Servants or “Ministers”

If you would please take your
Bibles and turn back to first Corinthians chapter three, first
Corinthians three. And as we began this chapter last
Lord’s day, we found that Paul was really resuming a discussion
that he began back in chapter one in verse 10. an argument
that he only built upon and expanded in chapter two. So this is one
long running argument and Paul is specifically addressing the
division and the party spirit in which the Corinthians were
actively engaged. And Paul’s concern is that it’s
a dangerous and a disappointing sign that a church should be
engaged in such activity. Paul and Apollos were no more
than God’s servants. But the Corinthian church in
their immaturity was splitting over which head to follow. Apollos
or Paul or even others. They had elevated these men beyond
what they ever should have and were in the process of dividing
because of it. They had forgotten the God ordained
function of these particular men, as well
as their own God ordained function. And this realization for Paul
changed everything in his approach to ministry to them. He would
have to alter his entire approach to this church. He would have
to revert again to the basics, the simple truths, in essence,
children’s lessons for adults. The spiritual childishness of
the Corinthian church had hindered their ability to take in mature
spiritual instruction. And Paul tells them with great
sadness that he found it necessary to speak to them not as mature
saints, But as infants, even though they were in Christ, they
were, he assured them, Christians. But they needed the simplified
diet of baby food, milk, not solid food. And this, Paul tells
them, was due to their fleshly behavior, as was plainly evident
by jealousy and strife in their midst. They were literally fighting
over which gospel worker was chief among them. Such sinful
behavior had hampered their ability even to learn. And while Paul
may have gotten the Corinthians attention in those first four
verses, his rebuke, his argument against their behavior is far
from over. And as we come to verses 5 through 9, Paul begins
to school this troubled church with instruction regarding Christ’s
service. If you’re in 1 Corinthians 3,
would you join me as we just read through this chapter once
more, beginning in verse 1. And I, brethren, could not speak
to you as to spiritual men, but as to men of flesh, as to infants
in Christ. I gave you milk to drink, not
solid food, for you were not able to receive it. Indeed, even
now you are not yet able, for you are still fleshly. For since
there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not fleshly?
And are you not walking like mere men? For when one says,
I am of Paul, and another, I am of Apollos, are you not mere
men? What then is Apollos, and what
is Paul? Servants, through whom you believed,
even as the Lord gave opportunity to each one. I planted, Apollos
watered, but God was causing the growth. So then, neither
the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything but God,
who causes the growth. Now, he who plants and he who
waters are one, but each will receive his own reward according
to his own labor. For we are God’s fellow workers. You are God’s field, God’s building. According to the grace of God,
which was given to me, like a wise master builder, I laid a foundation
and another is building upon it. But each man must be careful
how he builds on it, for no man can lay a foundation other than
the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now, if any
man builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones,
wood, hay, straw, each man’s work will become evident, for
the day will show it. because it will be revealed with
fire and the fire itself will test the quality of each man’s
work. If any man’s work which he has
built on it remains, he will receive a reward. If any man’s
work is burned up, he will suffer loss, but he himself will be
saved, yet so as through fire. Do you not know that you are
a temple of God? and that the Spirit of God dwells
in you. If any man destroys the temple of God, God will destroy
him, for the temple of God is holy, and that is what you are.
Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you thinks that
he is wise in this age, he must become foolish, so that he may
become wise. For the wisdom of this world
is foolishness before God, for it is written, He is the one
who catches the wise in their craftiness. And again, the Lord
knows the reasonings of the wise, that they are useless. So then
let no one boast in men. For all things belong to you,
whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life,
or death, or things present, or things to come. All things
belong to you, and you belong to Christ, and Christ belongs
to God. And so we’ve seen that the Corinthian
church had a worldly view of the church, a worldly view of
the gospel. And that is the subject of Paul’s
correction in verses one through four. But they also had a wrong
perspective about the Christian ministry and its workers. And this is the subject that
Paul takes up in verses five through nine. Unfortunately. An errant view of Christian ministry
is not limited just to the Corinthians, nor is it isolated to the people
of the church only. Oftentimes there are faulty perspectives
of Christ’s service, even among the leaders that serve him. This
section then is not given only for the Corinthian church. These
things were written for our instruction. Paul moves to provide instruction
and insights into the nature of the Christian ministry. Paul wants to give us this morning
insights and understanding. a better knowledge of what it
is to serve Christ. What is the Christian ministry?
What is it like? Well, first of all, one who would
serve Christ must know that their status is that of a servant,
not a minister. Their status is that of a servant,
not a minister. Would you look at verse five?
Paul asks this rhetorical question, and in so doing, really pulls
his audience, as it were, onto his lap. What then is Apollos? If these things be true about
the nature of the church and the nature of the gospel, what
is Apollos’ role? What is Paul? Servants. He says servants through
whom you believe. John Calvin once said that man’s
heart is a veritable factory of idols. And I would suggest
that in that factory there is a dark dusty corner shop that
is devoted to the manufacture of lofty titles for those who
are in God’s service. because nothing more tends to
feed their pride than the accolades and near veneration of men elicited
by these high-sounding names. I like the way one trustee commentator
put it. The church tends to falsify the
position of its ministers. Well, that seems odd, doesn’t
it? the church tends to falsify its leader’s understanding of
who they are. And I would suggest that when
he says the church, there he includes the leaders, the leaders
love this. And so they participate fully
in adopting these glowing titles. They evaluate them, pardon me,
these titles elevate them far beyond what God ever intended. Not mere respect and whatever
appreciation is appropriate, but adulation and even veneration,
worship. It’s one of the most debilitating
features of the Christian ministry, that there is this almost mad
and insatiable clamoring for titles. Because the titles fix
men in places of high honor. And through the centuries, Christianity
has accumulated these titles by the dozen. The clergy. That’s genuinely
what they’re known as. The clergy. They’re different
from you and I. They are in an elevated position. After all, they went to the cemetery.
I mean the seminary. What about Bishop? A complete
mistranslation of the word as we’ve studied in our Shepherdology,
but Bishop now has been elevated to one of the chief titles in
the church. But you don’t refer to a Bishop
as Bishop. No, you refer to him as your
excellency. or if need be, my Lord, or the very right reverend. And then there’s the title of
priest. Not a New Testament concept, unless you’re speaking of the
priesthood of all believers, which every believer is considered
to be a priest. But in our day, many churches
employ the term priest as a role as a title of those who would
lead the church but you don’t call him priest not unless you’re
speaking about him you refer to him directly as get this father
or your reverence or the very worthy reverend in some churches in the orthodox
church they have a leadership Title of one named the ecumenical
Patriarch kind of like our understanding of the Pope what we know of him
The ecumenical Patriarch you would not call him such you refer
to him as your all holiness I’m not making these up They also have archbishops as
does the Catholic Church and to whom you would refer as your
grace, your eminence, or the most reverend. The Roman Catholic Church has
cardinals who you would refer to as your eminence if you were
a Roman Catholic. Then there are deans or provosts,
the very reverend, archdeacons, the venerable, and then there’s the Pope. your holiness, your beatitude,
your eminence, your excellency, and then you can add to that
dozens and dozens of others, such as presbyter, abbot, vicars,
monks, monsignors, and prelates. And most of those titles are
nothing short of blasphemous. But those lofty designations
stand in direct opposition to the reference here used by Paul. Including himself and Apollos,
Paul simply refers to those who would serve God as, get this,
servants. Not very creative, huh? Servant. And it isn’t presented as a title
that is to be cultivated and embellished and elevated down
through the history of the church. As if servant then would become
the lofty title that everyone would long for. What then is Apollos? What is
Paul? Servants, nothing more. And so it is great concern that
even this very word has been twisted down through the years
and made into yet another title. Yes, even though you thought
that we had exhausted the list in that lengthy list I read you,
there’s one more. Over the years, this simple description
was adorned and embellished with the honorific title of minister. We should note that the word
here translated as servant is actually the word diakonos, deacon. It’s the word where we get our
deacon from. And we should acknowledge immediately
that in no way was Paul saying here that he and Apollos were
official church deacons. This word is used in both a non-technical
sense in the New Testament, as it is here, servant, And it’s
used in a technical sense of the office of deacon. One of
those two enduring offices in the church together with that
of elder. But the word deacon is used much
more often in a non-technical sense, just as servant. Jesus. Jesus used the word to inform
his disciples that whoever would be the greatest among them must
be the servant. Jesus also spoke of all true
followers, all true followers of Christ using this same term,
John 12, 26, if anyone serves me, he must follow me and where
I am there will my servant be also.” Well, Paul uses the same
term, often translated deacon. Paul uses the same term to refer
to he and his fellow workers in preaching the gospel. 2 Corinthians
3, 6, 6, 4, Ephesians 3, 7, 6, 21, Colossians 1, 7, 23, 25,
4, 7. Many times Paul uses this word
servant to refer to his own work. But he’s not a deacon. Paul even
uses this word to describe faithful sister Phoebe. Remember her?
Phoebe was the likely carrier of the monumental epistle to
the Romans. You talk about a faithful servant,
somebody that you would trust, your magnum opus, the greatest
letter ever written. He identifies her in Romans 16
and one simply as Phoebe, the servant of the church. No, Phoebe
wasn’t a deacon. She was a servant and a faithful
one at that. And likewise here, Paul and Apollos
were not deacons. They were servants. But there’s
a translational and developmental twist that occurs with this word.
It went from servant to the word minister. And even from the earliest attempts
to translate the Bible into English, the word was translated as Minister. Wycliffe was the first to do
so, the first that we have note of. Wycliffe’s spelling was a
little different because spelling then was largely phonetic. He
spelled minister, M-Y-N-Y-S-T-R-I-S. Tough to get minister out of
that, but that’s what he was communicating. Spelling improved,
but Tyndale used the same word to translate diakonos. He called
them ministers. And that’s because that word
at the time meant servants. Both the Geneva and then the
King James also used the word ministers. And for hundreds of
years, that translation stood. But almost naturally, the word
there, which should be maintained as a humble descriptive of labor
for Christ. It went through the title making
factory machinery. And was manufactured into a decorated
title. Minister. In our recent study
of biblical eldership, we heard Strauch address this very concern. He said, the real error to be
contended with is that one man in the Holy Brotherhood has been
elevated to a sacred, unscriptural status. The ordained clergyman,
the minister, the reverend, the lone professional, the Protestant
priest. He continues to point out that
ministry is the duty of every Christian, that no one individual
should be declared minister. And so it’s important to acknowledge
here that that is not what Paul is saying here. Paul is not listing
himself as one of the few decorated ministers. He’s not establishing
the title minister. He’s identifying that he and
others like him were servants. They were servants of Christ.
And a servant in first century Christianity was one who is completely
subservient and available to his master’s use. And it meant
active, eager, energetic service. This was not optional. And so
the title naturally grew in at least early on to refer to table
waiters. That’s all Paul was in God’s
economy. He was no more than a waiter. Paul and Apollos were completely
yielded to Christ for his use. This is no surprise. He was a
servant, not a minister. But there’s a second insight
into the Christian ministry that we get as this verse unfolds. One who would serve Christ must
know that his status is that of a servant, not a minister.
But secondly, their seasons are sovereignly ordained. Would you
look again at verse five? What then is Paul? What then
is a polis? What then is Paul? Servants through
whom you believed, even as the Lord gave opportunity to each
one. Worldly minded people. They have
an attitude. They have a deep seated mindset
that they control their own destiny. They make their own luck. They
create their own stories. And I knew that I had heard this
phrase, this line before. I just didn’t know how prevalent
it was. So I went looking for it and I discovered that this
line of reasoning is practically an industry. Cards, and posters,
and wallpaper, and banner, and key chains, and bumper stickers,
all manner of advertisement of this mindset. Listen to just
how prevalent the mantra of the world is. You create your own opportunities. Don’t write these down yet. They’re
not worth writing down. Don’t wait for opportunity, create
it. Opportunities don’t happen, you
create them. Here’s another. Understand that
you and you alone create your own opportunities. Here’s one by a guy named, fancy
name, he should have just gone with his name, it would have
been okay. John Bartholomew Goff, whatever. He said, if you
want to succeed, you must make your own opportunities as you
go. Milton Berle got in on the act. Some of you don’t even know who
Milton Berle is. Milton Berle said, if opportunity
doesn’t knock, build a door. Creative and absurd at the same
time. Another one, a more contemporary,
said, opportunity doesn’t knock, it presents itself when you beat
down the door. But each time this is uttered,
people latch onto it as if it’s gospel, as if they’re citing
a proverb. Jennifer Hudson, evidently a
Hollywood actress, said, you create your own opportunities
and, she adds, your own limitations. Another said, waiting for opportunities
is patience. Creating opportunities is intelligence. Multiplying opportunities is
brilliance. And you know what? They don’t
even stop there. It would be one thing if they said that and
just sat down. OK. But they don’t. Bruce Lee
said, you create your own luck. Another one said, you create
your own future. Another one said, you create
your own destiny. Another one said, you create
your own life. I guess he doesn’t celebrate Mother’s Day. That’s
Leonard Nimoy. Spock said this. Oprah said, you create your own
blessings. Another one said, you create
your own reality, whatever that means. Create your own success,
create your own merit. There’s a common thread running
all through those quaint sayings. They’re all blasphemous. They
completely disregard the sovereignty of God in all things. These ideas run directly contrary
to Paul’s words in this verse. Paul didn’t make his own luck.
Paul didn’t make his own opportunity. Apollos didn’t seize hold and
make life perform for him. Look at verse 5 if you would.
As we just noted, he and Apollos were no more than servants. Even
if they were the means of declaring the good news of Christ through
whom many believed, the bottom line is the fact that they were
used for these conversions only because God himself gave the
opportunity. Now, I want to acknowledge that
some have taken that last clause, God gave them opportunity, the
Lord gave them They’ve taken that last clause as highlighting
a more Calvinistic idea, that the opportunity was actually
given to each of the believers spoken of in that prepositional
phrase just preceding. And that’s possible. But there
are plenty of other places in scripture where we can see God’s
sovereignty in salvation. We don’t have to get greedy here.
I think it’s far better to align the opportunity given here to
the servants. Servants, even as the Lord gave
opportunity to each one. And I have to point out here
that this word opportunity is not even in the Greek text. It’s supplied by our New American
Standard translators. The original statement is actually
much more blunt. They’re nothing more than servants
as the Lord gave to each. And what the Lord gave should
not be taken with those who came to believe, as I suggested, but
with those who labored for that purpose. And so opportunity isn’t
the worst word that could be supplied there by our translators. But I take it the remainder of
the sentence as referring to everything. God gave them everything. He gave them their own salvation.
He gave them their calling to service in Christ. He gave them
right down to the specific actions with other sinners to direct
them to the Savior. God gave that. The Lord gave to each servant
all of those things. And this, of course, would be
an echo of that great truth that Paul declares in Ephesians 411. He gave some as apostles, some
as prophets, some as evangelists, some as pastors and teachers
for the equipping of the saints for the work of service to the
building up of the body of Christ. God gave it all. All of it was sovereignly ordained
by God. Whatever use Paul and Apollos,
whatever use any person is with whatever success they enjoy,
is only because of God. Or what would any servant have to boast if that were the
case? What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants. Even
as the Lord gave opportunity to each one, but there’s yet
another Insight into the nature of the Christian ministry One who would serve Christ must
know that their status is that of a servant their seasons are
sovereignly ordained and Thirdly their callings are variously
bestowed Would you look at verse 6 I? Planted a polis watered,
but God was causing the growth. I Think often We as believers
try too hard to be or to become what we are not, to be or to
become what we’re not even called or gifted to be. And we frustrate
ourselves and others in the process of observing others and letting
them be the standards for our lives, even though their giftings,
their callings, their opportunities may be completely different from
our own. Paul says it up front in verse
5, the Lord gave to each one. The Lord gave opportunity to
each one. And here in verse 6, he presents
the specifics. What did he give with regard
to Paul and Apollos? Two very different paths to salvation,
that we know. Two very different avenues to
ministry, we saw that. Two very different callings,
but Paul captures it in action when he simply says, I planted,
Paul is watered. We were given two very different
jobs. We had two very distinct callings,
one to plant, the other to water. And plainly here, Paul is using
gardening, agricultural imagery. You may recall that before we
actually opened the epistle to the Corinthians, we did a lot
of background study in the book of Acts. Remember this? Acts
18 records Paul’s initial arrival in Corinth, where he would serve
for 18 months in planting. Although there was some early
success, early converts, Resentment, remember, began to build among
the Jews, and Paul eventually turned to the Gentiles to preach
the gospel. And that was done with a measure
of trepidation, but with the Lord’s encouragement, Paul pressed
on to a very fruitful season of ministry. Chapter 19 opens. It’s a very
subtle handoff. It just pictures Paul on the
move and Apollos coming onto the scene. Apollos, we know very
little about him up till then. He was an eloquent man, mighty
in the scriptures. That was enough. They’re different
men. They have different gifts, different
callings. One planted, one watered. Then the important thing to note
about this is that a fruitful plant cannot be produced Either
by either one or the other, either planting or watering, a plant
needs both. A thriving, productive plant
begins with the planting of a seed and continues with its watering.
Both are needed. Both of those two tasks are needed, but neither of them
are the ultimate cause of the plant’s growth. And that’s humbling
too, isn’t it? That part is God’s. Planting
the church as Paul did, preaching the gospel was important. God
used it. Watering the church as Apollos
did, discipling and training and developing, that was important.
And God used it too. But God was ultimately the one
who energized all the efforts bringing sinners to faith. Bringing
a church to life. Jonathan Edwards said it this
way. God is the source of life in the physical as well as in
the moral world. Man can indeed put the seed in
contact with the soil, but life alone makes it spring and grow. And this life is only beyond,
not only beyond the power, but even the knowledge of man. We
don’t know how it works. No matter what Paul did in planting,
his efforts were in vain without Apollos’ watering. And no matter
what Apollos did by watering, his efforts would be in vain
without Paul’s planting. Both of their callings were variously
bestowed by God himself. They were not cookie cutter servants.
Each had their role, each had their gifts, each had their callings,
but neither Paul nor Apollos’ efforts were anything without
God causing the growth. God gave the seed, God brought
the seed to life, God caused the plant to grow, God caused
the plant to flourish and ultimately to bear fruit. It’s a simple
sentence. I planted, Apollos watered, but
God caused the growth. The fourth observation. The fourth
insight into the nature of the Christian ministry. One who would
serve Christ must know their status is that of a servant.
Their seasons are sovereignly ordained, their callings are
variously bestowed, and I would just add again, by God. Fourthly,
their contributions are functionally insignificant. Now that’s a little
concerning, isn’t it? Not that they’re a waste of time, But look at verse seven. So then
neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything. That’s humbling, isn’t it? But
God who causes the growth. And so Paul moves to drive his
point home. To declare the conclusion of
the matter. And the contrast presented here
captures one of the ugliest features of the Christian ministry. That
of elevating our particular calling above the calling of others.
Such a person carries themselves as if it’s their God-given duty,
whether preaching, or singing, or setting tables, or driving
a bus, or teaching, or discipleship. They believe their particular
calling is chief among all the others. The most important task
in God’s great kingdom. Think of just how absurd this
is. God saves a man from his own
wretched sinfulness. He implants in him his own Holy
Spirit. He gives his servant his word.
He gives him an understanding of the gospel. He calls him into
his great service. He gives him gifts for that purpose. He equips his servant. He trains
him. He enables him. He grants him
plentiful opportunities. He sustains his servant by his
own grace. He uses him in the lives of others,
even in bringing them to repentance and faith. And then, and then
he himself begins in that new believer, the work of sanctification. How, how on earth is it possible
then in any way be, can it be about the servant? To put it another way. When we
see a beautiful garden, we don’t admire the shovel or the rake. Paul and Apollos, their work
came to an end eventually, as the work of any servant of God
does. But God’s work never ends. Whose work then is more important? The principle is stated here
mildly, neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything. In starker terms, they’re nothing. Nothing compared to God. God who causes the life and growth
is everything. And if you think I’m being harsh
here, let me explain. There is a little Greek word
here, tis. which could simply be translated
as some. The reference is someone or something
of note, of some significance. I remember when I was a college
pastor meeting a young lady and I was surprised that she
knew my name and I expressed my surprise, my wonder. And she
simply replied, well, you’re a figure. Oh, I didn’t know. In other words, I was a somebody,
at least in her perspective. Paul says, no, you’re not. No, you’re not. You’re not something.
You’re nothing. And so am I. One pastor stated it this way.
He said, the human instrument is not anything but a tool. All
the honor for the accomplishment goes or should go to God. You
might remember that when Paul was called to repentance there
on the road to Damascus. Do you remember that scene? Amazing
scene. Christ declared that Paul was
a chosen instrument of mine. A tool in God’s hand, nothing
more. We just looked at this verse a few weeks ago. in relation
to our annual meeting, but would you turn briefly to Luke 17? Luke 17, and find your way down
to verse five. Keep your finger in 1 Corinthians,
we’re not done yet. The apostles, verse five, said
to the Lord, increase our faith, And the Lord said, if you had
faith like a mustard seed, you would say to this mulberry tree,
be uprooted and planted in the sea, and it would obey you. Which of you, having a slave
plowing or tending sheep, will say to him when he has come in
from the field, come in immediately and sit down to eat? This is
the master speaking to the slave. That’s the absurdity of what
Christ is presenting. But will he not say to him, prepare
something for me to eat and properly clothe yourselves and serve me
while I eat and drink? I know you’ve been out in the
field all day, but get yourself dressed for dinner. Get on with
the business of preparing the supper. And then after you’ve
fed me, you may sit down and eat. It’s a simple illustration. Verse nine, he does not thank
the slave because he did all these things which were commanded.
Remember, he’s a slave, he’s an employee. Verse 10, so you
too, when you do all the things which are commanded, you say,
we are unworthy slaves. We’ve done only that which we
ought to have done. We’re servants. Nothing more. Back, if you would, to 1 Corinthians
3, Paul and Apollos, and any true servant of Christ in the
final assessment, they’re nothing compared to God. Their contributions
are functionally insignificant. If not for God’s part, our efforts
would be utterly useless. Unless the Lord builds the house,
we labor in vain, right? How foolish then for the saints
to bicker about whose camp they’re in, Paul or Apollos or any man’s. Neither the one who plants nor
the one who waters is anything but God causes the growth. There’s
a fifth observation here, a fifth insight into the nature of the
Christian ministry. One who would serve Christ, number
five, must know that their labors are strategically unified. I’m in verse 8, where Paul says,
to begin that verse, now he who plants and he who waters are
one. And in our English ears, we might
even say one what? In this lengthy list of absurd
contrasts, where our generally prevailing ideas are the direct
opposite of God’s words, This is perhaps the most disturbing
of all. The image that comes to mind is of each individual
servant of Christ, each carrying and conducting themselves as
if they alone know the true path to heaven, that they themselves
are to be exclusively followed And they are in very much competition
with their fellow servants, each one trying to garner a larger
following than the next, a following that is above all faithful to
them personally. They conveniently and completely
forgot that all of God’s servants are exactly that. They’re God’s
servants. And these servants are no more
than that. They’re God’s servants. And these servants are all oriented
to God himself. They’re all in his service. They’re
all serving and pursuing and leading directly to God himself. And in that sense, they’re on
the same side. They’re God’s. Each one of them
serves in relation to God himself. They ought not to be found seeking
their own glory, but God’s. And when you strip away all outward
appearances, they are all the same. They’re servants. They
may have different gifts and functions, but there is no pecking
order. But the statement here suggests
something even more basic. When Paul says here that the
planter and the water are one, he points not only to the fact
that they are serving together, but that they are also unified
in doing so. They have a common purpose. They
have common goals to glorify God in the advance of his kingdom.
And when we remember that as his servants, we are one, we
embrace a safeguard against division itself. The Christian ministry
can be, can be pictured as a, as an enormous machine with many
different parts, but it’s one machine with one purpose. Not
only can they not be quibbling with one another. headed in and
pulling in different directions, neither can they be pitted against
one another by others. But either way, whether the division
is of their own doing or caused by others, it’s entirely inappropriate. He who plants and he who waters
are one. There’s a final observation. One who would serve Christ must
know that their status is that of a servant, their seasons are
sovereignly ordained, their callings are variously bestowed, their
labors are strategically unified, their contributions are functionally
insignificant, their efforts, though, are eternally blessed. Would you look at verse eight
once again? He who plants and he who waters are one, but each
will receive his own reward according to his labor. The writer of Hebrews
pictures the Christian life as a race, you might remember, and
that’s well and good. It’s a good image. But I think
sometimes we believers tend to think of the Christian life as
a race in which we are in direct competition with other believers. That regardless of our gifts,
our opportunities, our training, and the like, we are working
toward a portion of the prize as if that prize is going to
be divvied up in different measures. And so our efforts are all geared
toward securing the largest portion of that prize we can. God will no doubt honor faithfulness. When Paul speaks of reward here,
he clarifies it very carefully, though. He says that each will
receive his own reward. according to his own labor. The
servant is in no competition with others. He awaits his own
reward only. And these servants do not all
have the same gifts, callings, opportunities. And so it should
be no surprise to us that the rewards will differ accordingly.
Jesus said it simply, to whom much is given, much is required.
Every servant then must be responsible and rewarded for his own faithfulness
with God’s gifts. Charles Hodge explains this point
very well. Listen. The rule of reward is
not the talents or the gifts or the success, but labors. This brings the humblest on a
level with the most exalted. The least successful with the
most highly favored. The faithful laborious servant
who labors in obscurity and without apparent fruit will meet a reward
far beyond those who with less self-denial and effort are made
the instruments of great results. It’s the work, it’s the labor. It’s not the earthly title. It’s
not the position that a person occupies. God is not going to
judge us based on a comparison with others, but with regard
to our own faithfulness. Paul, rather, will take up this
idea of eternal reward in verses 10 through 15, where he tells
us that God will assess our own labors, not our relative success. The word labor here is straightforward.
It just means exhausting work. And it’s enough here that Paul
implies that God himself will be the rewarder of his servants. We don’t have to be concerned
about what another may or may not receive as his reward. Ours is to labor for our own.
God is not going to compare us with other people’s performance.
He needs to consider only our own performance. The whole idea
of a servant receiving a reward is just astounding anyway, isn’t
it? So Paul speaks of a single sentence,
a single sentence rather of explanation. Each will receive his own reward
for we are God’s fellow workers. These servants are working together
in concert with God himself. Both servants are working in
this picture, and in that sense, they’re working together. But
God himself is also at work causing the growth. And so these servants
are very much God’s coworkers. They work with God. They cannot
even, we cannot even imagine that while laboring in the field,
performing our own assigned tasks with God present and working
alongside of us to break from our duties, to squabble with
our coworker. And it’s not that God owes his
servants, but they are, after all, laboring beside God himself. He’s not unaware of their efforts.
He’s not unaware of their faithfulness, their toil, their service. What
a gracious master this is. It’s almost as if Paul has to
remind even himself for whom he is working. It’s God. We are
God’s fellow workers. Of course he will take care of
his own. There’s one final line in this
section that really serves as a transition to the following
verses. We have it in verse nine. Throughout verses 6 through 8,
Paul has used a simple metaphor, garden. But at the very end of
verse nine, he changes his metaphor from a field to that of a building. And we’ll consider that metaphor
next time. Would you join me in prayer? Our gracious God, we thank you
so much, first of all, for our salvation. How could we ever
quibble about anything? When you saved us, wretched sinners,
with our backs toward you, dead in our transgressions, and yet
you had mercy on us and brought us to life and gave us faith
and called us to follow Christ. But then, Lord, you also had the additional blessing of
assigning to each one of us, each believer, to some element
of ministry in your church. Father, we thank you for the
privilege that we have to study the nature of your church and
to see that it’s not this high and lofty position, these positions
of ministry, but it’s the place of a lowly servant doing what
you’ve tasked us to do with our eyes on Christ and his glory
and not our own. Lord God, we pray that you would
unite our hearts in that kind of service. And if there are
any here who do not know this Christ, he is worth serving. He desires to be loved and served. He desires to forgive sinners. And he’s already paid the price
for that. Lord, we pray do work. Even as you articulated in this
passage, do work in the lives of those who do not know you.
Cause the growth, we pray. It’s in Jesus’ name that we ask.
Amen.