Gleanings – Not Me, Not Even We, But Him
1 Corinthians 2:14-3:15
“I planted, Apollos water, but God gave the growth.”
So easy it is for men to give credit to other men for what is wrought by God. So easy it is for a man to take credit himself for that which God has achieved. “Are you not merely men?” “God gave the growth.”
As a church planter, this passage is ever before me. How do I faithfully plant and/or water without with giving credit to others or taking credit for myself? I am planting and watering after all. And others are laboring with me. I applaud their labors. They applaud mine. God is using us. But in the end we are mere men and God causes the growth. All credit, glory and honor are due Him.
This truth is so important lest hubris win out in planting a church. While planting a church, I along with another once laid hands upon a man in intense pain. He experienced some immediate relief. The other, even in my presence, reveled in how God had used him to heal this man. Wow. Not an ounce of humility exhibited. Might God have acted through us both? Or me alone?
To take or give credit is to divide the Body. Period. That is what Paul is addressing. It is to appeal to pride. It fosters arrogance. It misses the mark in that God and God alone causes the growth in the believer and in the church as to size and expansiveness of territory. Apart from credit where credit is due, the body will divide. Immaturity will win out. From an on high perspective, we might as well be nursing on a bottle. We are babes. To which God through Paul says, “Grow up!” To which I say, “Help me, please.”