Readings for today: Ezra 4:24-6:22, 1 Corinthians 3:5-23, Psalms 29, Proverbs 20:26-27
Our culture is obsessed with celebrity. Entire news cycle are devoted to the latest gossip. What’s he or she wearing this season? Who’s hooked up with whom? When is she due and what are they naming their kid? What’s the latest scandal? Who’s life is crashing and burning? We follow them on Instagram and Twitter. We repost and retweet. We are desperate for their attention. Desperate to be associated with them. Desperate to be like them.
Sadly, the same is true in the church. Celebrity preachers amass thousands of followers. They are measured by the number of people who come on a Sunday morning. The number of sites they launch for their church. The number of hits on their podcast. The number of followers on social media. They sell books. They sell merchandise. They do everything they can to promote their brand.
Over and against all this come the words of the Apostle Paul, “What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each.” (1 Corinthians 3:5) Paul gets it. Of all the leaders in the early church, Paul was probably the most prominent. His missionary journeys were the stuff of legends. His church planting prowess second to none. His influence was global. His words were read and distributed all across the Mediterranean. His personal story of sacrifice and perseverance in the face of incredible persecution was inspiring. And yet, Paul considered himself nothing. He called himself a servant. He never gave into the temptation of self-promotion. He never tried to advance his “brand.”
How was Paul able to stay humble in a world hellbent on the accumulation of fortune and fame? He kept his eyes on Christ. “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.” (1 Cor. 3:6-7) Paul understood all of his success came from God. He simply played his role. He planted the church. Apollos watered the church through his charismatic preaching. Others joined in and lent a hand. And it was God who brought the increase.
Paul understood this wasn’t about him. “According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it.” (1 Cor. 3:10) God had saved him. God had literally turned his life around. God had taken the greatest persecutor the church had ever known and turned him to her greatest missionary. Paul had been a Pharisee. A leader among the religious elite. His zealousness for the Law of God was beyond question. His passion for Yahweh and the Jewish faith unmatched. His devotion to the traditions of his people unwavering. And then the Risen Christ confronted him on the road outside Damascus. Changed by God’s amazing grace, Paul’s life literally took a 180 degree turn. Now he was called to lay the foundation for the early church. Others would come after him to build on what he started. All of it belonging to God.
I love how Paul concludes this section of his letter to the Corinthians. “So let no one boast in men. For all things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future—all are yours, and you are Christ's, and Christ is God's.” (1 Corinthians 3:21-23) What amazing promises! God has sent His Christ into the world to reclaim His own. Christ has sent His people into the world to proclaim the gospel. All things are therefore ours not by virtue of our faith but because Christ Himself is faithful. Do not place your trust in any man. Do not place your trust in any woman. Do not put any human being on a pedestal. Fix your eyes on Christ! Make Him your supreme treasure!
Readings for tomorrow: Ezra 7:1-8:20, 1 Corinthians 4, Psalms 30, Proverbs 20:28-30