WHEN ELEPHANTS RUMBLE (1 CORINTHIANS 3:1-15)
An African proverb says, “When elephants fight, grass gets trampled.” When elephants rumble, not only grass suffers the damage, animals run for cover, too. Elephants do not throw their weight around for nothing. According to Wikipedia, the grizzly bear weighs 1,720 lbs., the white rhinoceros 7,937 lbs., the hippopotamus 9,920 lbs., but the African elephant weighs 16,534 lbs.
The largest elephant on record weighed about 24,000 pounds (10,886 kilograms) and was 13 feet (3.96 meters) tall! Wild elephants eat all types of vegetation, from grass and fruit to leaves and bark— about 220 to 440 pounds (100 to 200 kilograms) each day. They also drink about 30 gallons (113.5 liters) of water each day.
http://www.sandiegozoo.org/animalbytes/t-elephant.html
Building a church is hard enough without bigger than life characters causing a stampede in church. Often, there are conflicts, disagreements and misunderstandings. In the church at Corinth there were two 600-pound gorillas and 2,000-pound elephants by the name of Paul and Apollos. Their followers were displeased with each other, disrespectful to each other and distant from each other, adding to the two men’s stress, straining the fellowship in the church, neglecting the work of the gospel, hurting the name of the church and rejecting the suggestion of possible reconciliation.
How should leaders, coworkers and groups within the church work together? What causes divisions and factions? What can we do to build up and not tear down one another?
Prize Good Motivation
3:1 Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual but as worldly-mere infants in Christ. 2 I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. 3 You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere men? 4 For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not mere men? (1 Cor 3:1-4)
During a service at an old synagogue in Eastern Europe, when the Shema prayer was said, half the congregants stood up and half remained sitting. The half that was seated started yelling at those standing to sit down, and the ones standing yelled at the ones sitting to stand up. The rabbi, learned as he was in the Law and commentaries, didn’t know what to do. His congregation suggested that he consult a housebound 98-year-old man, who was one of the original founders of their temple.
The rabbi hoped the elderly man would be able to tell him what the actual temple tradition was, so he went to the nursing home with a representative of each faction of the congregation. The one whose followers stood during Shema said to the old man, “Is the tradition to stand during this prayer?” The old man answered, “No, that is not our tradition.”
The one whose followers sat asked, “Is the tradition to sit during Shema?” The old man answered, “No, that is not our tradition.”
Then the rabbi said to the old man, “Please help us! The congregants fight all the time, yelling at each other about whether they should sit or stand.” The old man interrupted, exclaiming, “THAT is our tradition!”
The church is a hotbed of conflicts, as witnessed by the church in Corinth. Paul chides them as worldly and infants (v 1). The word “worldly”– “fleshly” in Greek, not “cosmos” – occurs merely 11 times in the Bible, four times in this passage alone (vv 1, 3, 3, 4 – “men”). Mostly, the world is contrasted with what is spiritual, godly and holy (Rom 7:14, 15:27, 1 Cor 3:1, 9:11, 2 Cor 1:12). A fleshly or worldly person is a slave to sin (Rom 7:14). He is selfish, superficial and self-righteous. He does not seek the things of God, to grow in Christ or the good of others.
Paul addresses the Corinthians as infants, crybabies and adolescents. An infant is ne-pios in Greek; ne- is negation and epos is “word,” so a baby does not speak a word. He babbles and cries; he does not speak. An infant talks gibberish and makes noise. Babies do not walk, they crawl. They need to wheeled in their strollers, strapped to their baby seats and helped to their high chairs. Worse, some need to be constantly carried in the arms or rocked in the arms.
A baby loves his baby formula, toys and pacifier. Solid food will make the infant choke, vomit and sick. Babies sleep, eat and poop. They crave attention; they won’t leave you alone and allow you to sleep or rest. Other negative portrayals of the “infant” in Greek include the inability to talk, think and reason like a man, in 1 Corinthians 13:11. In Ephesians 4:14, he is tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming. In Hebrews 5:13-14, unlike the mature man, the babe cannot distinguish good from evil.
The roots of the infancy tag or label the Corinthians inherited can be traced to their childish and not constructive behavior. Two problems rocked and stalled the church in Corinth. One was jealousy and the other was quarreling (v 3). The root of jealousy (zelos) is in the word “zeal,” which tells us of the intensity of the issue, the passion felt and feelings involved, and the fervor at its height. Zeal is internal. Internal jealousy is then spilled into open quarreling. Contention, competition and criticism characterized the church. Because of that, the atmosphere was poisoned, her fellowship was strained and her ministry had suffered.
Promote Good Morale
5 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. 6 I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. 7 So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. 8 The man who plants and the man who waters have one purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his own labor. (1 Cor 3:5-8)
Elisabeth Elliot told of a legend she heard from an African pastor. The story is told that Jesus was walking along with His disciples one day, and He asked each one of them to pick up a stone to carry for Him. So Peter picked up a fairly small one. John picked up a large one. And Jesus led them up to the top of a mountain, by which time they were hungry. So Jesus turned these stones into bread and gave them permission to eat what they had in their hands. Well, of course, Peter didn’t get enough, so John shared some of his with Peter.
Then on another occasion Jesus again took them for a walk and asked them to pick up a stone. This time He didn’t go up to the top of the mountain. But He took them to the river Jordan and told them to cast the stones into the river--which they did. This time, of course, Peter having picked up a much heavier stone. Then they looked to their Master for an explanation.
Nothing happened. He didn’t do any miracles. He just looked at them with great compassion and said, “For whom did you carry this stone?”
http://www.backtothebible.org/gateway-to-joy/accept-what-god-is-doing.html
What ignited such passion and division in the church that Paul wanted no part of? One group professed solidarity with Paul and another pledged loyalty to Apollos. Apollos is a prominent person in the New Testament church. Ten references to his name are found in the Bible. A Jew, a learned man with a thorough knowledge of the Scriptures (Acts 18:24), Apollos vigorously refuted the Jews in public debate, proving from the Scriptures that Jesus was the Christ. (Acts 18:28) He had a mind of his own and was a tough nut to crack. Later in the book, Paul admitted he strongly urged Apollos to go to Corinth, but Apollos did not go for the lack of opportunity (1 Cor 16:12). Not many people dared to resist Paul, but Apollos was one of those. Possibly, Apollos refused to go because he did not want to be distressed by and dragged into their quarrels of Corinth.
Paul and Apollos were brothers in the Lord (1 Cor 16:12) and they were never at odds with each other (Titus 3:13), but their supporters were. Watch Paul do the balancing act in reference to Apollos – Paul and Apollos in verse 4 and the reverse, Apollos and Paul, in verse 5. He did not want to be accused of belittling Apollos’ leadership and provoking his supporters in this sensitive church.
Paul explained that they are just servants (diakonos) - an attendant or a waiter. There are two major servant words in the Bible. The more popular and technical one is doulos, the slave, a phrase popular to culture and in theology. The diakonos is popular for ministerial and even political setting. For example, government authorities are God’s servants (Rom 13:6). Paul and Apollos were
servants “through” (“dia,” from diameter – through/across) whom you came to believe. They are mere ambassadors, not the King; vessels, not the Pilot; and channels, not the Source .
Paul’s part is to plant, Apollos’ part is to water and God’s part is to cultivate. The gracious part in Paul commends Apollos for doing the dirty job, to water the plant, which has to be done regularly. I should know because the lazy part in me plants our cherry tomatoes near the sprinklers so that I do not have to water them. The planter does his one-time bit and leaves the rest of the job to the gardener, who has to water every day, supplies the nutrients and protects against pests. Paul was the founder of the church in Corinth (Acts 18:1), and the church was blessed to have Apollos (Acts 19:1) after Paul left (Acts 18:18). The weird thing was that Paul and Apollos never officially or technically met. When Paul left for Ephesus, Apollos was there but he did not meet Paul, who had set sail from Ephesus (Acts 18:21), but instead met Aquila and Pricilla. In fact, Paul and Apollos (1 Cor 16:12) were both not in Corinth at the time the letter was written.
“Grow” is the same word for John the Baptist and Jesus “growing” and becoming strong (Luke 1:80, 2:40). Jesus uses this word for natural agricultural growth – the lilies (Matt 6:28, Luke 12:27), the mustard seed (Matt 13:32, Luke 13:19) and the seed that fell on good soil (Mark 4:8). This could be quantitative (Acts 7:17) or qualitative growth (Eph 4:15, Col 1:10), though more so for the latter. The true harvester is God. He looks for fruit, gathers the crops and reaps for harvest.
Every time “reward” (v 8) is mentioned, people go crazy. They make doctrine and theology out of it. Gold, diamond or platinum? How many karats? They measure the kingdom of God in material terms. No, Paul is just stating a “principle,” with no specifics or details involved. It is just human analogy, not heavenly material or kingdom objects.
Provide Good Material
9 For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building. 10 By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should be careful how he builds. 11 For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, 13 his 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 man’s work. 14 If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward. 15 If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames. (1 Cor 3:9-15)
According to Wikipedia, foundations are generally broken into two categories: shallow foundations and deep foundations. Shallow foundations are usually embedded a few feet into soil.
Deep foundations are used to transfer a load from a structure through an upper weak layer of soil to a stronger deeper layer of soil. Sometimes these foundations penetrate bedrock.
Most house foundations are only one to two feet deep. Skyscrapers require huge foundations to support the structures. First, a large hole is dug into the ground to reach a point of stable soil (often bedrock). After some sort of bedrock is reached, large steel footings are placed, and from these, vertical steal beams are placed along with a network of rebar.
The foundation of the 1,815 ft (553m) CN Tower in Toronto is 50 ft (15m) deep or 5 floor deep. This is nothing compared to one of the world’s deepest foundations. The foundation of the 88-story or 1483-feet (452m) Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, is 394 ft (120 m) deep - more than one fourth of its structure!
www.allaboutskyscrapers.com/skyscraper_concrete_foundations.html
The Corinthians’ jealousy and quarrelling were a slap to the face of Paul and Apollos, not something to be proud of. Paul almost shouted, “Are you out of your mind? We are fellow workers ( 9), not sworn rivals. The word “fellow workers” (sun-ergos) is intermingled with “joint” (sun, i.e. sync) and “worker” (ergon, i.e. ergonomics). The Corinthians were the field (georgion, from geo/earth + ergon/work) and the building. Paul and Apollos were the farmhands joint at the hip and the church was the land and the structure joint to the body of Christ.
Paul compares himself to an “expert builder” or architect (architekton) – the only time the word appears in the Bible - laying a foundation (themelios) or substructure, the base, the bottom or, better still, the bedrock underneath the earth’s surface. He cannot fail; his math must add up or the consequences are unimaginable. An engineer in my church once told me, “Engineering is all about physics.” Someone else is “building on it” – the verb “building” has the “on” (epi) preposition attached - the verb occurs four times in the passage (vv 10, 10, 12, 14). The substructure and the structure are attached, not detached; connected not disconnected; joint, not disjointed.
The word “careful” (v 10) is “see.” The word is not so much as “be careful” in the heart than “careful” with the eyes. Everyone should build with eyes open and not do shoddy work; fellow workers are obligated to pull their weight and not cut corners.
Next Paul begins the greatest to least comparison – gold, silver, costly (timios, from ti-me or “honor”) stones, wood, hay – which is a bundle, and straw – a stalk.
Again, Paul is using a principle, not alluding to what each represents, except for the foundation, who is Jesus Christ. There is only one foundation, not layers of foundation. There is only one choice for foundation; pastors, founders and leaders are merely the engineers. They do not determine the foundation; they merely determine who and where the foundation is, they point to the foundation and build on the foundation. All in all, the words build and plant each occurs four times in the passage.
The Day (v 13) in Paul’s theology is the day of God’s wrath (Rom 2:5) and the day when God will judge men’s secrets through Jesus Christ ((Rom 2:16). More than one third of 75 times the Greek word “fire” occurs in Revelation. “Burned up” (kata-kaio) in verse 15 does not mean burn, but burn against; the preposition “kata” or “against” is attached. Nothing will be hidden and no excuse will suffice.
Conclusion: Are you a peacemaker, a planter and a planner in God’s kingdom? Are you part of the solution or part of the problem? Are you committed to the Lord, His body and the church? Do you have a humble attitude and a reconciling spirit?
1 Cor 3: 1-15 Questions
1. What are the characteristics that distinguish the Corinthians as “worldly” and “infants in Christ”? Are the two the same?
2. Why is jealousy and quarreling described as worldly? Does that happen in today’s churches? What about your church?
3. What is the difference between identifying yourself with a group, a church, a denomination and a particular individual (Paul, Apollo, or a charismatic/popular leader in modern times)?
4. While the Corinthians took pride in following Paul (or Apollo), how did Paul see himself and the Corinthians?
5. Paul called the Corinthians “the field” and “the house,” what is his responsibility as God’s fellow servant? Is there any difference between “servant” and “fellow servant”?
6. Reflect whether you are building on the Foundation of God, which is Jesus Christ. If you are, what are the materials you are using? How would you describe “your work” Do you think it is of quality that will pass the test?
7. What are you? God’s servant, God’s fellow servant or worldly infant in Christ?
Victor Yap
Other sermons in the series and other sermon series:
www.epreaching.blogspot.com
