The Love One Another Podcast | Episode 07 - Servants, Not Celebrities

This is the Love One Another podcast from Beach Point Church.

Together, we're exploring the first letter to the Corinthians with the hope that we will be formed by the way of the cross and the love of the one who bore it.

Admitting, as this letter says, that we are nothing without love.

Love empowered by the Spirit through the work of Jesus is an unstoppable force.

It invites each of us to join God in the work of redeeming all things back to God's self.

With that in mind, let's open our hearts to God's Word today.

1 Corinthians 3, 1-9 Brothers and sisters, I could not address you as people who live by the Spirit, but as people who are still worldly, mere infants in Christ.

I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it.

Indeed, you are still not ready.

You are still worldly.

For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly?

Are you not acting like mere humans?

For when one says, I follow Paul and another, I follow Apollos, are you not mere human beings?

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 has been making it grow.

So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God who makes things grow.

The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labor.

For we are coworkers in God's service.

You are God's field, God's building.

At Beach Point, we have a saying that captures the heart of our community.

Everyone paddles.

It's not just a catchy phrase.

It's a picture of what the church wants to be.

Not a cruise ship where people show up to be served and entertained, then go back to their cabins.

We see this church more like an outrigger canoe.

It only moves forward when everyone paddles and when everyone paddles together.

It's a team effort.

Every stroke matters.

That's the kind of church Paul longed to see in Corinth.

But in 1 Corinthians 3, he confronts a very different reality.

Instead of paddling together, the church was stuck.

They were paralyzed by jealousy, quarreling, and division.

They weren't moving forward in mission.

They were spinning in circles.

Paul doesn't hold back.

He tells them the truth.

They're acting immature.

They're living out of alignment with who they truly are in Christ.

I could not address you as people who live by the Spirit, but as people who are still worldly, mere infants in Christ.

1 Corinthians 3.1.

This reveals a tension we all feel.

It's possible to know Jesus and still live like we don't.

It's likely to be made new in Christ and still cling to old patterns.

Paul isn't questioning their salvation.

He's calling them to grow.

He's calling them to live with integrity.

Integrity is about alignment.

It's when our It's when who we say we are shows up in how we live.

The Corinthians claimed to follow Jesus, but their actions told a different story.

They were filled with rivalry, pride, and preference.

Choosing sides between Paul and Apollos wasn't just immature, it missed the whole point of the church.

Paul reminds them that he and Apollos aren't rivals.

They're teammates in the same boat paddling together.

They're co-laborers.

They're simply doing what God has asked each of them to do.

I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow.

1 Corinthians 3, 6.

There's no room for comparisons or competition in the kingdom of God.

Everyone has a role.

Everyone has a calling.

Everyone has a paddle in their hand.

And the same is true for us today.

The church is not just built on personality or preference.

It's built on Jesus.

It moves forward when each of us shows up ready to serve, prepared to build, and ready to paddle in rhythm with what God is doing.

So here's the question.

Are you paddling?

Are you showing up as a servant?

Are you doing your part, even when it feels small?

Are you willing to work hard, not for recognition, but for the mission?

Or have you become stuck?

Are you jealous of someone else's role, frustrated with leadership, or distracted by comparison?

If so, take a breath.

Let the Spirit realign your heart.

Paul's words are not meant to shame, they're intended to invite.

Invite us back into unity, back into community, back into the joy of moving forward together in God's purpose.

Here's a practice for today.

Ask the Lord, how can I paddle better in the season ahead?

Listen with an open heart today, then pick up your paddle and move forward in step with him.

Let's pray.

Amen.

Thank you for taking intentional time to align yourself with God's love and the call to love one another.

You can find Love One Another sermon series and other resources at beachpoint.com messages or on the Beach Point Church app.

May you carry the love of God into every encounter you have today.