Laboring Together with God

Context

*PRAY*

The ESV Study Bible Date

Paul wrote 1 Corinthians from the city of Ephesus in the Roman province of Asia (16:8, 19) sometime before the final day of Pentecost (16:8; cf. Lev. 23:11, 15), and therefore in the spring.

He is writing this letter because the church in Corinth is divided.

The ESV Study Bible Theme

Paul wants this church, divided because of the arrogance of its more powerful members, to work together for the advancement of the gospel. He wants them to drop their divisive one-upmanship, build up the faith of those who are weak, and witness effectively to unbelievers.

The Corinthian people were divided because they struggled with idolatry and a lack of reverence for God.

The ESV Study Bible Purpose, Occasion, and Background

At the root of much of the immorality and idolatry in Corinth, moreover, lay a lack of appreciation for the holiness that God requires of his people.

Paul immediately begins addressing the division at the beginning of his letter.

English Standard Version Chapter 1

10 I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment.

Who do we worship at church? Who do we follow?

Jesus (Christ)

As we see in 1 Corinthians 1:11-13, the church wasn’t divided over basic issues that were irrelevant to their salvation, they were arguing over fundamentals of the faith.

1 Corinthians 1:11–13 ESV

For it has been reported to me by Chloe’s people that there is quarreling among you, my brothers. What I mean is that each one of you says, “I follow Paul,” or “I follow Apollos,” or “I follow Cephas,” or “I follow Christ.” Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?

The people of the Corinthian church wanted to follow the wrong people.

They wanted to follow the people humans that made mistakes.

This is not new in history. In fact, we see it in scripture elsewhere. Samuel warns the people of Israel about what happens when we follow men of earth before Saul is chosen to be king.

The people of Israel were following the leadership of the Lord without a king, but they begged Samuel, against his warning for an earthly king. Samuels warning is this:

English Standard Version Chapter 8

10 So Samuel told all the words of the LORD to the people who were asking for a king from him. 11 He said, “These will be the ways of the king who will reign over you: he will take your sons and appoint them to his chariots and to be his horsemen and to run before his chariots. 12 And he will appoint for himself commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and some to plow his ground and to reap his harvest, and to make his implements of war and the equipment of his chariots. 13 He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. 14 He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive orchards and give them to his servants. 15 He will take the tenth of your grain and of your vineyards and give it to his officers and to his servants. 16 He will take your male servants and female servants and the best of your young men and your donkeys, and put them to his work. 17 He will take the tenth of your flocks, and you shall be his slaves. 18 And in that day you will cry out because of your king, whom you have chosen for yourselves, but the LORD will not answer you in that day.

Naturally, the people of Israel wanted none of that.

English Standard Version Chapter 8

19 But the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel. And they said, “No! But there shall be a king over us, 20 that we also may be like all the nations, and that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles.” 21 And when Samuel had heard all the words of the people, he repeated them in the ears of the LORD. 22 And the LORD said to Samuel, “Obey their voice and make them a king.” Samuel then said to the men of Israel, “Go every man to his city.”

Soon after, Saul is appointed king and eventually proves to be so good he is replaced by David in the eyes of the Lord.

Even David (a man) had his issues.

Unfortunately, as we know, people who are supposed to be following God often try to follow someone else, someone not worthy of the following.

In Paul’s case, he does not want to be followed. He is not worthy to be worshipped, which is exactly what he is reminding the corinthians of in Chapter 1.

He points out two things when proving the falsehood of the Corinthians following.

1. The Crucifixion

Who was crucified?

Jesus

2. Baptism

When people are baptized, the person baptizing them usually always says who they are being baptized in the name of. Who do we baptize in the name of?

Matthew 28:19 ESV

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,

Paul is reminding them that he is not the one that saved them, they were not baptised in his name to publicly proclaim him, all of it is supposed to be in the name of Jesus.

English Standard Version Chapter 1

14 I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, 15 so that no one may say that you were baptized in my name. 16 (I did baptize also the household of Stephanas. Beyond that, I do not know whether I baptized anyone else.) 17 For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.

**Reread v17

What is Paul saying in verse 17?

He is saying that if he is the one they are following, they are belittling Jesus. His death and resurrection mean nothing, and therefore, they have gravely misunderstood everything he has been preaching.

Continuing on in until we get to chapter three, he urges them to trust in the Power of Christ and seek wisdom from the Spirit. When we make it to Chapter 3, he again begins to address divisions in the church.

English Standard Version Chapter 3

3 But I, brothers, could not address you as spiritual people, but as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ. 2 I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it. And even now you are not yet ready, 3 for you are still of the flesh. For while there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not of the flesh and behaving only in a human way?

Paul addresses the Corinthian church as ‘infants in Christ.’ He fed them with milk and not solid food.

What do babies NOT have that causes them to struggle with eating solid food?

Teeth

Micah has on tooth.

What would happen if I gave him a full hamburger and he tried to eat it?

Best case scenario: He couldn’t eat it at all.

Worst case scenario: He gags and chokes on it.

The Corinthians church weren’t even given the things Paul considered to be the truly deep spiritual things of Christ. They were given the basic points to cut their teeth on, and they couldn’t even do that.

They are still trying to follow human leaders, not Jesus.

Tonight’s Verse

English Standard Version Chapter 3

5 What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each. 6 I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. 7 So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. 8 He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor. 9 For we are God’s fellow workers. You are God’s field, God’s building.

The imagery Paul uses in this passage makes us think of farming and growth.

The bible often uses farming/agricultural imagery when speaking to our Christian lives.

John 15 (I am the true vine.)

Matthew 9 (The Harvest is Plentiful but the laborers are few.)

So what is Paul saying about growth in the Christian life?

“I planted” - I began the church, I was there from the beginning with you. I organized, I formalized, and I helped it begin.

“Apollos watered” - Apollos was the one who nurtured. He helped with growth in the early stages, he helped everything become more normal, he gave you everything you would need to begin growing.

“but God gave the growth” - Ultimately, we can do everything right and nothing happens the way we think it will. We can plant, water and nurture; but only God will cause growth.

Then aren’t the ones who plant and nurture useless if only God can cause growth?

English Standard Version Chapter 3

8 He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor. 9 For we are God’s fellow workers. You are God’s field, God’s building.

Those who plant and water are God’s workers and will be paid according to their labor.

Those who are receiving the benefits from those planting and watering are the field.

So, in our lives, are we the laborers (planters and waterers) or are we the field?

Both. Depending on the scenario, we can either be the laborer or the field.

We are called to be both and in our lives we will have to be both.

There are times recently in my life where I have had to be the field. I needed someone to pour into me, to water my soul, to help me grow.

Right now, I would be more of a laborer, doing my best for you to learn and be watered like the plants we see in this passage (and all over scripture).

The Book

Jim Berg’s book actually talks about three different types of farmers.

The Gambling Farmer

This farmer ignores the laws of nature and gambles on the outcome.God has created His world with certain built-in laws. God's laws are statements of reality- the way things are in God's world. His laws in the natural world are often self-evident and cannot be ignored without paying certain consequences. For example, neither the law of gravity nor the laws of thermodynamics can be ignored without penalty. The same is true for the law of sowing and reaping in both the natural and the spiritual realms. The farmer cannot forget to sow his seed in the spring and then suppose that in midsummer he can plant "real hard" and still have a crop when the harvest season starts in early fall. He cannot ignore the built-in timetable of the seed. Neither can he ignore the seed's requirement for moisture by giving his field one good watering at planting time and then ignoring its need for water throughout the rest of the growing season. His seed will germinate and quickly perish from drought. A farmer who ignores these laws and still expects to have a crop can only gamble that he will have a satisfactory outcome. God's laws cannot be ignored.

A primary characteristic of this lazy farmer is that he begs for a second chance when he begins to experience some of the fallout of his slothfulness. Solomon puts it this way: "The sluggard will not plow by reason of the cold [another one of his excuses]; therefore shall he begin harvest, and have nothing' (Prov. 20:4).

This is the person who has indulged himself, ignoring the laws of life; and now, when the reaping time comes, he doesn't like the crop or lack thereof and begs for someone to bail him out.

The Controlling Farmer

The second kind of farmer we want to examine is the Controlling Farmer. This farmer doesn't ignore the laws of nature as the Gambling Farmer does. Instead, he keeps the laws of nature religiously. He plants on time and studies everything he can find on seeds, soil, and weather. He diligently keeps the laws of nature to insure the outcome he desires. He can usually turn out a pretty good crop and can often become self-confident. He isn't totally irreligious in his self-confidence, however. He might even ask God for help to understand how to farm well and might pray that God will send the right weather conditions. Most of the time it works. He has a great crop! He might even do so well in farming that others seek him out for advice, and he quickly gravitates to those who have the same air of seriousness about farming. He might look at the slothful farmer, however, with an air of smug contempt. When observing the sluggard's fields, he might say things to himself such as "I couldn't live with myself if I let my fields degenerate like that' or "I don't understand what's wrong with that man! All he has to do is get out and get his hands dirty. Anybody ought to be able to figure that out!" He works from sunup to sundown just to make sure that he has done everything he can. In fact he is so diligent that he can become quite driven and controlling even perfectionistic- about his labor. He might become so intense about doing right that he makes himself and everyone close to him miserable by continually questioning his own motives, doubting whether he has really done his best, or wondering whether he has had enough faith to please God. He may become filled with self-doubt and consequently may redouble his efforts in order to make sure that everything is just right.

If he is in a leadership position, he can become overly critical of the work or spiritual condition of others. He can quickly demoralize his followers with his fear driven obsession to be sure they are doing right. Please note that the problem here is not his diligence in making his underlings accountable. That may be precisely what he should be doing in his leadership role. The problem is confidence in himself to get the job done and his flesh-driven tear of failure and of loss of control that motivates his diligence. He cannot often tolerate being vulnerable, and he doesn't like surprises. He wants to know what is going on and wants to be able to do something about it.

Since the flesh can produce only destruction (see Rom. 8:13), both the sluggard and the legalist are headed for ruin. The one through his neglectful orientation, the other through his driven intensity. The sluggard does whatever he wants to get what he wants- leisure and fun. The legalist does the right to get what he wants - a bumper crop. Neither of them, however, experiences much peace or true rest in the soul because both are flesh driven.

The Trusting Farmer

As I have noted, many people who observe the Controlling Farmer reject his ways and adopt the ways of the Gambling Farmer. They seem to think the problem is his discipline when, as we have seen, his problem is the flesh. There is a better way - a way that truly reflects Christ. It is the way of the Trusting Farmer.

He, like the Controlling Farner, keeps the laws of nature. But for an entirely different and higher motive. He keeps them, not to ensure the results he wants but because the Father he loves has given them. He wishes to honor his Father by obeying them. Although he would like to see certain results, he realizes the determination of those results is entirely up to his Father - the Lord of the harvest. He is more concerned that the fruit of the Spirit be manifest in his responses-no matter what results the Father gives - than a certain amount of fruit come out of his fields as the result of his efforts. He is driven by a desire to please the Father in all things. He has taken the apostle Paul's admonition seriously when he said in 1 Corinthians 10:31, " Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God."

He is diligent; he is disciplined; he labors to exhaustion-_but not to gain God's favor. He throws his life into his farm because he has God's favor. Every day of labor is just another page of a thank you card to God for the riches of His grace to him in making him a child of Cod. He trusts God to help him do right, not to get what he wants but to faithfully give God what He deserves- unqualified trust and devotion- because He is a worthy Father. He wants to hear the law of his Father so that he can do it, and he delights in the law of his Father because he loves the Father and, therefore, loves His will (see Rom 7:22). God-loving people have no trouble loving God's law since His laws are reflections of His nature.

The Trusting Farmer gets his greatest delight, not in the bumper crop he reaps while keeping the laws of God but in the pleasure he brings to his Father for having done His will. When the Father chooses not to allow a bumper crop for his efforts, the Trusting Farmer is still at Race because he knows he has pleased the Father in his part of the enterprise- he has been faithful (see 1 Cor. 4:2).

This trust in the Father does not make him lazy. He does not think that since his Father ultimately controls the outcome, he does not need to labor so hard. He knows that response would not delight the Father. He shows as much discipline and orderliness as the Controlling Farmer, but his motive is different. He works faithfully and diligentis

to delight the Father and trusts the Father to control the outcome. That delight and trust in his Father is the secret of his peace, his contentment, and his joy. His heart bears much fruit, though his earthly fields through the providence of God may have been laid waste by his enemies or by the weather.

The Final Thing

A God loving, Word-filled. ministry-minded disciple maker will be more concerned that his disciple be extracted from the bent of his sinful heart than from the immediate unpleasantness of his chastening. Chastening produces a test of a person's faith: Will he begin to view life from God's perspective now that God has his attention, or will he continue to go his own way? Can he see God in the picture now? And most important, will he submit to God now?

Application Questions

When spiritual leaders “drive by your field,” what do they see:

evidence of a slothful farmer? (chaos)

evidence of a legalistic farmer? (control, intensity)

evidence of a faithful farmer? (peace, joy, rest)

Are you making small allowances or excuses for not getting the job done?

Do you panic (legalistic farmer) or trust (faithful farmer) when life goes out of control?