1 Corinthians: Not in VainSample

If you’ve been a Christian for a while, then you’ll know how easy it can be for our attitude towards church to sometimes slip into cruise control. 

Being part of a church can end up becoming something we just ‘fit in’ around everything else in our lives, perhaps after career, lifestyle or the kids’ schooling. For example, last time you moved house or moved job, how much did being able to be part of a healthy church factor into your decision? 

In today’s passage Paul shows the Corinthians why our attitude to church is so significant. Paul moves from the imagery of a farm (3:6–9) to that of the church as a building site. This is a lesson in ministry quality control, and it’s the people of God who are the ones at risk if things go wrong. A church’s ministry matters because it impacts its members! Paul has attempted to be like a faithful builder, laying a solid foundation, nothing less than the gospel of Jesus Christ (v. 11), but now he asks his readers whether they’ve let their standards slip? 

This isn’t about professionalising ministry, or about rating church leaders. It’s about considering what a church is trusting in for its own spiritual growth. 

Are we relying on precious building materials that will stand the test of time, or have we become complacent, happy for the spiritual-equivalent of hay and straw to be used (v. 12)? And while a church might appear fine in the short-term, Paul discloses the sobering truth that on judgment day the quality of the workmanship will be brought to light (vv. 12–15). The closing contrast between wisdom and folly (vv. 18–21) shows us how easily we can deceive ourselves, exchanging ministry centred on the gospel of Christ for something that seems more entertaining or respectable. 

Reflection

Do you expect your own Christian growth to be related to the spiritual maturity of your church? 

Praise God that we are collectively God’s temple, with God’s Spirit in us.