A Servant’s Heart • 1 Corinthians 3:5-15
By Jessica McMillan
In today’s passage, Paul continues the discussion of factions and divisions in the church to remind believers that what matters is the work being done, not who gets the credit.
1 Corinthians 3:5-8
Apollos and Paul had different roles, but what mattered was that God was accomplishing His work through both of them according to the ways He had gifted them. While everyone functions differently, all leaders have a common purpose, and there should be no room for divisiveness. Paul deliberately minimizes the importance of human leaders. “I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow” (v. 6 NIV). The effectiveness of ministry ultimately belongs to God, not the giftedness or popularity of the servant. The main point of the section is that the Corinthians had elevated personalities when they should have been marveling at God’s work.
1 Corinthians 3:9-11
The point at the beginning of verse 9 is that Paul and Apollos are fellow workers in service to God. One is not to be considered better than the other. Everyone who serves Christ in building His church must take care to build upon the only true foundation, Jesus Christ. In this section Paul shifts metaphors from agriculture (planting, watering, making things grow) to architecture (building on the true foundation). As a wise master builder, Paul laid that foundation through the preaching of the Gospel, Jesus Christ, who alone is the foundation upon which every ministry must be built.
1 Corinthians 3:12-15
That transition helps explain why verses 12–15 begin talking about building materials. The work that ultimately matters is the work that will endure God’s testing and have eternal value. As an illustration, Paul uses two groups of materials to make his point about the Christ-centered focus of the Gospel: gold, silver, and precious stones vs. wood, hay, and straw. The first group represents valuable, durable materials that survive testing, while the second represents cheap, temporary materials that are easily consumed by fire. Paul’s emphasis is on the quality of ministry built upon Christ’s foundation. We should not misunderstand the image of the fire here. The fire is representative of God’s testing of each person’s work, not necessarily persecution or earthly trials.
This passage clearly rejects the notion that salvation is earned by works. The foundation is Christ alone. The issue under discussion is not whether a believer is saved by good works, but whether his or her ministry and service have eternal value. Christ alone is the foundation of His church, and every believer who serves Him is called to build carefully upon that foundation. God alone gives the growth, so there is no place for pride, rivalry, or personality-based factions among His people. One day every believer’s work will be evaluated by the Lord — not to determine salvation, which rests on Christ alone, but to reveal the lasting value of our service. Therefore, our goal should not be recognition from others but faithfulness to Christ and the building up of His church.
In summary, Paul’s words to the church at Corinth are relevant to all believers today. Don’t exalt human leaders, instead acknowledge that it is God who brings growth. Only Christ can be the foundation, and we should build carefully upon that truth, knowing that God will evaluate our work based on the eternal value it yields. Finally, may we be faithful in serving Christ, seeking only His approval and not that of other people.
McMillan is on faculty at NOBTS and is a member of Roseland Park Baptist Church, Picayune.
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