I Corinthians 3
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1 Corinthians 3:1-3:
And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ. I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able; for you are still carnal. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men? |
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Although the first Christians were excited by the new life to which they had been called, they did not always understand the teaching of Jesus and how to put that teaching into practice. Opposition from Jewish leaders and disagreements within the group were common. Communities regularly needed to be called to greater generosity, hospitality and humility. In his first letter to the Corinthians, Paul pointed out a particular problem he thought was ridiculous: divisions were emerging between the fan clubs of Paul and Apollos! Paul explained that in the grand scheme of things he and Apollos amounted to nothing; only God was worthy of their loyalty.
We face many of the same challenges today. Although we benefit from the insights and traditions of the generations that preceded us, we need to continue to pray and reflect on how to best live lives of faith in our own place and time. We need to be reminded often of Jesus’ invitation to share our resources with those in need and to welcome into our communities those who are very different from ourselves.
And, on occasion, our loyalties to particular messengers of the Gospel can cause us to lose sight of the message itself and create needless divisions. Those of us who proclaim the Gospel should try to do so as faithfully as we can and not worry about our own popularity. Those who listen to the proclamation will inevitably find one teacher or preacher more helpful than another, but we should avoid forming fan clubs and closing ourselves off to other ministers of the Gospel. As St. Paul reminds us, the Kingdom is God’s field; we are merely the workers. --Fr Dan Daly S.J (Aleteia) 08.31.16
We face many of the same challenges today. Although we benefit from the insights and traditions of the generations that preceded us, we need to continue to pray and reflect on how to best live lives of faith in our own place and time. We need to be reminded often of Jesus’ invitation to share our resources with those in need and to welcome into our communities those who are very different from ourselves.
And, on occasion, our loyalties to particular messengers of the Gospel can cause us to lose sight of the message itself and create needless divisions. Those of us who proclaim the Gospel should try to do so as faithfully as we can and not worry about our own popularity. Those who listen to the proclamation will inevitably find one teacher or preacher more helpful than another, but we should avoid forming fan clubs and closing ourselves off to other ministers of the Gospel. As St. Paul reminds us, the Kingdom is God’s field; we are merely the workers. --Fr Dan Daly S.J (Aleteia) 08.31.16
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I Corinthians 3:6-7:
I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase. So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase. |
Pragmatism is the underlying premise of all that church growth proponents do and say. If a pastor somehow gets a following of thousands, he is declared successful. He is then able to talk as an expert to other pastors whose congregations are smaller as if he has somehow solved the ministry dilemma with his creativity and innovation. Any challengers to his “new” philosophy are silenced by the argument that what he is doing is “working” by “bringing people to Christ.” This belief thus attributes church growth to the work and ingenuity of man rather than the work and power of God according to His Spirit and Word. Scripture clearly teaches that only God brings growth (1 Corinthians 3:6-7). The church growth movement thus usurps the role of God, which only leads to disaster and an appearance of results that may or may not really be genuine. Numerical growth ought to be desired, but it is not necessarily indicative of success, as God lets things grow and be harvested as He orders and ordains. Neither is the fact that a church is large indicative of health or sound pastoral leadership. Having a huge church is not a definitive criterion for looking to a person for advice. Numerical growth and spiritual growth are in the hands of God. How arrogant then is a church growth expert to take credit for God’s work, if indeed God is behind the work! What is even worse is that the growth may not even be Biblical growth, so he stands condemned in his boasting. Either way, when we define truth as success rather than adherence to Scripture, we will lose.
Success must be defined as obedience to the Word of God and faithfulness in His service. It cannot be altered to mean an increase in church membership, attendance, or professions of faith. There are many unbiblical ways to manipulate professions and to entice people to join a “church.” Faithfulness will lead to success as God defines it and as God allows and enables. There is no alternative for adherence to the revealed Word of God. --Relevant Bible Teaching |
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I Corinthians 3:12:
Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble. |
He puts into his foundation that which is consistent with his character. The foolish builder is wise in his own conceit. He thinks that as long as you believe in the foundation it matters little what you build upon it, and so the false teaching becomes easy, and the vain philosophies of the proud in heart become attractive. "Wood, hay, and stubble" may be useful in some ways, but they are after the tradition of men and not after Christ (Col 2:8).
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Paul understood that leaders are servants. He’s saying that you can’t put too much stock in a leader’s ultimate significance because they are just workers on God’s team! And because of that, the health and growth of a group (in Corinth’s case a whole church) did not depend on the leaders. It depended on God. God is the one who grows a church or small group. It’s not personality or knowledge or curriculum or charisma or baked goods (and I’m all for baked goods) that nurture and grow a small group. It’s God. --James Pruch
I Corinthians 3:16-17:
Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?
17If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are.
Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?
17If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are.
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I Corinthians 3:18-23:
18Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you seems to be wise in this age, let him become a fool that he may become wise. 19For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, “He catches the wise in their own craftiness”; 20and again, “The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile.” 21Therefore let no one boast in men. For all things are yours: 22whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas, or the world or life or death, or things present or things to come—all are yours. 23And you are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s. |
 Brian Seagraves
We need to make sure we are not self deceived. We are blind to our blind spots. That’s why they call them blind spots because you’re blind to them. You can’t see them. So we need the power of the spirit of God and the power of the word of God to remove the scales from our eyes in certain areas of our life so we can determine where we’re believing the lies of the world and believing things are wise that are actually foolish in God’s eyes. And that’s where we need to repent and we need to change our mind and become a fool in the world so that we will be wise in the kingdom of Heaven.
Paul tells us why this is, he shows us there’s no middle ground. In verse 19, ”For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God.” So it’s not just that the gospel is foolishness to the world, it’s also that what is wise in the world is foolish with God. There’s no middle ground here. And I think there are many examples of this. I mean, consider the world’s importance that it places on wealth. Or the primacy that it puts on personal autonomy or the prize of place it puts on comfort and security and safety. Or the way it prizes power. All of those are believed to be wise ends in the world. And biblically speaking, they’re not a prime importance at all and often many of them are foolish and directly lead to ruin and shipwreck. The world considers them to be wise, but God does not. And for this reason, the gospel isn’t viewed as foolishness. -Brian Seagraves; Sermon: 1 Corinthians 3:18-23 – If You Think Yourself To Be Wise, Become A Fool 3.19.20 |
Steve Husting
Pride is inherently evil, crafty, subtle, and destructive. It is totally against the new wine of grace Jesus brings in where we confess Christ is Lord. (With the proud, self is lord.) Jesus was humble and obedient to the Father and pleased Him in all things. But pride puts self at the center. Pride will use religious works, not to draw people to God, but to itself. Pride will use whatever tools are at hand in their industry–in medicine, government, science, business, education, and more.
When the Spirit works, He reproduces His own character in those He indwells. Prideful people, as we see in Matt. 23:15, will only reproduce demonic copies of themselves in others. They will be antagonistic to the gospel, in which one rests on the grace of God for everything, including one’s self-worth. Their teaching and attitude will beget arrogant monsters and not those who approach the Word with, “Speak, Lord, Your servant is listening.”
Paul gives us the blunt truth to become truly wise in the things of God. “Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you seems to be wise in this age, let him become a fool that he may become wise” (1 Cor. 3:18). We can be fooled by our own pride; it is difficult to detect pride in oneself when seeking recognition feels so normal, and spinning something to put self in the best light is instinctual.
Paul’s remedy is to become like the foolish; that is, to be like those around you. What do I mean by that? When we associate with the humble and simple, we’ll see the difference between their plain talk and living, and our prideful ambitions. The contrast, with the illumination of the Spirit, can help us to see it. When we identify with the humble, we are actively putting to death the pride of life. The humble already put God first and will discern the puffery of fools. --Steve Husting; Doubt Busters; The Sin of Spiritual Pride 5.29.23
When the Spirit works, He reproduces His own character in those He indwells. Prideful people, as we see in Matt. 23:15, will only reproduce demonic copies of themselves in others. They will be antagonistic to the gospel, in which one rests on the grace of God for everything, including one’s self-worth. Their teaching and attitude will beget arrogant monsters and not those who approach the Word with, “Speak, Lord, Your servant is listening.”
Paul gives us the blunt truth to become truly wise in the things of God. “Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you seems to be wise in this age, let him become a fool that he may become wise” (1 Cor. 3:18). We can be fooled by our own pride; it is difficult to detect pride in oneself when seeking recognition feels so normal, and spinning something to put self in the best light is instinctual.
Paul’s remedy is to become like the foolish; that is, to be like those around you. What do I mean by that? When we associate with the humble and simple, we’ll see the difference between their plain talk and living, and our prideful ambitions. The contrast, with the illumination of the Spirit, can help us to see it. When we identify with the humble, we are actively putting to death the pride of life. The humble already put God first and will discern the puffery of fools. --Steve Husting; Doubt Busters; The Sin of Spiritual Pride 5.29.23
Briefly put, the wisdom that God is opposed to here is a wisdom of the world. It’s concerned, in Paul’s context here, with evaluating preaching according to what’s persuasive according to the standards of men and not what is accountable to God and his revelation. It’s more based on the speaker than it is the truthfulness of the content. Another way to say it is, it’s skilled in the things of the world and not in the things of the kingdom of God. And my hope for us today is that we will see what true wisdom is according to God in his word to us. And that our hearts will be lifted to worship God as we see in this passage, that all things are for us in Christ: the future, the present life, death. All things serve us and Jesus and all things are for our benefit. -Brian Seagraves