Daily Devotional for Friday, June 6
The Corinthian Baby Christians
“I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase,” 1 Corinthians 3:6.
My fourth child could sometimes be a mess, especially when she was young. Shortly after I became principal at a small high school in Arkansas, she thought she would show out at a football game. She walked past a group of older students, pushing her way through them, and said, “Excuse me, Mr. Rutherford is my dad.” This probably had just the opposite effect than what she had hoped. I was the principal, and that did not always make me popular with the students. More than a decade later, we still laugh at this incident, reflecting on her youth and her spunky attitude. However, if she had done this as a high schooler, we probably would not be laughing. We would be upset at her, wondering what she was thinking by acting in such a childish way.
The believers at Corinth were likewise acting childishly in regard to former leaders of their congregation. Some were saying that they were taught by Paul. Some were bragging that they had been taught by Apollos. They had made it a point of pride over who they had been saved under, baptized by, or who had discipled them. Divisions sprung up in their congregation over such an unimportant matter. Paul quickly addressed this by reminding them that all of the men who had worked in that church were co-laborers and fellow servants. One man had one responsibility, and another had a separate one. Jesus was the one who gave the increase. Jesus was the important one.
We can sometimes fall into this same error. We might have pride in a former pastor, or we may even have disappointment in a former pastor. Both of these feelings are understandable, but these feelings must not bring about division. We are all equally under the care of the Great Shepherd. He is the one actually causing us to grow.
REFLECTION
We often call the pastor the under-shepherd for a reason—Jesus is our true shepherd, bringing unity to all in the body of Christ.
Jason Rutherford