Church Matters: Correcting the Corinthians (2)
Scott Bayles, pastor
Blooming Grove Christian Church: 11/16/2014
One Sunday morning a little girl sat on the bathroom counter watching her daddy shave in the mirror. After gazing intently at their reflections for some minutes, she said, “Daddy, did God make you?” Smiling, her dad said, “He sure did.” Inquisitively, she asked again, “And did He make me too?” Her dad replied, “Yes, He did.” The little girl contemplatively gazed into the mirror for a moment before concluding, “I think He’s doing better work lately, don’t you?”
Children are wonderful, aren’t they? They grow up so quickly though, don’t they? As a parent there are times when I just wish I could pause their lives—preventing from growing up. My son is turning 9 this year. One of the things we enjoy doing is playing video games. When he was a baby, Ashley and I would play together and he wanted to be included in the action, so I would put a controller in his hands that wasn’t plugged in and just let him think that he was playing. Around 4 years old, he started catching on to that! Since then we’ve played a lot of games together and I’ve always been better than him. I’d let him win every once in a while to build his self-esteem, but now he has to let me win every once in a while! He’s better than I am at some games, pretty soon he’ll be taller than me, and faster than me, and stronger than me!
Children start off so small and dependent upon their parents, but then they grow up. They grow bigger, stronger, wiser, and more capable. That’s God’s plan for children. And that’s also God’s plan for churches. Of course, not every church follows God’s plan.
Last Sunday, we began a new series exploring the book of 1 Corinthians and, as I said last week, the church in Corinth was pregnant with problems. In the first chapter, Paul addressed the issues of holiness (because they were living worldly lifestyles), harmony (because they had divided in competing groups), and humility (because they wrestled pride and arrogance).
But, believe it or not, those problems just represent the tip of the iceberg. As we reach chapter three, Paul gives a carefully reasoned discussion of yet another problem plaguing this young church—spiritual immaturity.
I read a birthday card that said: "You are only young once, but you can be immature forever." Sadly, the Christians in Corinth made that their mantra and, as a result, had a lot of growing up to do. There are three areas of growth that Paul touches on in this chapter—spirituality, size and service.
• GROW IN SPIRITUALITY
First, Paul talks about their spiritual growth.
Paul opens the third chapter in this letter with these words, “Brothers and sisters, I could not address you as people who live by the Spirit but as people who are still worldly—mere infants in Christ. I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready” (1 Corinthians 3:1-2 NIV).
Leonard Ravenhill tells about a group of tourists visiting a picturesque village who walked by an old man sitting beside a fence. In a rather patronizing way, one tourist asked, "Were any great men born in this village?" The old man replied, "Nope, only babies."
A frothy question brought a profound answer. The reality is—physically or spiritually, we all start off as babies. Growth takes time. When Paul first planted the church in Corinth, it was only natural that these new believers would be spiritually immature. They were babes in Christ. They needed to learn the foundations of the faith. It’s natural for new believers to struggle with going back to their old way of life—bad habits, bad crowd, bat theology, etc.
But as we mature in our faith, we ought to grow up a little. We ought to develop a more Christ-like spirit. We ought to understand more and more of the Bible. Paul puts it this way later in this letter: “When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me” (1 Corinthians 13:11 NIV).
It had been a few years since Paul first started the church in Corinth, yet they were still marked by immaturity.
I read this week about an undersea diver who dives for exotic fish for aquariums. He said one of the most popular aquarium fish is the shark. He explained that if you catch a small shark and confine it, it will stay a size proportionate to the aquarium. Adult sharks can be as little as six inches long if they are confined. But if you turn them loose in the sea where they have freedom to stretch their fins and swim the ocean depths, they grow to their normal length of eight feet.
The same thing happens to some Christians. I've seen some of the cutest little six-inch Christians who swim around in a little puddle. God is like the ocean—deep and vast and full of wonder. But many Christians never experience the depths of God; they never stretch their spiritual fins. Their spiritual growth is stifled because they think the one hour of worship they get at church each week is enough. They never get to know God outside of these four walls. They don’t spend a lot of time in prayer or Bible Study. The don’t experience the fellowship and discipleship that comes from being part of a small group. They don’t get involved in service or outreach. So they never grow up in Christ.
Now, being spiritually mature doesn’t mean that you’re always serious and boring or that you don’t know how to have fun. In fact, I love what C.S. Lewis—one of the greatest theologians of the 20th Century—said about that. He said, “When I was ten, I read fairy tales in secret and would have been ashamed if I had been found doing so. Now that I am fifty, I read them openly. When I became a man, I put away childish things—including the fear of childishness and the desire to be grown-up.”
Being spiritually mature doesn’t mean being a stick-in-the-mud. If anything it allows you to enjoy your freedom in Christ all the more. John Calvin wrote, “Christ is milk for infants and strong meat for men.” Let’s learn from the Corinthians mistakes, and graduate from milk to meat. Let’s continue to grow spiritually.
• GROW IN SIZE
Furthermore, Paul also talks about growing in size.
In the same chapter, Paul goes on to say. “I planted the seed in your hearts, and Apollos watered it, but it was God who made it grow. It’s not important who does the planting, or who does the watering. What’s important is that God makes the seed grow. The one who plants and the one who waters work together with the same purpose. And both will be rewarded for their own hard work” (1 Corinthians 3:6-8 NLT).
As I already mentioned, Paul started the church in Corinth during one of his missionary journeys (Acts 18). While there he met two believers named Pricilla and Aquila and made a living by working with them in their tent-making business. During his brief stay in Corinth, the Bible says, “Crispus, the synagogue leader, and… many of the Corinthians who heard Paul believed and were baptized” (Acts 18:8 NIV).
Shortly after Paul left, another traveling preacher arrived in Corinth—Apollos. Apollos had a natural gift for public speaking and made an immediate impact. He spoke boldly in public, interpreting and applying the Old Testament Scriptures effectively. He debated opponents of Christianity forcefully and convincingly. Alongside local church members, like Pricilla and Aquila, Apollos continued the work of growing the church in Corinth that Paul started. Of course, Paul is quick to point out that God—not him and not Apollos—gave the growth.
The pattern Paul establishes here is still the pattern that we ought to follow today. Preachers, teachers and church members plant and water and wait for God to grow his church. Unfortunately, many churches today have just stopped growing.
House Church Networks by Larry Kreider lists some startling statistics:
• During the last ten years, church attendance has fallen by 9.5%, whereas the population has swelled 11%.
• The United States ranks third behind China and India in terms of unchurched people.
• Of the generation born between 1977 and 1994, only 4% are Christians. By comparison, 65% of those born before 1946 are Christian.
• Not one county in the United States has a higher percentage of churched people than they did 10 years ago.
Sadly, some churches have just accepted this as normal. I know some churches where the motto is “We’re getting smaller but purer.” That’s not healthy. Healthy churches are growing churches. It may not be important who does the planting and the water, but it’s important that someone does it! The sad truth, though, is that only 2% of church members invite an unchurched person each year. We’re just not doing the work. Of course, there are other ways to plant seeds and water them in our community, but a simple invitation may be the easiest and most effective.
A survey was taken in a suburban area of Houston to find out what had motivated people to choose the particular church where they were members. Some surprising answers were given: 12 percent chose their church because of prior denominational affiliation, 8 percent on the basis of the architectural beauty of the structure, 3 percent because of the person in the pulpit, 18 percent because of convenience of location, but a whopping 58 percent chose a particular church because of the influence of friends or family.
According to a study conducted by Lifeway Research in 2006, over 90% of new church members said they attended church the first time because a friend invited them. That’s good news! But it can also be discouraging. If you’re out there planting seeds, inviting people to church and sparking spiritual conversations but you’re not seeing any results, don’t give up.
Do you remember me telling you about the Chinese Bamboo tree? The Chinese plant the seed; they water and fertilize it, but the first year nothing happens. The second year they water and fertilize it, and still nothing happens. The third and fourth years they water and fertilize it, and nothing happens. Then the fifth year they water and fertilize it, and sometime during the course of the fifth year, in a period of approximately six weeks, the Chinese bamboo trees grow roughly ninety feet tall.
The question is—did it grow ninety feet in six weeks or did it grow ninety feet in five years? I think the answer is that it grew ninety feet in five years, because had they not applied the water and fertilizer each year there would have been no growth at all.
That’s what God call us to do. We plant the seed of his Word, we water it, and we trust him to give the growth. There’s one more form of growth Paul talks about.
• GROW IN SERVICE
In addition to growing spiritually and growing in size, Paul also talks about growing in service. He writes, “For we are co-workers in God’s service… By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as a wise builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should build with care. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work. If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward. If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss but yet will be saved—even though only as one escaping through the flames” (1 Corinthians 3:9-15 NIV).
Here, Paul compares the local church to a building, still under construction. Two sure ways to destroy a building are to tamper with the foundation and to build with inferior materials. The foundation of the church—of all believers—is Jesus Christ. Nothing and no one else will do. A building is only as solid as its foundation and any so-called church that doesn’t make Christ he bedrock of their beliefs and ministry is doomed to collapse.
I hope that everyone here understands that Jesus is not only the foundation of our faith, but foundation upon which this church is built. But even if we have that right foundation, that doesn’t ensure a lasting structure. Paul compares our works—our ministry and service as a church—to construction materials. We can either build with flammable materials like wood, hay and straw or with precious metals like gold and silver. These materials represent what we teach from the pulpit and in our Sunday School classes. They represent how we minister to people’s needs and to our community.
Jesus laid the foundation with his ministry—a ministry of preaching, teaching, and helping people. When we carry on that ministry, we build upon his foundation. Jesus cautioned his disciples, saying, “whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave—just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:26-28 NIV).
Regrettably, the Corinthians were more interested in “serve us” then service. Immature Christians often follow in their footsteps. We say, “I’m looking for a church that meets my needs and blesses me,” not, “I’m looking for a place to serve and be a blessing.” But as we mature in Christ, the focus of our lives should increasingly shift to living a life of service to others. The mature follower of Jesus stops asking, “Who’s going to meet my needs?” and starts asking, “Whose needs can I meet?” Do you ever ask that question?
The old comparison between the Sea of Galilee and the Dead Sea is still true. Galilee is a lake full of life because it takes in water but it also give it out. In contrast, nothing lives in the Dead Sea because, with no outflow, the lake has stagnated. The same thing happens to Christians who aren’t involved in meaningful service to others.
Conclusion:
As much I would love to keep my children from growing up, I know that isn’t God’s plan for them. It wouldn’t be healthy either. The same is true for churches. If a church isn’t growing, it isn’t healthy. God wanted the church in Corinth to continue growing in spirituality, in size, and in service. I think he wants the same for our church today, don’t you.
I love the spirit of the builders of the cathedral in Seville, Spain, in 1401 who said, “Let us build here a church so great that those who come after us will think us mad ever to have dreamed of it!” If we are going to build a great church—not a building, but a church made of spiritually mature, service oriented Christians—in our community, we could use a bit of that “mad dreaming.”
Invitation
Next week, we’ll jump over to chapter six of 1st Corinthians, were we’ll learn of yet more problems this early church faced. This morning, if you’ve been spiritually stagnate or stifled, and you’re looking for ways to spark some spiritual growth or if you’re interesting meaningful service, but just don’t know where to start, I’d love to help. So please come talk with me as we stand and sing.
