Message: In 1 Corinthians 3 Paul told the church of Corinth that he
was unable to speak to them as spiritual people but only as carnal people
because of their immaturity. He referred back to the way they had latched on to
a leader of choice and missed the fact that each leader was pointing to Jesus
and had the same mission and purpose, just different functions. Some people
plant, and some water but Christ does the growing. If we don’t have a mature
view of the people who have planted and watered us with their leadership and
influence, we will not pass that on in maturity either. I think we each do some
planting and also some watering depending upon who we are ministering to, but
what really caught my attention in this chapter was when he spoke about the
quality of our work being tested through fire. If we are not authentic and
genuine in our work, we will build a facade out of what we see instead of a foundation
and it will not hold up.
Command: Live a life of real relationship with
God and with people.Check our motives in everything we do with the
understanding that our work will be tested.
Promise: If we are mature and authentic in our
own relationships, both with God and others, we will point people to Jesus.
When our work is tested it will be found to be sturdy and authentic.
Warning: If we allow immaturity to guide our
motives, we will do ministry as a show-off of ourselves and what we know
instead of out of a desire to lead people to an authentic experience with God.
The work will be tested but it will not stand up to adversity. It will be a
decorative facade with no real function.
Application: This word is very timely for me
because all week I have been talking to God about my heart. I want to minister
to people in a real and genuine way and I want to make sure that everything I
do comes from that kind of heart and not out of a desire to be admired, noticed
or seen as spiritual. This is a huge part of maturity and is what helps
everyone to grow together. We all have a desire to be admired and honored and
our hearts can be so deceitful in our motives. My prayer and my goal is to push
my selfish desire to impress out of the way so people can see Jesus in a real
way and not an empty facade of spirituality.
