1st Cor 3:1-9
1Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual, but as worldly—as infants in Christ. 2I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for solid food. In fact, you are still not ready, 3for you are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and dissension among you, are you not worldly? Are you not walking in the way of man? 4For when one of you says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not mere men?
5What then is Apollos? And what is Paul? They are servants through whom you believed, as the Lord has assigned to each his role.
6I planted the seed and Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. 7So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow.
8He who plants and he who waters are one in purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his own labor.
9For we are God’s fellow workers;
you are God’s field, God’s building.
This is a wonderful passage for people who are working and striving to be successful.
(1-4) Paul starts with separating what it means to be successful on a foundational level and that begins with living in God’s spiritual kingdom and not your personal fleshly one. Its not about YOU. It’s about Him, us and you (last not first). If you are innately jealous and envious of others, especially those closest to you, your friends then you are worldly, so says Paul, as inspired by the Spirit.
(5) The big word and concept for me here is the word role. Understanding our role is essential in any and every team and endeavor. Paul discusses this in another passage and equates to the different body parts all important and each unique in their role.
(6-7) This is so essential in understanding our role and ultimate power: it lies with God NOT us. We see here that we have our roles to play (Paul planting and Apollo watering) as God often prefers to work through our efforts but it ALL begins and ends with His power as He is Whom that causes things to grow, increase and thrive. God is the big deal, not any of is. It’s about the Creator not the creation.
(8) We are wise understand and align our role with intentional purpose and function which forward the Kingdom of God. We need to have unity of purpose yet grace in preferences.
Since God values hard work in which we co-labor He is thoughtful and encourages us with rewards both in the present and future for our personal contribution. We are called to work as a team. God oft sees groups yet He also recognizes individuals for He is omniscient so it’s both.
There is no ‘I’ in ‘team’ but there is in ‘win’ yet great individuals can win games but only great teams win championships. Individual efforts are part of great successes yet they must work in unison for great achievements to take place and sustain success.
(9) Together in unity with diversity do we makeup God’s team. For we are His and He is mine.
If you are believer and born-again, this is ours.