Wednesday, February 8, 2017

Preparing for the sixth Sunday after the Epiphany - 1 Corinthians 3:1-9

1 Corinthians 3:1-9New International Version (NIV)

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. You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere humans? For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not mere human beings?
What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe—as the Lord has assigned to each his task. I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labor. For we are co-workers in God’s service; you are God’s field, God’s building.

Many centuries after our texts from earlier this week, Paul is addressing 1st century followers of Christ in much the same way as God charged the Hebrews in Deuteronomy.  For the church in Corinth, the people had not yet progressed to a place in their faith journey that Paul felt he could give them more.  They were still eating the figurative food of infants.  I wonder who Paul would make this same address to today.

Perhaps one way to look at this is to re-evaluate where we are on our own spiritual journey.  Here are some prompting questions:  Am I abandoned to God completely in worship, or am I too afraid of what others may think if I kneel, raise my hands, or follow my heart and God when I worship?  Do I steer clear of certain topics, say the Holy Spirit, because I am uncertain that I want to be slain in the Spirit, or filled with the Spirit, or be like some of the things I have witnessed on television or in real life?  Does the head knowledge I have about Christ translate into a transformed heart that I have for God's people?  Do I spend more time keeping God a priority or arguing about or chasing after worldly things?
I can't speak for everyone, but I can speak for myself.  I think if Paul were around today, I would be one of the one's that he would make this address to.  If I had to hazard a guess, I am pretty confident that while all human beings may not be at the place Paul viewed the Corinthians to be in, we could each grow in some area of our faith.  Even I could learn more about God.  Even I could move from milk to solid food in certain areas of my discipleship.  May it be so.

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