
being in
competition
with them,
then your
focus
and your
praise
is on
you,
is it
not?
how
significant
you are,
how you
can be
better than
someone else.
You're
consumed
with
yourself
and whether
you're
succeeding
and you
feel great
or whether
you're failing
and you feel
horrible,
you're still
all about
you.
and when
we do
that,
we've
completely
lost
sight
of the
truth
of the
gospel
because at
the center
of the
gospel
is not
me
and it's
not you
but Jesus
Christ
and him
crucified.
we preach
Christ
crucified,
Paul said
in chapter
one.
That's the
central
message of
Christianity
that we
were so
helpless
and sinful
that only
the death
of God's
perfect
beautiful
son
could save
us.
But at
the same
time,
God loved
us so
much
that he
willingly
gave his
son
and that
the son
willingly
came to
do just
that,
to die
on the
cross
for the
sins of
absolutely
everyone
who will
turn and
trust in
him.
We
bring
him
nothing
no matter
who
we are
and he
gives us
everything
no matter
who.
we are.
That's the
good news
of the
gospel,
friends.
And when
God by
the Holy
Spirit
causes that
reality to
sink down
into your
heart,
it will be
the death
knoll to
all comparison
and competition.
Why?
Because now
instead of
having to
belong to
this leader
or that
leader to
prop yourself
up with
theological
tomes,
to get
your
significance
or your
worth,
instead of
needing to
build yourself
up and prop
yourself up in
this way or
that way,
you can rest
on the great
and glorious
fact that
now you
belong to
God.
You're God's
field,
Paul says
at the end
of our text.
Christ,
you don't
belong to
Paul or
Apollos,
you don't
even belong
to yourself,
whether you're
a total success
worldly speaking
or a total
failure.
And the
gospel were
all the
same.
You belong
to God.
He defines
you now.
Just like
Isaiah saw
so many
years ago
that God
would pour
out his
spirit and
we would
be writing
on our
hands,
the Lord's
and we
would grow
up like a
field in
the desert
full of
life and
beauty.
Verses
five through
nine,
the end of
our text
are there
to give
us some
much needed
perspective.
Christian
leaders aren't
celebrities,
Paul says,
they're servants.
They're field
workers and
God has sent
them out each
with their own
task, each
in their own
time.
One plants,
one waters,
in and of
themselves,
they're nothing.
Ultimately, it's
only God who
gives the
growth.
And these
laborers,
they're on the
same team.
They're one.
They're fellow
workers.
Yes, they'll
receive their
individual wages
for the work
they've done,
but ultimately
they work
together in
the field that
belongs to
God.
Brief side
advertisement,
if you're
thinking about
going into
ministry,
this is the
calling,
not glamour.
Pick up your
shovel and
hit the
fields.
So friends,
if you're
tempted to
make too
much of a
Christian
leader,
to get your
significance
through your
connection to
them,
you need to
remember that
they're merely
servants,
they're farm
hands,
and it's
God who
gives the
growth.
pastors and
teachers are
means.
Be thankful
for their
faithful labors.
Yes,
honor them
appropriately.
Yes,
but don't
worship them.
And when we're
tempted to pit
my leader over
against your
leader,
or my local
church over
against that
local church,
or my campus
fellowship over
against your
campus fellowship,
or my favorite
Christian writer over
against your
favorite Christian
writers,
remember that
they're all
one.
Insofar as they
hold to the
biblical gospel,
they're all on
the same team.
Yes,
God will
ultimately hold
them accountable
individually,
but ultimately
they're all
playing their
part.
They're all
doing the
work God
assigned to
them.
And friends,
if we really
internalize this
vision,
it means that
we can be
genuinely
thankful
for the
plurality of
gospel-believing
churches in
New Haven,
we're not
competing,
we're cooperating.
We can
encourage each
other without
unhealthy
comparison,
as long as we
preach Christ
crucified,
we're on the
same team.
After all,
if we're really
going to see our
whole city and
our region reach
for Christ,
wouldn't you
agree that we'll
need God to
raise up a
lot more
sowers and
a lot more
waterers.
We'll need God
to raise up a
lot more
healthy local
churches.
And as you
think about your
own story in the
faith,
friend, be
thankful for the
teachers and
pastors you've
learned from in
the past.
Praise God for
them.
But don't use
them as the
gold standard
whereby you
negatively judge
all the teachers
in your life
right now or
in the future.
In God's
wisdom, one
sowed and
now by God's
same wisdom,
another is
watering.
Trust the
owner of the
garden that he
knows what he's
doing and that
his timing is
always perfect.
So friends, if
you see comparison
and competition
lurking in your
heart, if it's
coloring your
relationships, then
I hope you
listen to the
rebuke of this
passage because
that's what it
is.
And I hope
you'll set them
aside along
with the rest of
your old sinful
nature.
Stop living as a
walking contradiction
and start living
the beauty that
God has ushered
you into.
That you are a
part of his
field.
The one
awesome church
of God
that he bought
with his own
blood and that
he will see
forth into
glory.
Let's pray.
Amen.
God, we pray that
you would convict
us now of
these things in
our hearts.
Lord, we know
that we need
your Holy Spirit
to do that.
We're so quick
to excuse
ourselves otherwise.
So, Lord, would
you show us in
very practical
ways now how
we've been
comparing ourselves
to one another,
how we've been
competing in
ungodly ways
even in your
church.
And, Lord, we
turn to the
work of Christ
for forgiveness.
We pray, God, that
we would have a
new sense that we
belong to you,
each and every
one of us,
that we're equal
before the cross,
that you love us
all, that you've
shed your blood for
everyone who
believes.
And, God, give us
a vision for
ministry in our
time that embraces
not just our own
little tribe, but
all those who
take the name of
Christ crucified.
And, would you
raise up in this
field of yours
many new plants,
many oaks of
righteousness,
many lush gardens,
many fruitful
trees.
God, would we
see in our day
great growth.
God, would we
not thank
ourselves or
exult in
ourselves because
of the work that
we've done, but
would we look to
you, God, and
praise you and
say that it's you
and you alone who
gives the growth.
Father, we pray
this in Jesus' name.
Amen.