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Today as we proceed through 1 Corinthians 3, we think of the pressing problem for modern Western culture: that of identity. Apparently, many people struggle with the questions, “Who am I?” or “What am I?”. This chapter answers these questions for Christians.
Yours,
Phillip
Peter Jensen: Today, we will look at 1 Corinthians chapter 3. Before we begin, what is the key theme of the passage?
Phillip Jensen: The theme is that of identity: the “Who am I” and the “What am I” questions that people ask themselves.
Peter: I’ve noticed that when I meet someone new, I often ask them what they do for a living. Why do we go for that question?
Phillip: I presume that is because one of the key ways in which we define ourselves is by what we do. We say, “I’m a lawyer,” or “I’m a carpenter,” or “I’m a surgeon,” or if we’re someone who really earns money, “I’m a plumber.” We’re very selective, though. We don’t identify ourselves, for instance, as being a prison officer, a garbage collector, or a street sweeper. We’re especially anxious that our children go into the top professions. There is a very clear pecking order of the things we can be proud of our children going into, versus what we’re slightly embarrassed about. But generally, we think that people are what they do.
Furthermore, what you do for a living can indicate your level of education, your status, wealth, and intelligence. It’s a women’s issue too: that is, getting women into the workforce was a way of establishing their place and their importance in society. The feminist drive for establishing you as a ‘real person’ is achieved through having a ‘significant job’, so that you don’t have to say, “I’m just a mum.”
Peter: I agree. It’s interesting that earlier generations generally identify themselves by family connections. We think, “I am who my family is.” I suspect that in many different cultures, the same thing would apply. In this understanding of human identity, the individual is less important than the family that the person belongs to. You are part of the clan, part of this wider group. You are the son of someone; you are the sibling of someone else; you are the father; you are the grandfather.
Phillip: This concept is applied in Russian names through patronymics. If you’re the son of someone, your name would include the patronymic ‘-ovich’ or ‘-evich’, meaning ‘son of’; if you’re a daughter, the name would be ‘-ovna’ or ‘-evna’. I’m sorry to our Russian readers if I have misunderstood this, but there is a code that determines where you fit in the family.
Peter: Surely, that’s better than identifying yourself by your work. It’s not wrong to tell people what your occupation is, but to identify yourself by what you do is a little worrying. But are either work or family enough to identify yourself by? It can become, in either case, a form of pride which is not helpful.
Phillip: I definitely think it’s better to identify yourself by family. Rather than asking ourselves, “Who am I?”, we should ask, “Who are we?” Individualism is one of the weaknesses of Western culture. Other cultures of the world have held family as a more important way of understanding oneself, which is the way God has created us, too. He’s created us through family, through the unity of the father and the mother. But you’re right; we can still fall into the trap of pride in family. This shows up especially in aristocracy, for instance.
Peter: Indeed it does, or at least it used to. Additionally, in the cultures where family is everything and the individual is subservient to the family, it can be a very imprisoning sort of context to live in.
Phillip: Yes, the cultures that practice family identity are the cultures that also practice control by the shame system, which is dreadful. Tribalism is another one of the weaknesses of our society, and family is a part of tribalism. For instance, the countries in Africa, where tribes are a foundation of society, have their problems. But you mentioned pride, which leads us into 1 Corinthians 3.
It can be tempting to have pride in what we do in the ministry of the gospel. Frankly, that’s worse than having pride in achievements or in family. We need God’s wisdom to understand and evaluate ourselves and our ministries. This applies to full-time ministers, to Sunday school teachers, to youth fellowship leaders, to home Bible study group leaders, and every other kind of ministry. We need God’s wisdom, and that’s what 1 Corinthians 3 gives us.
Peter: 1 Corinthians 3:1–4
But I, brothers, could not address you as spiritual people, but as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ. I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it. And even now you are not yet ready, for you are still of the flesh. For while there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not of the flesh and behaving only in a human way? For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not being merely human?
Phillip: This follows on from chapter 2, where we saw the contrast of two wisdoms: the wisdom of the world, which wound up crucifying the Lord of glory in its folly; and the wisdom of God, which was made known by the Spirit of God. The passage has arisen from strife in the church: the intrusion of the wisdom of the world into the church in Corinth. The Corinthians had not been Christians for very long, therefore they were still carrying over the wisdom of the world. As a result, parties arose as people claimed as their heroes various Christian teachers. So we’re essentially dealing with the same issue through chapters 1, 2, 3, and into 4.
Peter: Is this division a marker of identity for the Corinthians?
Phillip: Yes; it’s in a sense like identifying as a Lutheran or an Anglican.
Peter: Interestingly, Paul is speaking to Christians about their lack of wisdom. These are Christians who have been drawn to God by the Spirit of wisdom. Despite this, he has some pretty harsh things to say about their behaviour and what leads to it. He says they’ve been fed with milk. They allow the flesh to dominate their thinking and behaviour; therefore, they’re going to be fed with milk again because they haven’t developed beyond that. We certainly aren’t dealing with a perfect church here. Of course, we never are. But this church was marked by jealousy and strife. Were they real Christians?
When I was a new Christian, as a young person, I was reading some books about holiness that were doing the rounds at the time. I was taught in some of these books that this passage meant that there are 2 sorts of Christians: the ‘carnal’ Christians (‘carnal’ meaning ‘of the flesh’) and the ‘Spirit-filled’ Christians. According to the books, you needed a second blessing, as it was called, to become a Spirit-filled Christian. What would you have said to my young self back then?
Phillip: I would say that you mustn’t follow that kind of teaching. This letter to the Corinthians is written, as it says in 1 Corinthians 1:2, “To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours.” These are Christian people, and to divide Christian people is a fundamental error. Paul is not saying that there are two kinds of Christians, the carnal and the spiritual. All Christians are spiritual; if they weren’t spiritual, they wouldn’t be Christians. What he’s saying is, ‘I can’t talk to you as the spiritual Christians. You are acting childishly, and so I can’t talk to you as adults. I’m having to talk to you as if you are still children.’ He is adjusting his speech to the Corinthians as if they’re babies.
He’s using the arguments of this world, if need be, to remind them to think as adults. In fact, he uses the same imagery in 1 Corinthians 14:20,
Brothers, do not be children in your thinking. Be infants in evil, but in your thinking be mature.
Here, he presents the problem. It’s not a question of there being 2 kinds of Christians; it’s that there are two kinds of wisdom, and these Christians are showing the world’s wisdom. So Paul reminds them to turn their minds to that which is of God, rather than the things of this world.
Peter: This is the summary at the end of chapter 3. 1 Corinthians 3:18–23
Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you thinks that he is wise in this age, let him become a fool that he may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is folly with God. For it is written, “He catches the wise in their craftiness,” and again, “The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile.” So let no one boast in men. For all things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future—all are yours, and you are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s.
Phillip: The wisdom of the world has the profound quality of deception. When you achieve the wisdom of this world, it puffs you up. But that kind of worldly wisdom, that kind of arrogance, is a deception. You start to think you are something when you are nothing. God’s wisdom is quite different. So our boasting is never in human achievement. The thing that we have to boast about is that we are in Christ. Frankly, what we boast about in Christ is infinitely more valuable than the things the world boasts about. For instance, I recently saw an Olympic athlete win their gold medals, yet I couldn’t remember their name. It was a thing of which they could boast, which really is of no significance. But to be in Christ Jesus gives you everything in this world to have. Therefore, the wisdom of this world is deceptive because it tells you that having wealth, a great house, a great education, and a great job makes you significant, when in reality, you are not. It says, “You have Christ, you have eternity. You have the temple of God. So what?”
Peter: The presenting problem in Corinth, of course, is one that’s not atypical in our churches. That is the worldly problem of following the great leader: in this case, Paul or Apollos or Cephas. We are constantly, even in our circles, invited to identify ourselves with some great leader, past or present, like Calvin or Wesley. We may even identify ourselves pre-eminently with a denomination, like Anglican or Orthodox, rather than Christ. Of course, we owe much to others who have been our teachers and friends. I am not unhappy to be an Anglican, but we must remember that we are not disciples of these great ones; we are disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ, and we learn from him above all. That is true wisdom. Let’s then go back to the middle of the chapter.
Phillip: 1 Corinthians 3:5–17
What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each. I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor. For we are God’s fellow workers. You are God’s field, God’s building.
According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it. For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw—each one’s work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.
Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him. For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple.
Peter: Indeed. This is particularly addressing those in ministry, but as Phillip has said, in a way, we’re all in ministry. Please remember that this is written to all the Corinthians, not just the leaders. But anything we achieve for God goes back to his grace, mercy, kindness, and love, undeserving as we are. It’s interesting to see the description of God’s work here: that the result of preaching his Word is described as a field and also a building in verse 9. Then finally, Paul says, “Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?” We take that to mean the church, but of course, it’s also true of the individual. You are the temple of the Lord in whom the Spirit dwells. But the work of God comes from his grace. It makes nonsense of the misreading that we referred to before of verses 1-4, about there being 2 sorts of Christian, because he declares that all are indwelled by the Spirit of God. What then do we learn here about the workers in ministry?
Phillip: If we’re in this world’s wisdom that sees our identity in our work, we will think of our identity and value in the work of ministry that we’re doing. It sounds more pious to say, “I’m a Sunday school teacher,” rather than “I’m a shop owner,” or “I’m an engineer.” But it’s the same philosophy of identity in what one does. It is fascinating that according to verse 9, we are ‘God’s fellow workers.’ There’s no higher status than to be God’s partner. Yet we are nothing. The one who plants and the one who waters are nothing, because although God is our partner, he does the work. Yet God uses our work to do his work. So we are God’s skilled and masterly servants.
It’s not as if humans are only puppets. We’re more than that, for God gives us wisdom. God gives us an ability. That’s an extraordinary phrase which is difficult to translate. We have great abilities; we water, plant, and we lay foundations. Yet it is God who does the work through us. Therefore, while I am God’s partner, which is a terrific status, I am not anything, because God is working through me.
Furthermore, we’re united in the fact that there is one building, one foundation stone upon which we lay, yet we are diverse. Verses 6-8 speak of our diversity: being a planter, a waterer, a builder. We are doing different things, because we are individuals. This takes us back to what we were talking about earlier. It’s not just about individualism or anti-individualism, or about communalism. We work together as individuals, for as God’s partners we are assigned different tasks. Therefore, God is working through us in different and varied ways, but nobody is to think that he or she is better or worse than anybody else, because we are all working towards a united effort.
Our tasks all come from the grace of God, or the gift of God. But as individuals, we must take care of what we are doing, because we are working on the temple of God. The foundation is in the Lord Jesus Christ, as verses 10-11 say, and our task is to take care of it. We will receive wages, and we will receive a reward for our labour, because when the judgement day comes, what we have done will be revealed. If we have built with shabby materials—wood, hay, stubble—our work will be burnt up, and we’ll see that what we’ve done was of no great significance. However, if we build with the precious stones that come through the fire, then what we see will be of great significance.
Phillip: And so our work will be seen. Though we’re not talking here about salvation judgement; rather, we are talking about the judgement of our Christian life. We will be saved, but what will our life have added up to? Paul says in 1 Thessalonians 2:19–20
For what is our hope or joy or crown of boasting before our Lord Jesus at his coming? Is it not you? For you are our glory and joy.
The work we do has eternal significance, and will be seen for its significance. But it’s the quality of the work that we’re doing that matters. It’s not that I am the preacher as opposed to the musician, or the person who cleans the building, because God uses us all to bring about his purposes. It will be seen on the last day how we’ve shared in the purposes of God. Given this, we will go back to our first topic on Christian identity.
Peter: In listening to you, I’ve been thinking about life in ministry. There are times when, being the minister of a church, everyone smiles at you, and everyone compliments you (although what they say behind your back may be different). Over time, it is easy to get the impression that you are somebody, and to draw your identity from this rather than from the Lord himself. We need to be careful in saying this, of course, because there are moments when the Lord uses another person to encourage us when we need to be encouraged. But there is the danger of believing the smiles that everyone gives us and drawing our identity from that, rather than drawing our identity from the grace of God and the ultimate fact that we are in Christ Jesus.
Phillip: So when you stand before the Lord on the last day, are you going to stand as a bishop?
Peter: I’m just putting my trust and confidence in the Lord and knowing that there will be things which I have done, and things that I have failed to do, which will be drawn to my attention. It may well be that there will be people that I now think little of who are ahead of me in the kingdom that is to come, and I will rejoice in this because I’ll be a better person. But my only trust is in Jesus.
Phillip: To bring up one of our heroes, how did John Newton perceive himself and his identity?
Peter: The last words of John Newton, whose influence goes on to this very day, were, “I remember two things: that I am a great sinner and that Christ is a great Saviour.”
Phillip: That doesn’t mean that what we’ve done has no eternal significance.
Peter: No. I plant, others water, and God gives the growth. But that’s not my identity.
Scripture quotations are from The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Links & Recommendations
For more on this topic, check out this talk from 1 Corinthians 3 on The Work of God.
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