It’s back to the basics for the Corinthian church.

The church was spiritually immature despite Paul having already exhorted them with the foundational principles of the gospel (1 Cor 3:2; Heb 5:12). Having been fed this “milk”, the church should have grown in maturity and be able to discern both good and evil (Heb 5:14).

Yet, the divisions and conflicts remained rife, revealing their failure to properly grasp the word of righteousness (Heb 5:13).

One of their biggest misconceptions lay in their notions of service to God. 

Thus, Paul uses two analogies – the farmer and the builder, to correct their misunderstanding of what it means to be a servant of God.

The Farmer

As a farmer, you can work hard toiling the fields day in and day out. 

Tilling the soil, watering the saps, and chasing away the birds that come. 

Patiently waiting for your crops to grow… All while hoping for a good, plentiful harvest.

“Hoping” because even if farmers do everything right by the books, they cannot guarantee a good harvest. They cannot guarantee growth.

Paul highlights how just like the farmer, in our service to God, we must always remember that only God gives the increase (1 Cor 3:6-7). The ministers who preach and pastor are merely tools through which the Lord works to bring about growth in faith (1 Cor 3:5). 

In our service to God, we must always remember that it is not our efforts that bring about growth, but the Lord’s mercy and grace. 

This means, we need the humility to put aside our sense of “I” and recognise that it is all about God.

When we lower ourselves in our service with the mentality that “I am merely an unimportant lowly servant”, it is then that the Lord will look at us and say, “No. You are important in My sight. You are important to Me.”

But if we serve with a mentality of “I am better than others, so I’m important”, the Lord will look at us and say, “No you are not.”

Those who humble themselves will be exalted, and the exalted will be humbled (1 Pet 5:5-6).

The Builder

A house is built by first laying the foundation.

This foundation forms various key elements of the house– its size, shape, and structural integrity. Everything else is built on the foundation.

Likewise, as servants of God, we must be careful and ensure that our work is built on Christ, the foundation of our faith (1 Cor 3:11). This means that the service we offer to God must be in accordance with Christ's doctrine.

Furthermore, Paul reminds us to take heed to how we build onto this foundation (1 Cor 3:10). This means that beyond just going through the physical action of serving, we must pay attention to our hearts as well, consistently cultivating ourselves spiritually.

And one day, our service will be tested by fire and the true colours of our service will be revealed (1 Cor 3:12-13).  These fires can be trials and sufferings that come upon us.

If our service endures the fire, we will be rewarded. 

But if it is burnt, though we lose our reward and suffer loss (perhaps we grow discouraged in that area of church work), yet as long as Christ remains our foundation, we can still scarcely be saved (1 Cor 3:15).

Moreover, the importance of our personal spiritual cultivation is further emphasised as we are reminded that while we are builders, we too are part of the building! In fact, we are the temple of God as the Holy Spirit dwells in us  (1 Cor 3:9, 16). If we fail to properly build ourselves up, and instead choose to defile our hearts, then we will face the wrath of God as He expects us to be holy (1 Cor 3:17; Lev 20:7; 1 Pet 1:15-16).

Some questions that we can reflect on regarding how we serve: 

Are our motives for serving correct? Do we put in our best efforts? Do we truly have love for God and the church? Are we self-sacrificial? 

The Humble

One of the reasons for the Corinthian church’s divisions was their worldly view of church workers, esteeming one worker over the other. What more, being envious of one another, they sought to elevate themselves by forming factions using the name of the worker they viewed as more reputable (1 Cor 1:12; 3:3-4).

Both the analogies of the farmer and the builder herald the need for humility. 

We are not the ones who give growth, we are not the foundation, we can be burnt by fire and face loss if we are complacent in our heart of service.