Remember Who Gives the Increase
Remember Who Gives the Increase
“Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man? I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase. So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase. Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one: and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour.”
1 Corinthians 3:5-8
Too many times we worry about who gets the credit for something we’ve done. Many times someone will come up with a great idea, only to have someone else take the credit for the idea. In reality, if the idea increases profit, saves lives or brings people together - it shouldn’t matter who came up with it.
But, we are human and we like to get recognition for what we do. Especially in a world that is hungry for power, recognition and reward.
In the above scripture, Paul is calling out the church in Corinth. The church was dividing and focusing on the wrong things. The Corinthians wanted to follow the teachers and they were taking their eyes off God. Whatever the motivation or the reason, they were looking at the wrong thing.
In churches today, it’s the same. We head to church to get fed the Word of God. We are all at different places in our Christian walk. We all have pastors and preachers who feed us based on our level of understanding. And we all have others who disciple us along the way.
Too many times we look in the wrong direction for who gets the credit. It’s not us and it’s not the leaders of the church. It’s God. We tend to worry more about our roles and responsibilities, titles and positions and our placement - before worrying about what God is trying to do through us.
This isn’t a conversation that is meant to pull the importance out of church leadership or church attendance. It’s simply stating that those are important, just not the most important thing.
The important part here is that our focus stays on God.
As Paul writes, he says that men plant the seed and men water the seed - and God gives the increase.
We all have one work - we are laborers for God.
Divisions, whether they are based on denominations, leadership roles or even our level of understanding - all focus on the wrong thing. Yes, those things are important - but not as important as what God can do in our lives when we stop worrying about who gets the credit, who’s title is more important or how much knowledge we have or don’t have.
No matter who plants, or who waters, we are one. We will all receive our own reward for our own labor. We are one with God.
Remember, we are working together to strengthen the church, the church that is the body of Christ. We should worry less about who gets the credit and more about the work being done for the Kingdom of God.
“For we are labourers together with God: ye are God's husbandry, ye are God's building.”
1 Corinthians 3:9