The Corinthian church was severely divided. The division came because the congregation was hung up on the former preachers of the church. I would hate to be called to a church like that. SEBC was a lot like that when I was called here. But in the course of about 9 months, that finally began to change.
The former preachers in the Corinthian church were Peter, Paul and Apollos. The ministers themselves were not involved. It was the carnal believers in the church who were causing the problem. Some liked Peter. Some liked Paul. Others liked Apollos.
The issue of which preacher was best and is best for a church is always a critical issue. Every believer has his favorite minister and that is usually the one that led them to the Lord or to a deeper commitment, or ministered to his family during a trying time, or who really spoke to his heart when he preached. A minister who becomes deeply involved in a person’s life is bound to mean a great deal to that person.
But believers don’t need to pit one minister against another, or exalt one minister over another, or to even favor one minster over another, or especially not form a clique around a minister. That has happened twice in the history of SEBC in its earlier years before my time. So it is a vital issue.
This is what had happened to the Corinthian church. It looks like they were trying to determine what kind of minister was best for them. The discussion had overflowed into the homes and meetings and cliques were forming. (Imagine that.)
This passage tonight offers Paul’s 6th answer to this division problem. Let’s get into the passage.
READ v. 5. Ministers of God are servants. Ministers are not lords over God’s flock. They are servants of God and the servants of God’s people. Ministers are only instruments of God. They aren’t the ones who believers are to praise. They aren’t the ones who believers are to be focused upon. God should be our only focus. Ministers didn’t create the gospel; God did. The minister doesn’t save the believer; God does.
Also, a minister can only help people as God gifts him. The gifts that God gives the minister are not natural abilities. They are spiritual gifts only given by God. The minister can only serve effectively when God gives him the gifts of His Spirit.
So the minister himself as a person has nothing in which the people can glory. His gifts are of God so the people are to focus their thoughts and praise upon God alone. But judging from Paul’s answer in verse 5, they were focusing on the men, Paul and Apollos.
READ vv. 6-7. Ministers are nothing in comparison to God. No minister has any cause for glory or praise or honor or recognition. So for a minister, there is no room for pride or self-satisfaction. There is no reason for a person to idolize or worship a minister. Respect the minister, yes; because the minister has an important task; maybe one of the most difficult on earth.
Think about any other profession. If a man had to speak at a conference before 100-200 of his peers, how much time would he take out of his weekly work schedule to prepare for his speaking engagement? What if he had to speak to that same group tow times—three times—all in the same week? How much time would he have to take out of his regular duties to prepare? And not only that. What if the professional had to look after, care for, and minister to every one of his professional peers of the conference:
- One got sick and went to the hospital.
- One of their family members was hospitalized.
- A serious problem arose.
- Counseling was needed
- A major committee met.
And on top of that, the professional had to manage the conference, its committees, schedules, finances, building programs, whatever came up. And still more. He had to constantly be out visiting and enlisting new people to attend and join the conference.
So we are to respect the minster of God, but not idolize him and follow him as though he is the founder of your faith.
Paul gives us a farming picture to show what our attitude toward ministers should be. One minster of God planted the seed of God’s Word in our lives. Another minister comes along and waters the seed. All the ministers that cross our paths contribute to our lives. They contribute either the seed of the gospel or the water of the Word. But note: it is God who gives the increase. No minister can make the seed grow.
Growth is not caused by man’s hands. Spiritual growth is activated by God’s energy, force and power alone. So Paul says in v. 7. READ.
So if you are going to glorify anyone, glorify God. Lift His name up, not the name of the minister. Be thankful for the minister’s gifts but glorify God and thank Him for giving those gifts to the minister.
READ v. 8. All ministers are equal in God’s eyes. The church should view ministers the same way. But we don’t. “I’m going to this other church because the minister is more godly, he preaches better sermons, his messages are more dramatic, etc.” Both the sower and the waterer are said to be one. All ministers are called by the same Lord, to the same office, to the same work, to stand accountable before God and before God alone.
Ministers are in spiritual unity. The work of the one who plants cannot be done without the work of the one who waters. They are planting and watering lives for God. If the church and its believers exalt or pit one minister against another, they are going against God’s purpose for His gospel and the church.
Each minister is personally responsible to God. He is to use his own gifts that God gave him and not try to be like another minister. Trying to be like another minister is not his task. His task is to be who God called him to be and to do as God gifts him to do. The minister shall be judged for his labor, nor for what men may term success.
READ v. 9. Ministers are co-workers with God. Paul makes three points in this verse.
1. God is the source of all in the church. All is of God; He is all in all. He is the source of all that concerns the church.
2. Ministers are co-workers, and they work together with God, carrying out His will and doing what he wants done. Their concern is not what men think and want. Their mission is to serve right along by the side of God Himself.
3. The church is God’s field and building. A field doesn’t exist to lie unused. It exists to bear a harvest. The church is to bear fruit.
To sum this answer up: both ministers and believers are workers together with God. All have a part in God’s church and the need is for all to cooperate in building together.
Paul says that we, the church, are God’s field and His building. The church as a field must let the one who plants and the one who waters do their work or else the field of the church lies useless to God, and the building of the church lies unused for God.
