What was that I said in the last episode about how we Western Christians look to Christians from other parts of the world? 

In the preceding chapter, Paul informs the Corinthians that it is only through God’s Spirit that people can discern wisdom—that they can know the truth. He tells them that this understanding is given to the spiritually mature believer. Now he begins chapter three by informing the Corinthians that they are not mature and have not been given the ability to discern all things. And why is this? Because they haven’t remained in the Spirit; they have taken their hearts off Christ and placed it on the things of the world, the stuff of their old lives. What you focus on—what is most important to you—shapes your life; so by focusing on fleshly things, on the wisdom, ways, and desires of the world, the Corinthians are living their lives just like everyone else, like “ordinary people.” Because of this, Paul calls them children. And the first proofs of this immaturity are the jealousy and strife separating the congregation. So Paul gave them “milk to drink, not solid food; [why} for you were not yet able to consume it.” Even from the start, the Corinthians were of two minds; one was upon God in Christ Jesus and the other was on the lives they lived before hearing the words Jesus Christ. Sadly, even though some time has passed they are still unable to eat real food. (Perhaps all they had was a faith of platitudes and maxims.) 

The divisions that the Corinthians are using to distinguish themselves one from the other are evocative of something that we will soon see in chapter nine of the gospel of Mark when the disciples argue among themselves about which of them is the greatest. We hear Paul’s “Oy vey” in verses 5-9. I picture it, like Jesus’ response to His disciples in Mark, accompanied by an eyeroll. The Corinthians are placing great emphasis on who has baptized them into the church as a means of claiming higher social standing—again, a practice de rigueur for their city. The apostle tells the congregation that this should not be, that he and Apollos, though called to differing tasks, are merely servants to the same God: Paul was sent to establish their church and Apollos to sustain it. As far as Paul is concerned, both men are the instruments through whom God is building His Church. So although they both have different purposes, they work together as one. What good is it to plant if there is no water to sustain it? And without plant, aren’t you just wasting water? 

Apollo was a contemporary of Paul’s, a fellow Jewish Christian who hailed from Alexandria who played a part in establishing the church here in Corinth as well as in Ephesus. Some believe that he had a unique way of speaking that set him apart from Paul. This seems reasonable to me since, being from Egypt, he would have likely been exposed to Philo. Some scholars even think that he was the author of the letter to the Hebrews—even though no authorship is claimed. But regardless of Apollos’ or his CV, Paul states that none of this matters: All that matters is that the two of them are working together to build the Corinthians into the Church. 

What either of these men are doing is only by the will and grace of God. Each one’s work is dependent upon the work of the other. Paul, who planted the Corinthian church, “laid a foundation, and another is building on [that foundation].” Although Paul is specifically referring here in the beginning of verse ten to his collaboration with Apollos is establishing the church, verses 10b-15 possess a broader application. “But each person must be careful how he builds on it.” What kind of church are the Corinthians building on the foundation of Jesus Christ? In verse 10b, Paul encourages the congregation to take a long, hard look at how it is living with one another and gives them the opportunity to build their faith in meaningful ways. Individuals’ decisions impact the whole.

If individual Corinthians are not working towards a common goal, if each seeks to elevate oneself, not only will that person’s faith suffer but so will the faith of the whole church. Paul has laid the foundation of faith in Corinth—the gospel of Jesus Christ—and Apollos has done his part to sustain that effort, but it is up to the Corinthians to see to it that the church that they build will be what God wants it to be—that it will be the body of Christ: something that Paul touches upon later in this letter. What does your church—your collective action—say to the world about God? Does it say anything at all?

The Corinthians are using their faith to separate and elevate themselves, just like everyone else outside of the church is doing. Paul teaching here can also be applied to an individual’s faith journey. If the Corinthian church’s actions reflect on God (what are y’all doing), so, too, does each person’s actions reveal the quality and character of one’s faith (what are you doing). 

“For no one can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, or straw, 13 each one’s work will become evident…” Someone shared with each of us the gospel; someone has laid a foundation of Christ into our hearts. Each of us must then choose what to build upon that foundation; what kind of faith are you going to have? Will you build the finest, strongest faith that you can or are you going to build nothing at all? 

Quite a few years later from when Paul wrote these words to Corinth, Luke will report that Jesus says, “I will show you what someone is like who comes to me, hears my words, and acts on them: He is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock…But the one who hears and does not act is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation.” (Luke 6:46-49) Jesus says in this parable that what we build will be tested. And Paul tells the Corinthians that their faith (collectively) and their faiths (individually) will be put to the test; remember, “each person must be careful how he builds on it.” If the test doesn’t come beforehand, it will assuredly come on the day when all is revealed before Christ’s throne. Of course, we should all expect to have our faith tested in this life. 

“each one’s work will become evident; for the day will show it because it is to be revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test the quality of each one’s work.”

The work that each person does for building up the body of Christ, so that it might truly be representative of Christ Jesus—as well as the work performed to bring about a productive personal faith—will be made visible on the day of Christ’s return. What kind of life did you build? How did you build it? Fire is an image often associates with the Day of Judgement—the say when God’s kingdom fully comes. It can be found, for example, in Daniel 7:9, Malachi 4:1, Joel 2, Deuteronomy 32:22, and Amos 7:4. This fire may purify or it may destroy, it’s really up to what has been built. 

“14 If anyone’s work which he has built on it remains, he will receive a reward. 15 If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet only so as through fire.”

Those who suffer loss “will be saved, yet only so as through fire.” Here Paul focuses on the purifying or refining quality of fire. Purification through the judgement of fire is found in numerous places in the Old Testament—in Isaiah chapters one, four, and six, and in Amos 4 and Zechariah 3. Isaiah chapter six, especially, is what Paul may have in mind. Isaiah’s impure lips are purified by the burning coal taken from the altar. 

To quote J. Paul Sampley’s commentary on 1 Corinthians, “Paul’s abiding conviction that God is known for grace, for giving new chances for redemption, leads Paul to hold out hope that salvation may ultimately come even to the one whose work is burned up.” (The New Interpreter’s Bible, Vol. 10, 829) I guess the apostle is saying that you can get there the easy way or the hard way!