There is a slight problem with the audio, it is a bit scratchy, but you can hear it ok.

1 Corinthians 3 is part of one sustained argument that spans from 1:10 to 4:21. Paul has already discussed the main message of the Cross, and the need of the Holy Spirit, and of understanding how God’s Spirit affects a person’s life. He then addresses the deep divisiveness and horrible factions that plagued the church at Corinth.

The Corinthians implicitly misunderstood the gospel, and the centrality of the cross. Pragmatically, their love of pomp, prestige, rhetoric, social approval, and secular wisdom, revealed they had not reflected very deeply on the entailments of the gospel of the crucified Messiah.

The Corinthians also misunderstood the nature of Christian leadership. As long as some are divided over who to follow, whether Paul or Apollos, Cephas, Wesley, or Calvin, in turn, making some Christian leader the prime point of their identification, they do not truly grasp the nature of Christian leadership that is tied to the cross.

Leader Cliques Reveal Spiritual Immaturity

Paul did not think that they were not Christians. But it was clear they had failed to bring their lives into conformity with the message of the cross. The Corinthians were acting in ways that are characteristic of people without the Spirit—people who, precisely because they do not have the Spirit, have nothing to fall back on but their own sinful human nature, their “fleshly” nature. Therefore, they were acting like pagans.

They will be held accountable for this immaturity. Those of us who have the Spirit, should come to grips with the message of the cross, and are expected to mature quickly. If some have the Spirit but are slow to mature, the kindest interpretation is that they are “worldly.” In these matters they are acting like “mere men” instead of like Christian men and women, who are empowered by the Spirit of God.

Church Cliques & Christian Leaders

Christian leaders are only servants of Christ and are not to be accorded the allegiance reserved for God alone. God cares about His church, and He holds its leaders accountable for how they build it. Paul uses two analogies to prove these truths.

The Agricultural Analogy

After Paul berated the Corinthian Christians for their spiritual immaturity, he saw it necessary to say something about how Christian leaders should be viewed. The answer is simple: they are only servants. They are servants of Jesus Christ, not the church. It is the Lord who has assigned to each his or her task.

The agricultural analogy concerning a farm is clear. The field represents the Corinthians, and it belongs to God. On the farm, one person may sow the seed and another may water it, but only God can make it grow. Even though the workers are assigned different tasks, they each have one purpose. No one worker’s task has any independent importance. Paul means that he and Apollos and any other workers are simply fellow workers, co-workers, owned by God, and used by God; none are co-equal with God.

Christian leaders are only servants of Christ and are not to be given an allegiance that is reserved for God alone. This does not mean we should disrespect leaders or fellow believers. However, implicitly, allegiance centered on human leaders is making too much of one person. We should always remember the preeminence of Christ. This also means that Christian leaders should refrain from presenting themselves as if they had all the gifts, or exclusive authority or
insight. We are all servants and fellow workers, and we are God’s.

The Architectural Analogy

Next, Paul moves from the farm to the construction site. A distinction is maintained between the “ordinary” believers and the leaders. It helps us to remember what a slow process building a great edifice was before the days of power equipment.

Cathedrals in Europe often took four or five centuries to complete. The lesson is clear: it is foolish to focus all praise on just one of the builders who has contributed to the project.

In this analogy, God plays a somewhat different role. Jesus Christ Himself becomes the foundation that Paul laid (3:11). God is not specifically mentioned in verses 11 through 15, but He stands behind the judgment implicit in “the day” and “the fire” that will reveal the quality of each builder’s work. In other words, God owns the building, and He judges the quality of the work of each builder. In this analogy a heavy emphasis is placed on the accountability of the builders.

All must build with materials which withstand the fire, that “will test the quality of each man’s work” on “the Day” when each builder’s work “will be shown for what it is.” (3:13).

Christian leaders must build the church with materials that will stand the final testing.

It is possible to “build the church” with such shoddy materials that at the last day you have nothing to show for your labor. People may come, feel “helped,” join in corporate worship, serve on committees, teach Sunday school classes, bring their friends, enjoy “fellowship,” raise funds, participate in counseling sessions and self-help groups, but still not understand the cross and trust Jesus. If people we try to help do not experience life change through trusting Jesus, it is all in vain without eternal value. But trusting Him changes everything, for eternity, & that’s something we should never forget.