Foundations for Spiritual Growth

By Dean Collins

Maybe we just aren’t ready for it. I have nine grandchildren, and I love them all. They are the brightest, the best looking, and the most talented. I suppose if you have grandchildren, you might say the same about your blessings. But I bet you will agree with me about grandchildren and children in general: babies act like babies. They cry, they demand, and they insist until we give them what they need. 

Now, when the babies we love grow up, our patience with the crying, demanding, and insisting on getting what they need versus getting what they want shifts in how we provide and support their development. I think this is what the apostle Paul is suggesting in 1 Corinthians 3. The young church in Corinth was stuck in their infancy. They were acting as spiritual babies, and the evidence was in their immature and divisive behavior.

As Paul continued his description of their problem and the solution, he said that the root of the problem was that they were still acting in the flesh and not in the unity that is possible only by their surrender to the Holy Spirit. In other words, when we act with divisiveness, we are not walking in the Holy Spirit. Galatians 5 has a lot to say about this topic and is worth a fresh reading.

It is troubling to read many of the posts of Christians on social media who fight with each other over which party or which candidate is best for our country. But it is worse to hear the arguing and fighting and nastiness of these discussions in person. This third chapter of 1 Corinthians may be a critically important passage for all believers in our current moment.

You might say, “Well, this chapter is not about politics,” and you are correct. The problem isn’t about politics; it is about whether we, as Christ-followers, are willing to grow up in Christ or stay stubbornly immature as spiritual babies. In the middle of this passage, Paul gives us the heart of the matter, or better, the foundation we can build upon:

“For we are God’s fellow workers. You are God’s field, God’s building. According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it. For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.”

To see real change in our communities, and even globally, requires that those who call themselves Christians actually grow up in Christ and act like mature Christians. But to do that means we have to choose to surrender the flesh, the human way of thinking, and choose to pursue the life of Christ by walking in the Holy Spirit, which he has made abundantly available to us when we surrender our lives to him.

It is tempting to believe that some person, party, candidate, amount of money, or human influence can change the world. The division in the Corinthian church was rooted in misunderstanding of what is foundational to faith and to spiritual maturity. Human preferences and biases make a totally unreliable foundation. Spiritual unity is possible when the people of God choose to agree that the foundation of Jesus, and Jesus alone, is the foundation of our lives. Then, and only then, can we find a basis for unity.

When believers unite in Jesus over everything else, then that unity will produce the fruit of the Spirit for life in the church, and the world will see the coming of the Lord.

Father, forgive us for the moments we drift to laying a foundation for our lives other than Jesus. Thank you for sending your son to save us. Thank you for the gift of your Holy Spirit, who daily transforms us into the image of Christ. Unite us, Lord, that we might be used by you to bring your good news to the world. We long for your return. Come, Lord Jesus. Amen.

Your Time with God’s Word
1 Corinthians 3:1-23 ESV

Photo by Esther Wechsler on Unsplash
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