ONLY GOD'S
SERVANTS!
After the 9/11 attack, a few hours
before his address to Congress on September 20, President Bush met at the White
House with twenty-seven leaders, including 13 evangelicals. The group included Luis
Palau and Franklin Graham, pastors Max Lucado, Bill Hybels, T.D. Jakes, Charles
Blake, and Gerald Kieschnick, president of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod. After reading Romans 13, Gerald Kieschnick
said Bush has a divine calling in this crisis. "Mr. President, I have just
come from the World Trade Center site in lower Manhattan. I stood where you
stood. I saw what you saw. I smelled what you smelled," Kieschnick said.
"You not only have a civil
calling, but a divine calling. You are not just a civil servant; you are
a servant of God called for such a time like this." "I accept
the responsibility," Bush said, nodding."[1] According to Romans 13:4,
I wonder how many civil servants, leaders, and politicians in our country
acknowledge that they are indeed God's servants sent for our good?
Can you imagine what this world
would look like when leaders humble themselves and recognize that they are only
God's servants? In our study, we will see humility displayed by two prominent
pioneer leaders and teachers in the Corinthian Church. Through their humility,
we can learn that all Christians, whether in leadership or not, are "Only
God's Servants," I Cor 3:1-9. Hear what Paul has to say about the need
for Christians to grow up and become mature.
I.
INFANTILE BEHAVIOR
Vs. 1-2, "Dear brothers and
sisters, when I was with you, I couldn't talk to you as I would to spiritual people.
I had to talk as though you belonged to this world or as though you were
infants in Christ. I had to feed you with milk, not with solid food, because
you weren't ready for anything stronger. And you still aren't ready," Here
is a bit of background for the newcomers.
During his second missionary
journey, the apostle Paul spent eighteen months in the city of Corinth. As a
result of his ministry, a house fellowship was born. After Paul left, the great
orator Apollos came and ministered in Corinthian Church (Acts 18:24-28).
Despite the faithful preaching of
these two men, the Corinthian Church was plagued with several problems. While
ministering in Ephesus on his third missionary journey, Paul received a report
from the household of Chloe about deep divisions among the church members and
some other problems. That prompted Paul to write 1 Corinthians to address those
problems.
Paul calls the believers brothers
and sisters in the first two verses before reprimanding them for their
spiritually immature and infantile behavior. He says, "when I was with
you," referring to his eighteen-month ministry in the Church, that he
could not speak with them as spiritual adults because they were acting
immaturely. They looked like adult babies.
Does this type of infantile behavior
only existed in the Corinthian Church, or do we see it playing out in our
society and among the Churches in the 21st century? We find it
everywhere, in our homes, schools, workplaces, the US congress, and even in
some churches. Infantile behavior is immature, childish, throwing temper
tantrums, especially when things don't go our way.
Here is a list of ten things to
observe in adults who act childish. (PowerPoint). How do we find out the
infantile behavior among believers in a Church setting? The apostle Paul gives
three identity markers for spiritual infants. Vs. 3-4, "for you are still
controlled by your sinful nature. You are jealous of one another and quarrel
with each other.
Doesn't that prove you are
controlled by your sinful nature? Aren't you living like people of the world?
When one of you says, "I am a follower of Paul," and another says, "I
follow Apollos," aren't you acting just like people of the world? Let me
bring this to our context. We are spiritually immature when we feel jealous of
someone else's success and good fortune.
When we quarrel with each other at
times over petty things, we are acting childish. When we continue to live in
sin, even when we know it is Biblically wrong and grieves God's heart, we are
spiritual infants and need to grow spiritually. We are no different than the
people in the world who knew no God when we take sides of people and promote
schisms; that is infantile behavior.
In the Bible, we are encouraged to
be child-like regarding our faith in Christ and desiring God's word. Being
child-like is a requirement to enter heaven. Childishness has always been
discouraged. Later in the letter, Paul condemns childishness and encourages
childlikeness.
The Corinthian Church was divided. A
group followed Paul and the other group Apollos. Historically, like the
Corinthian Church, the American Church has been split over party lines and
other controversial issues. Unfortunately, the Pandemic has further widened
that divide.
It is time for Christians to be
unified in Christ. Oh Lord, please unite our fractured churches. Paul had to unify
the divided Church by downplaying their very roles as prominent leaders and
point them to one true leader of all Churches, our Lord and Savior Jesus
Christ.
II.
ONLY GOD'S SERVANTS
Vs. 5 "After all, who is
Apollos? Who is Paul? We are only God's servants through whom you believed the
Good News. Each of us did the work the Lord gave us." It looked like the
Corinthian Church took great Pride following these two pioneer leaders. Some
were Paulites, and others were Apollosites. Paul challenged their immature
thinking and childish associations.
He downplayed and deflected their
attention from them to God by saying, "After all, who is Apollos? Who is
Paul? We are only God's servants. Being God's servants is no ordinary thing.
It comes with humility and responsibility. The OT leaders, even Judges,
prophets, and Kings humbly admitted themselves as servants of God. By doing so,
they recognized God was sovereign, and they were ready to act at His command. Consider
the following scriptures:
God appears to Isaac one night and
tells him that Abraham was his servant. Gen 26:24. Jacob confesses he was a
servant of God. Gen 32:10. In Leviticus 25: 55, God addresses all of Israel
were His servants. Moses prayed to God, saying, "pardon me, your
servant." Ex 4:10.
Joshua, a military commander
himself, when he met the Lord's commander, falls to the ground in reverence and
says, "I am at your command, what do you want your servant to do? Joshua
5:14. Eli, the priest, advised the boy Samuel to respond to God, saying,
"Speak LORD, your servant is listening," He said the same when the
Lord spoke to him. I Samuel 3:10
When King David was finally settled
in his palace, he goes in and sits before the Lord and offers a prayer of
thanksgiving. In that prayer, he refers to himself as God's servant eight
times. 2 Samuel 7:18-29. Psalm 116:16, “O Lord, I am your servant; yes, I am
your servant, born into your household; you have freed me from my chains.”
Before killing all the prophets of
Baal, Elijah prayed, “O Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, prove today
that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant. Prove that I have done
all this at your command.” I Kgs 18:36. These are only a few OT scriptures.
When two of his disciples coveting
two prestigious places next to Jesus when he establishes His Kingdom, Jesus put
them in place in a way all those who aspire to be leaders saying, Matthew
20:26-28, “But among you, it will be different.
Whoever wants to be a leader among
you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must become
your slave. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others
and to give his life as a ransom for many.” We are to serve one another in
love.
Jesus, disciples often referred to themselves
as “a slave or a servant of Christ. “By listening to these examples, do you
think God only calls men to be His servants? In God’s kingdom, is there a place
for women to equally serve along with men? Absolutely! Yes!
In the Bible, many capable women
held prominent roles of leadership; some even served as prophets. The first
woman prophet was Miriam (Moses’s older sister). Ex 15:20-21 Miriam’s prophetic
ministry consisted of music and dancing. The daughters of Heman (three of them)
were musicians who served with their brothers in the music ministry of the
temple.[2] I Chr 25:5-6
We are blessed with several women
singers and musicians in our Church who give their talents in serving the Lord.
Another time I will take about the role of women in the Church. It is
sufficient to say that God uses both men and women in His service.
According to the prophet, Joel the
end-time harvesting requires all people, young and the old, men and women. This
prophecy was fulfilled on the Day of Pentecost, as it is celebrated today by
many churches. Acts 2:17-18, “In the last days,’ God says, ‘I will pour out my
Spirit upon all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy.
Your young men will see visions, and
your old men will dream dreams. In those days, I will pour out my Spirit even
on my servants, men and women alike, and they will prophesy.” Coming back to
our text, under the anointing of the Holy Spirit, the Apostle Paul utters these
words, Who is Paul? Who is Apollos? We are “Only God’s Servants.”
As a young boy, I remember once I
went up to my pastor and said I want to serve God. I didn’t know how? He told me if I want to
serve God, come every Sunday, spread the mats on the floor, keep the Hymnals
ready, pick them up and fold the mats after the service. I did it joyfully.
That was how I began my ministry of
serving God. Let me remind you again of the words of our servant King Jesus, “Whoever
wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be
first among you must become your slave.” There is no greater honor and
privilege than for us to be called; we are “Only God’s Servants.” Amen!
