1 Corinthians 3:1-9   Click here for Bible Verses

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is 1 Corinthians 3:1-9.  Let’s go!

1 Corinthians 3:1-9 (NIV)
1  Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual but as 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 men?
4  For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not mere men?
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 made it grow.
7  So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow.
8  The man who plants and the man who waters have one purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his own labor.
9  For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building.

On verses 1-9:  In 1 Corinthians 3:1-9 Paul focuses in on the problem of people worshiping in the church in Corinth. Don’t get me wrong.  The people in Corinth were not bowing down and worshiping statues of Paul or Apollos.  Still their focus on Paul and Apollos had become excessive.  What are the signs that a Christian is immature?  Here’s one:  you focus excessively on people.  That’s what was going on in the church in Corinth: the Christians there kept competing with one another, arguing over who followed the greater servant of God, and playing the comparison game. So Paul called them out on their immaturity.  He said “you are still worldly” (v3), “mere infants in Christ” (v1), not ready for solid spiritual food (v2).

Focusing excessively on people is a sign of spiritual immaturity.  How do you know if you focus excessively on people?  Here are some clues:

I focus too much on people…

…when I consistently get into fights and arguments with others unnecessarily (v3);

…when I spend more energy being jealous of others than being thankful for what I have (v3);

…when I make it all about people and put God to the wayside, as if the people are more important or more powerful than God.  This can manifest itself in two ways.  One way is focusing so much on how good or important I think a person is without acknowledging God’s role in the situation.   A second way is focusing so much on how bad I think a person is without acknowledging that God’s grace and mercy are greater.  When I keep talking so much about how good or bad a person is and have little to say about God’s goodness and mercy, I’m focusing too much on people;

…when I am impacted more by what people say to me than what God is saying to me;

…when I make church or my faith all about the people and my relationships with them but have no real, practical relationship with God;

…when I base my worth and identity on what people think and say about me rather than what God thinks and says about me (v4, 9);

…when I attribute my spiritual growth solely to the impact of another human being instead of acknowledging that ultimately it is God who makes us grow and who used that human being in my life to accomplish His purpose (v6-7);

…when I chase after people’s approval instead of God’s approval (v8);

…when I sacrifice God for the sake of another person.

Do any of the above clues apply to you?  If so, we need to repent and begin spending more time focusing on Jesus than on the people we might be tempted to focus on excessively.  May we not be so focused on people that we become people worshippers.  May we always have a right view of God and a right view of people, seeing them through the lens of God’s mercy, goodness and grace.  We are to love, honour, respect, serve, protect, forgive, encourage, work with and bear with people, but we must never worship them.   We are to respect, honour and submit to our God-given spiritual leaders (Hebrews 13:17), but we are not to worship them.

Heavenly Father, may I love, honour, respect, serve, protect, forgive, encourage, work with and bear with people, but may I never worship them.  May I respect, honour and submit to my God-given spiritual leaders, but may I never worship them. You alone are worthy of my worship.  In Jesus’ name, AMEN!