1 Corinthians 3: 1-9
Brothers
and sisters,
I could not talk to you as spiritual people,
but as fleshly people, as infants in Christ.
I fed you milk, not solid food,
because you were unable to take it.
Indeed, you are still not able, even now,
for you are still of the flesh.
While there is jealousy and rivalry among you,
are you not of the flesh, and walking
according to the manner of man?
Whenever someone says, “I belong to Paul,” and another,
“I belong to Apollos,” are you not merely men?
What is Apollos, after all, and what is Paul?
Ministers through whom you became believers,
just as the Lord assigned each one.
I planted, Apollos watered, but God caused the growth.
Therefore, neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything,
but only God, who causes the growth.
He who plants and he who waters are one,
and each will receive wages in proportion to his labor.
For we are God’s co-workers;
you are God’s field, God’s building.
I could not talk to you as spiritual people,
but as fleshly people, as infants in Christ.
I fed you milk, not solid food,
because you were unable to take it.
Indeed, you are still not able, even now,
for you are still of the flesh.
While there is jealousy and rivalry among you,
are you not of the flesh, and walking
according to the manner of man?
Whenever someone says, “I belong to Paul,” and another,
“I belong to Apollos,” are you not merely men?
What is Apollos, after all, and what is Paul?
Ministers through whom you became believers,
just as the Lord assigned each one.
I planted, Apollos watered, but God caused the growth.
Therefore, neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything,
but only God, who causes the growth.
He who plants and he who waters are one,
and each will receive wages in proportion to his labor.
For we are God’s co-workers;
you are God’s field, God’s building.
Those in ministry are nothing more than tools for achieving
God’s will. The tool is not greater than the hand that wields it. Tools do not
do work for their own good. There is a proper tool for every job and the proper
tool makes any job easier to do. Using the wrong tool often does damage to the
object being worked on as well as doing damage to the tool itself.
We each have been given gifts and talents, our attributes
as tools. These are what define us and the jobs we are most suited to
accomplish. Some of us screwdrivers used to tighten loose screws. Others are pliers
used for gripping and adjusting nuts. Some are hammers used to drive home a
point. God uses us in different ways to accomplish different tasks. It helps
for us to know ourselves and what type of tool we are so we can work in the
proper area where our gifts and talents can be best applied.
I fed you
milk, not solid food, because you were unable to take it.
We must remember that the people we minister to are in
all stages of their walk with Christ. Some are just checking out the path so
see how rocky it may be. Others may be in a transitional state. Some may be
suffering from wounds that need to be tended. Our approach cannot be the same
for each person and we cannot have the same expectation for everyone. Like
Jesus, we need to meet people where they are at and walk with them at the speed
of their choosing.
For we are
God’s co-workers; you are God’s field, God’s building.
No comments:
Post a Comment