Nr 8 Indicator that you might be in a Dysfunctional Church

You might be in a dysfunctional church if everyone feels that they have arrived. This is the last of this series of sermons. In looking back over the first three chapters of 1 Corinthians, we see that there are problems in this church, yet they seem to feel pretty good about things. The Apostle Paul has to tell them that they certainly haven't arrived, they are merely parts of what God is doing. He uses three metaphors to describe their relationship with God, they are God's farm, God's building and God's temple. This is described in Chapter 3, verses 5-23:

What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe—as the Lord has assigned to each his task. I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. The man who plants and the man who waters have one purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his own labor. For we are God's fellow workers; you are God's field, God's building.

By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should be careful how he builds. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man's work. If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward. If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames.

Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you? If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him; for God's temple is sacred, and you are that temple.

Do not deceive yourselves. If any one of you thinks he is wise by the standards of this age, he should become a "fool" so that he may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God's sight. As it is written: "He catches the wise in their craftiness"; and again, "The Lord knows that the thoughts of the wise are futile." So then, no more boasting about men! All things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future—all are yours, and you are of Christ, and Christ is of God.

In the farm image, Paul states that he has planted the seed, Apollos has watered, but it is God who causes the growth. Paul and Apollos are merely co-workers with God to carry out His plan for His garden. The garden does nothing except to grow.

In the building metaphor, Paul is the architect; he lays the foundation. He clarifies that he is not the foundation, nor are his teachings. Jesus Christ is the foundation. Luther had it right, The Church's one Foundation is Jesus Christ the Lord. Paul emphasizes that there is no other foundation. Any attempt to lay another foundation is off base. Others, such as Apollos or Cephas build on that foundation. They build with imperishable materials such as gold, precious stones or silver, or with perishable material such as wood or straw. Of course, he is talking about new teachers and what they are teaching. Is it the "pure gold" which builds on the foundation of Jesus Christ, or is it the "straw" of half-baked ideas coming from the mind of the teacher. Paul goes on further to tell them that it is God who will judge this teaching -- and the teacher himself.

Then, Paul states that the church is God's temple. He isn't talking here of the individual Christian, he is talking about the church; the collective body of those who believe. The church is the temple of God. This means that God dwells there. When people see the church, they see God. Since God is holy, the church is holy. This statement is given as a present fact which should make us feel pretty good, but it also points up how far we need to grow to actually demonstrate the presence of God. Finally, Paul says that anyone who would destroy the temple should himself/herself be destroyed. This is the only sin that Paul actually talks this strongly about. "Don't destroy the church!" How can we destroy the church? Obviously one way is through false teaching; leading the people astray. But I think that Paul has something else in mind here. He is concerned with the division that exists in the church. Certainly there is room for disagreement in the church, but is disagreement in the family. Divorce shouldn't normally happen in the family, nor should it happen in the church. My wife and I don't always agree on issues, but we always agree that we love one another, we are family and we are going to stay together. The church is not meant to be a place of individual agendas and power struggles. It is God's temple. He owns it and all that is in it.

Paul finishes this section with another look at wisdom, which is very important to the Corinthians. He reiterates that human wisdom is not the issue. The issue is the wisdom of the cross. It is in this context that he tells the people not to boast about their leaders, "I am of Paul" or "I am of Apollos." We don't belong to the leader; the leaders belong to us. In fact everything belongs to us because we belong to Christ and Christ belongs to God. We have only arrived when we realize that it all about Him and not about us.

I think the basic lesson is this:

• Recognize who you are; God planted you and he brings about your growth
• God really is a part of the church; in fact the church belongs to Him
• Thus, when the church gathers, it is a holy gathering
• Pastors and church leaders are merely co-workers with God.