The front page of our local paper this morning carried a story about two Kidsports middle school basketball coaches who got into a physical altercation at a game last night. Such events tempt me to fulminate about the pointless emotion and immaturity that surrounds the pursuit of sports, but the reality is that we are all guilty of the kind of immaturity that just happens to manifest itself so visibly in a gym or on the field.
In our text this week from I Corinthians 3:1-9, Paul chides the Corinthians for the immaturity being displayed in their church in the form of their own jealousy and quarreling (v. 3). Just as some spectators surely wanted to shout “Grow up!” to two adult males tussling in front of the kids they were supposed to leading, Paul directs a stern “Grow up!” message to Corinth, painting them as infants not even ready for solid food.
Yet Paul wants to present a unified front for the leadership of the church, arguing that the Corinthian division around different leaders is nothing desired by either Paul or his supposed opponent Apollos. Instead, their ministries are complementary and ultimately subservient to the work of God. Verse 6 says, “I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow.” And that means that ultimately the merely human work of ministry doesn’t amount to much, but only the growth that is God’s work.
This theme of complementary ministries and roles will be fully developed for the whole church later on in this epistle, with chapter 12’s great image of the Body and its members. However, for now Paul gives us this brief reminder that all who labor in the church are “God’s co-workers.” We are partners with God and therefore need to work harmoniously as partners with each other. It’s a lesson I’m constantly learning, trying to work bit by bit on that solid food.