People of the Flesh

1 Corinthians 3:1-9 “But I, brothers, could not address you as spiritual people, but as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ. I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it. And even now you are not yet ready, 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? For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not being merely human? What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed as the Lord assigned to each. I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything but only God who gives the growth. He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor.”

Division in the church is rooted in selfishness. Here Paul is dealing with a group of people who are completely wrapped up in their own personal agenda, who they like better, and it is causing division. How unfortunate it is for churches to be full of selfish church goers. "We come for ourselves", they say. He calls them "people of the flesh" and rightfully so. The purpose of the church is not self gratification but God glorification.

It seems the specific issue for the church at Corinth is numbers. Notice who Paul attributes growth to; God. Maybe we would grow like the early church did if we realize it is not about us, get out of the way, and allow God to work freely among us. This growth, the type of growth we see in Acts chapter 2, is healthy biblical growth. The church is producing numerous bible believing Christ followers. They are radically on fire for the gospel and know how to handle its truth with passion and confidence. They are experiencing quantity growth and quality growth. We fail so miserably at this in the church because our growth models are based solely on quick fix quantity goal. "How can we get people in the doors?" Maybe our growth models need to be based on the gospel and its proclamation. People will come if we stop hiding behind attractive facades and proclaim unashamedly the gospel of Christ. Or will they? What if people don't come? Most likely people won't come initially but the churches throughout modern history who have had the greatest legacies are the ones who have been faithful to gospel proclamation. We are not responsible for the response but for the proclamation of truth.

The conclusion in this is selfishness. Selfishness, selfishness, selfishness. It is time that we stop looking to ourselves and looking to Christ. Are we more concerned with self gratification or Christ glorification? What are we doing as individuals to bring Him glory in the Church?