Paul says we are ONLY SERVANTS... God is working in our world today, through you and me.
• we are simply His servants.
• Some plants, some waters, God brings the growth.
• We may be doing different things, but we have ONE purpose - to work well
• We are God’s fellow workers
All of us will be rewarded - according to each own labour
• How much reward do you think you have now in heaven?
This passage tells us 2 things:
1. Each Contribution Is Critical - You are saved to serve
2. Each Contribution Is Unique - You are uniquely shaped for this purpose
1. YOUR CONTRIBUTION IS CRITICAL
Will the plant grow if it isn’t planted? No. Will it grow if no-one waters it? No.
What if the waterer waters a different piece of soil and ignores the bit where the seeds are? The seed won’t grow then either.
Both are vital tasks. Paul would say neither one is more important.
They are in fact fellow servants of the one God. Equal in importance and value.
It’s complementary. You are needed.
That’s why Jesus emphasized so much on UNITY. His priestly prayer was about unity.
Without this, the Body is unhealthy and cannot grow. The church cannot grow.
Not only must Paul and Apollos works, they must complement one another.
You were put on earth to make a CONTRIBUTION
• Do you believe this, that you’re someone that the world needs?
• The Bible says we are someone the Church needs - all members of the Body and greatly needed.
• Do you really believe that you can make a CONTRIBUTION; that without you we’re deprived?
• You have to believe this yourself, before you can really serve!
Acts 13:36 "For when David had served God’s purpose in his own generation, he fell asleep; he was buried with his fathers and his body decayed.
You weren’t created just to consume resources - to eat and take up space.
• In God’s Kingdom, you have a place - a purpose, a role, a function to fulfil.
• We owe Jesus our lives; therefore to serve Him is a natural outflow of that new life.
• Paul did not even talk about a CHOICE - it was assumed that each of us has a task to do.
Rick Warren: "We are saved to serve."
• So the big question is: "Whose needs am I meeting today? Whose needs have I met yesterday?"
• Bro/sis, for many of us, the real need is not for us to attend a Bible Study... we already know far more than we are putting into practice.
• What we need probably is to SERVE SOMEONE. Talk to newcomers who steps into KT. Chat with someone who is sitting alone during lunch. Help an elderly member walk up the stairs.
• Testimony - Zhi Ying - helping church choir, but take time to mingle with others, share with people, encourage others. That’s really not "her job". Making this her home.
You see, we’re all important members of God’s workforce.
Strictly speaking, there shouldn’t be full-time or part-time Christians in the Church.
Some of us are the ones who plant the seed of the gospel, through our words or our acts of compassion. Others water the seed - through encouragement, sharing… that’s why your presence at fellowship is important (it’s not about getting, it’s about giving.)
But without all of those tasks being accomplished by you and me the plant won’t thrive.
It’s not just Paul’s problem. It’s not just Apollos’ problem. It’s part-Paul, part-Apollos.
Your contribution is important, and God is looking out for that.
Frankly, serving is not our natural inclination.
• Most of the times we are more interested in "serve me" rather than "service".
• "I’m looking for a church that meets my needs and blesses me," not "I’m looking for a place to serve and be a blessings." For many, not all... they church hop because of this! I don’t church hop to find a place where they need my help.
• Missionaries have a different mindset - they gravitate to the place where the need is greatest - Third world countries. They spent years learning the language. Few will come to Singapore.
You are going to give your life for something - whether you like it or not, you’re giving your life away... for something.
• What will it be - a career, a sport, a hobby...?
None of these will have lasting significance, until you factor God’s Kingdom into the picture.
• God wants to use you to make a difference in His world, in someone’s life. He wants to work through you.
• What matters is not the DURATION of your life, but the DONATION of it. Not how long you lived, but how you lived.
A couple of years ago (in the 1980’s), the Associated Press released a study done by an agricultural school in Iowa.
It reported that production of 100 bushels of corn from one acre of land, in addition to the many hours of the farmer’s labour, required 4,000,000 pounds of water, 6,800 pounds of oxygen, 5,200 pounds of carbon, 160 pounds of nitrogen, 125 pounds of potassium, 75 pounds of yellow sulphur, and other elements too numerous to list.
In addition to these things, which no man can produce, rain and sunshine at the right time are critical. It was estimated that only 5% of the produce of a farm can be attributed to the efforts of man. If we were honest, we’d have to admit that the same is true in producing spiritual fruit.
Yet without the man’s part – nothing can be achieved!
I’m not good at this - probably a HR person can better organise and fit pp into the right task - nevertheless I need tell you and help you discover your gifts and find a place where you can best serve in KT.
Once you’re at it, be devoted to it. Do your best. Excel in the gifts you have. If it is not the right fit, explore more options. Until you find the joy of your life - the one thing you really loves doing. And commit your life to it. People will be greatly blessed because of you.
2. YOUR CONTRIBUTION IS UNIQUE
God causes the growth when Paul contributed his part, and Apollos his.
• There is diversity in God’s work but there is not division.
• Each has their own role and responsibility, but all are working for one common cause.
This tells us one thing - comparison or competition between Paul and Apollos is illogical.
o “Who is doing a greater job?” – is a wrong question to ask.
o Paul says they are ’fellow-servants’. We’re all servants of God, working on the same team, in the same field, for the same goal.
o We’re given different tasks, and we’re uniquely gifted for it.
God makes everyone of us different - it was planned for that way, not by chance.
God loves variety. Did you know he made more than 300,000 species of beetles alone? Would you call that creative overkill? Don’t you think the world could have gotten along just fine with only 50,000 species of beetles? So why did he make so many? Because he loves variety.
Just sit for a moment at the airport’s Arrival Hall and watch the parade of peculiar people walking by you, or at Orchard Road. There’s proof right there that God loves variety. He made every single one of those individuals. He made you!
You are unique. It’s true. There’s not anybody in the world like you.
There never has been, and there never will be.
When God made you, he broke the mould. God does not create carbon copies; he only creates originals.
If you were to search the whole world, you wouldn’t find two people who had the same footprint or fingerprint or voiceprint. Each person is unique. You matter to him.
You were shaped for a purpose!
The Bible clearly teaches that you were purposefully, personally planned and designed by God.
You’re not here by accident. You’re not just taking up space. God made you for a reason.
Your uniqueness is what God wants you to offer to the world.
So competition or comparison among servants is ridiculous. It only shows that we don’t understand what we’re involved in.
• God gave you unique spiritual gifts, a unique heart, unique abilities, a unique personality, and a lifetime of unique experiences so you would make your own unique difference in the world.
• The way you’ve been put together affects every area of your life - your relationships, your career, your finances, your enjoyment, your hobbies, and your recreation. And it absolutely affects ministry, if you’re not playing a part in God’s field.
Each cable bridge has millions of rivets holding them together. Every one of those tiny rivets has to be in its place align with the others. Each rivet bears its’ share of the load, doing the job. And each one is tied to the foundation piles laid deep in the bedrock below the river.
The bridge will remain strong when each rivet hangs in there and do its part. The part you’re gifted in –uniquely shaped for.
I heard the story of the man who got his car stuck in a ditch and asked the farmer for help. The farmer replied, "I only have an old mule, "Dusty" and he is nearly blind and I’m not too sure he can help you out but we’ll give you a try."
The farmer hitched "Dusty" up to the car, cracked a whip, and yelled, "Pull Bill" and nothing happened. He cracked his whip and said "Pull Jack" and nothing happened. Finally, he cracked his whip and said "Pull Dusty" and immediately Dusty pulled the car out of the ditch. The driver of the car thanked the farmer but told him there was something he did not understand. "If your mule is called Dusty why did you crack your whip and call for Bill and Jack to pull."
The farmer replied, "You see, Dusty is nearly blind and if he thought he was going to have to do all that work by himself, he would not have even tried."
It’s called "teamwork" that gets our jobs done. A team functioning together with optimism and enthusiasm, that’s what gets the job done. - Kenneth R. Cole, Northern Kentucky Baptist Association Focus, Volume 10, Number 1
Paul’s words reveal the true nature of ministry - it’s UNITY and DIVERSITY.
• We need different roles and gifts working together, yet with one common goal.
• If we have unity without diversity - few people working, but those few really united, not much can be done.
• If we have diversity - many people, yet without unity - nothing can be done. If fact, Jesus prayed about this - apparently this is more of a problem today, in the church.
Conclusion
Paul’s point here is that the person God uses is nothing but an instrument, a tool.
All the honour for the accomplishment goes to God. We worship him, not one another.
I think of the parable that Jesus gave in Matt 21 of the farmer and his two sons. He said to the two sons, "Go work today in my vineyard." The first one said, "I will not," but later repented and went to work in the vineyard. The second son said, "I go," but did not go. Which one would you be?
Size of the task is irrelevant to serving. Issue is: Does it needs to be done?
1 Cor 15:58
Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord.
