1 Corinthians 3:1-23

We must be careful on our way down the mountains that are our successes.

The reason we do these projects to build a community of believers who worship people. This task is still ongoing, and so we must build with care and with God.

Build with a mature view of leaders

The church in Corinth thought that they were grown up, mature Christians. Yet they were far from it! Their immaturity had lead to an immature view of leaders. They were infighting about which church leader they followed, and they had split into factions.

They were not behaving like people of God. They weren't living in the Spirit and weren't letting the Word of God seep into their lives.

This wasn't a small matter like who is your favourite worship leader or preacher. This was dividing the church and forgetting about the gospel that should bring them together in unity.

Paul wanted them to only be interested in the gospel - Jesus crucified and resurrected, nothing more. But they were focussed instead on celebrity.

We must build our churches on the message of Christ crucified, and that alone. The church is not built on people, but the message.

What is a mature view on leaders?

Paul says that leaders are nothing special, really. They are only servants of God. It is the Spirit in them that gains the glory. Only God can make things grow.

If we put our faith in any of the functional aspects of our church projects, we Rob the cross of it's power. The leaders of the church are not the saviours - we must not behave as though we are.

Build with the right materials

The materials of God's design for the church need to match the foundation - which is of course Christ! All our ministry should be aligned with the truth of Christ and the cross. All the gifts of the church must not be for self-promotion but an expression of love for the cross.

Our work will be tested by fire. Our salvation is not being tested, but our work. The measurement will be how much our ministry and service is built on love for Jesus. Paul makes it clear that failing the test does not affect our heavenly reward - if we truly believe we have assurance of salvation.

Build on the conviction that God loves the church

God will protect His church. He will break those who try to break His church down through divide and factioning. If God loves the church this much, so should we! We should strive to protect the church, to promote unity and love.

Build with confidence that we posses all through Christ

God has given us, through Christ, everything we'll ever need. So we shouldn't boast about our leaders when we already have everything we need. We belong to Christ, and everything belongs to Him. We are children of the resurrection who will inherit the world, and so we have everything before us to love and worship God.